Please HelpMy mom is iron deficient. She can never seem to get enough iron. Her diet good. She takes iron, and its really nasty stuff so If anyone has any idea why she might be iron deficient please tell me.Is it possible its because of other herbs and stuff she takes?She has been to a doctor but they only have quick fixes like taking a ton of iron when the problem is her body not absorbing iron or something.(FYI) Shes 45, not overweight, and lives an active lifestyle, and in general is healthy.
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Deficiencies can be caused by chronic bleeding or malabsorption. In the case of your mom, she seems to have an issue of malabsorption. The short answer to your question is that we don't know. We don't know why she can't absorb iron. Indeed, one in ten pre-menopausal women in the United States has deficiency of this mineral. Some tips: - Dietary iron comes in two distinct forms: heme iron and nonheme iron. Heme iron is found mainly in animal products and is absorbed much more effectively than nonheme irons, which is found in grains and plants. So, she might want to eat more iron found in animal products. - Cooking with a black iron skillet can be a valuable source of contaminant iron (good iron). It can increase the iron content of a meal from anywhere between 30% to 100%. - There are other nutrients that can influence the amount of iron she absorbs. Calcium, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus can reduce the absorption of iron. Tannic acids is found in coffee and tea, and it also decreases absorption, so much that if you drink coffee or tea around an hour before or after a meal, you can reduce your absorption by as much as 40%.
