Iron is a very important mineral for our health. It plays several essential roles, such as making red blood cells to transmit and carry oxygen throughout the body. According to the NHS, women require 14.8mg of iron each day, whilst men need 8.7mg a day. Women naturally require more iron than men because of the loss of blood during their monthly periods. A severe lack of iron in the body and bloodstream can lead to iron deficiency anaemia.
Symptoms of Iron Deficiency
Lack of iron can cause many drawbacks such as extreme fatigue, breath shortness, heart palpitations and a pale complexion. These are the most common symptoms of iron deficiency. There are other less common signs that you may suffer from iron deficiency anaemia such as headaches, a sore tongue, painful ulcers in the corner of your mouth, an altered taste sense and other more extreme symptoms including hair loss and experiencing an unusual difficulty when swallowing.
Who Needs Iron?
Everyone needs some degree of iron in their body. However, some people require larger amounts of iron than others. Obviously those with iron deficiency anaemia will require a substantial amount of iron in order to boost their immune systems. According to Baby Centre, pregnant women require more iron than the every-day person because the mother will need to provide iron for both herself and her unborn child. Iron deficiency is a common problem in pregnancy, with over 85% of women suffering from it by their third trimester.
Some children and teenagers also require more iron because they are constantly growing. Teenage girls experiencing heavy periods will lose a sufficient amount of iron and this will need to be replaced to avoid fatigue and other iron deficiency related symptoms. On top of this, it can be very difficult to get iron into their systems via healthy foods such as meat and vegetables. An iron supplement is the best way around this common problem.
Other people who may require additional iron include vegetarians who do not get enough iron via meat in their diet, athletes who will need to keep their energy levels healthy and many people over the age of 50.
Iron Supplement Benefits
If you are worried that you are not getting enough iron into your diet, you may wish to try an iron supplement. These will give you a boosted source of iron and help with common symptoms connected to a lack of iron in the system, such as tiredness and paleness etc.
Before choosing which iron supplement to go for, we advise that you check the ingredients first and opt for one that contains natural ingredients such as iron supplements from blueiron.co.uk. These can work alongside a healthy diet to ensure a satisfactory and constant source of iron is being supplied to your system.