The iron deficiency issue no one talks about

Iron deficiency numbers are rising globally, with young women struggling more than any other demographic. With the rise in vegetarian and vegan diets, and with gut health issues also rising globally, people tend to increase iron intake mostly from synthetic sources. But simply adding more iron won’t fix the issue if the root cause runs deeper than intake. 

So how do you boost your iron levels and fix the true root cause of the deficiency? That is what we’ll cover in today’s article. 

Gut health 

If the environment in which the nutrients we eat enter isn’t healthy, we end up wasting most of what we eat. This applies to iron just as much as any other nutrient. This is a key reason why just ramping up intake isn’t always the answer to iron deficiency. 

Leaky gut, a term used when the gut lining is compromised and can't effectively absorb nutrients like iron, is a core pillar of gut health. In modern diets, glycine is almost entirely missing, but it's needed for a strong, sealed gut lining. Our ancestors would have eaten foods like bone broth and collagenous cuts of meat regularly, getting far more glycine than the average person does today. 

Once we begin to seal the gut, we absorb nutrients more effectively, waste less, and retain more. This positive cycle continues, and we begin to feel much better, gain more energy, have a stronger gut and most importantly, retain more iron from the iron-rich foods we consume. 

Pathogens and overgrowths

Following on with gut health, overgrowths such as Candida can steal iron and inhibit its absorption. Gut pathogens or overgrowths can severely impact our ability to absorb not just iron, but all other nutrients. They can create a negative cycle, so targeting overgrowths after sealing the gut is a core part of healing and fixing iron deficiency.

Nature holds the answer for targeting pathogens and overgrowths; many natural antimicrobials, such as ginger, Manuka honey, garlic, propolis, and mastic gum, work effectively to kill bad bacteria without wiping out good bacteria like antibiotics do. 

Once the gut is sealed and free of pathogens and overgrowths, it's crucial to support good bacteria; fermented foods such as sauerkraut, cheese, yoghurt, and kefir, along with bacteria like Lactobacillus, help the microbiome thrive. 

Synthetic vs natural  

In the modern age, when people face a deficiency, they often turn to synthetic options rather than food, but are synthetic iron tablets really the answer? thankfully not. It is very easy to get iron through your food, and the whole-food form of iron, when derived from animal-based sources, is incredibly beneficial, and it takes little of it to boost iron levels, of course, only if the gut is in good shape. 

Whole-food iron also comes packaged with co-factors that aid absorption; synthetic, isolated versions often lack these, so the body struggles to utilise the intake and discards it. Some forms of iron deficiency result not from a lack of iron but from a lack of other vitamins, such as B12.

Isolated iron is also unbound, meaning it isn't locked inside a protein structure like haemoglobin or myoglobin, or a protective ring like heme. Iron tablets contain unbound iron; high intake can cause oxidative stress and activate the sympathetic nervous system, putting us in a fight-or-flight state we want to avoid for good health.

Combining high-vitamin-C foods with iron-rich foods can cause too much iron to be absorbed too quickly; good gut health and sufficient iron intake are often enough to raise iron levels without relying on high vitamin C in combination.

The best sources of iron

The best natural sources of iron come from animal-derived products, including organs and red meat, as well as lactoferrin found in raw milk and colostrum. Lactoferrin is incredible for the gut, and it is a main reason many people see improvements in gut health and iron levels when they include raw milk or colostrum in their diet. 

Organs such as the spleen are a rich source of iron, packaged with the cofactors needed to maximise absorption, unlike synthetic, isolated iron supplements. 

We should all be eating more organs, and the amazing fact is you don't need much to boost not just iron levels, but also energy and all-round well-being. 

Including whole organs at least once a week, along with bone broth and grass-fed beef or lamb, can help improve iron deficiency. If you aren’t ready for whole organs, turning to micro-dosed freeze-dried amounts is the next best thing.

Summary 

The answer to an iron deficiency isn’t simply consuming more iron; if we don't work on gut health and prioritise the most beneficial iron sources, the extra intake won’t be felt, and the deficiency continues. Our health always needs to be looked at holistically; that's why synthetic vitamins don’t cure people.

The problem isn’t just the deficiency it's the person's whole diet and lifestyle. Instead of targeting one area, we must address the whole picture and this is how we heal ourselves.