Yes, actually. I commonly see patients with iron deficiency anemia who are non-compliant with just one tablet of elemental iron a day because of the side effects. Constipation and gastritis are quite common from even one tablet a day.
I workout at a college area gym where D1 athletes go; I've seen sealed baggies of vitamins left before for the athletes. They include vitamin D3, omega 3, vitamin C, and sometimes iron, which is optional
Yes you have seen a lot of people having too much iron with negative side effects from taking one iron supplement per day?
Yes, actually. I commonly see patients with iron deficiency anemia who are non-compliant with just one tablet of elemental iron a day because of the side effects. Constipation and gastritis are quite common from even one tablet a day.
That isn’t the same as having too much iron and you know it.
Iron is toxic! Conventional medicine does not understand its metabolism. In order iron to be absorbed COPPER is needed, which many people lack. Iron interacts with copper in a similar way as calcium interacts with magnesium. Many people also lack magnesium, but they take only calcium supplements....
This is true. Most people would be better off supplementing 2-3g of copper per day than trying to supplement any iron.
Both really, plus B-12. But FeoSol was all I needed when I was deficient.
Yes, actually. I commonly see patients with iron deficiency anemia who are non-compliant with just one tablet of elemental iron a day because of the side effects. Constipation and gastritis are quite common from even one tablet a day.
That isn’t the same as having too much iron and you know it.
What are you even talking about? Completely out of left field.
I'm arguing a sizable minority of people who don't need iron supplements will suffer harm with no benefit. People are arguing that taking extra iron is harmless. There are negative side effects for a substantial number of people. So it isn't harmless.
Iron is toxic! Conventional medicine does not understand its metabolism. In order iron to be absorbed COPPER is needed, which many people lack. Iron interacts with copper in a similar way as calcium interacts with magnesium. Many people also lack magnesium, but they take only calcium supplements....
Conventional medicine understands metabolism far better than you do. Biochemistry is an enormous part of our education.
Copper is not at all involved in the absorption of iron. It is required for the conversion from ferrous to the ferric form, which needs to happen for transferrin binding. This occurs in the liver and macrophages.
Copper deficiency is extremely rare in an otherwise healthy individual. It occurs in specific populations with "short gut syndrome".
If someone wants to take a vitamin with extra copper, fine its unlikely to harm. But don't go around acting like some expert that's found the holy grail. Extra copper is extremely unlikely to help any active runner.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is more likely to be a problem, but as long as people don't have a genetic disorder related to B12 metabolism and are eating a healthy diet, they won't be B12 deficient. Sure take a supplement pill. Or just eat a salad.
Iron is toxic! Conventional medicine does not understand its metabolism. In order iron to be absorbed COPPER is needed, which many people lack. Iron interacts with copper in a similar way as calcium interacts with magnesium. Many people also lack magnesium, but they take only calcium supplements....
Conventional medicine understands metabolism far better than you do. Biochemistry is an enormous part of our education.
Copper is not at all involved in the absorption of iron.
Dietary copper deficiency (CuD) in rats leads to iron (Fe) deficiency anemia. Is this because CuD reduces Fe absorption? Fe absorption in CuD rats was determined by feeding diets labeled with (59)Fe and using whole-body count...
That isn’t the same as having too much iron and you know it.
What are you even talking about? Completely out of left field.
I'm arguing a sizable minority of people who don't need iron supplements will suffer harm with no benefit. People are arguing that taking extra iron is harmless. There are negative side effects for a substantial number of people. So it isn't harmless.
Ok translating doctor speak you are trying to use. You are saying that someone might get a stomach ache or be constipated are the problems if you take one iron pill and don’t need it?
honestly it's obvious a troll post so i trolled back and said "just 10x it, 2x is for rookies" and George took the liberty of deleting my response because he must think it's dangerous or something
meanwhile the supposed kid didn't even say what a dosage of "2x" even meant. 2x the RDA? 2x whatever supplement the coach told them to?
that it's even being debated 20+ years after this boards inception should show how inefficient this forum is
I got a ferritin test a couple years ago and found my level was under 10. My doctor recommended taking 65mg every other day to avoid gastrointestinal side effects. Levels improved dramatically after a couple weeks. I now take it daily and have no side effects. It hasn't helped me with running as much as I'd like, probably because I am vegetarian and also a menstruating female! I am afraid to take extra pills due to health risks. So I work on my diet. I recently started eating pistachios everyday, which have iron but also a lot of copper, and I'm feeling a lot better in general! My struggles with low iron have made consistent running very difficult for me because it is hard to stay motivated when I feel like garbage on an easy jog.
I got a ferritin test a couple years ago and found my level was under 10. My doctor recommended taking 65mg every other day to avoid gastrointestinal side effects. Levels improved dramatically after a couple weeks. I now take it daily and have no side effects. It hasn't helped me with running as much as I'd like, probably because I am vegetarian and also a menstruating female! I am afraid to take extra pills due to health risks. So I work on my diet. I recently started eating pistachios everyday, which have iron but also a lot of copper, and I'm feeling a lot better in general! My struggles with low iron have made consistent running very difficult for me because it is hard to stay motivated when I feel like garbage on an easy jog.
i call absolute BS on this
your ferritin levels absolutely did not improve dramatically in 2-3 weeks, it don't work that way with oral supplementation
here's the deal:
hemachromotosis is real, essentially always undiagnosed until someone is having organ-related issues goes to the hospital and they find out, so even though it's exceptionally rare (who is the last runner your heard getting their ferritin tested and found out they had this?) because it can be life-threatening coaches need to err on the side of caution when suggesting to take iron
when supplementing orally, you want to titrate the dose; start out low and incrementally ramp up based on how your body is absorbing it. most start out too high, get cramps or constipation and just stop, but if they were to start slower they could gradually adjust their diet to help with such things and get to a point where they could handle higher dosages so they can get into optimal ranges
and what are optimal ranges for ferritin? not just for athletic purposes, but overall vitality and beauty?
it appears to be around 100 - 150 for menstruating females and 150 - 250 for highly active males
You're right. I just checked and this was from my labs in 2022. Ferritin was 5. In 4 months (not couple weeks) it went up to 22 when I was taking 65mg (325mg as ferrous sulfate) every other day. I was very wrong for saying it was a couple weeks and I shouldn't have posted it without going back and looking at the dates. It was months and I was told to keep taking because it was helping. I got it rechecked in early 2024 and it was 19. Not good enough. Sorry for bothering to post my nonsense.
You're right. I just checked and this was from my labs in 2022. Ferritin was 5. In 4 months (not couple weeks) it went up to 22 when I was taking 65mg (325mg as ferrous sulfate) every other day. I was very wrong for saying it was a couple weeks and I shouldn't have posted it without going back and looking at the dates. It was months and I was told to keep taking because it was helping. I got it rechecked in early 2024 and it was 19. Not good enough. Sorry for bothering to post my nonsense.
going from 5 up to 22 in 4 months sounds about right on 65mg eod, appreciate you circling back with this info
goes to show how slow the process really is and how hard it is for so many to stick with it
I do take it daily now, since I have no side effects. I should take another test. I just still feel like I did before, so I was mentioning I am also trying to improve diet instead of taking additional pills beyond the one daily.