Iron Supplements

Hi,

About 11 years ago I was diagnosed as anemic and put on iron supplements. Everytime of stopped taking them and got tested my iron would drop fast, but as long as I was taking them I was fine. The doctors did heaps of tests on me over many years and couldn't find out why this was happening. Eventually the doctor gave up and told me to stay on iron for the rest of my life. I wasn't happy with that but did what they said. I ended up taking iron everyday for around 5 to 10 years on and off. But I was always trying to work out what was wrong with me, because I had many symptoms apart from fatigue. Anyway 10 years later I worked out I had a gluten allergy then 1 year later I worked out I had a dairy allergy. But just in the last 2 months I have worked out the cause for all that, I have candida and I am recovering from my allergies and everything else slowly now. My question is could taking iron for so long cause any damage to me? I have read some information that it can. Is it possible that iron could of been the cause of my candida? And is there anything I should look out for because of the iron? Thankyou for your help.

[Renee Radenberg]

Iron's main function in our body is to carries oxygen in the red blood cell (inside hemoglobin) to the cells and takes away carbon dioxide. Women have a high demand for iron then men due to monthly menstrual flow. There are 2 types of iron in our food sources, Heme iron and Non-Heme iron. Heme iron is from animal sources and Non-Heme is plant sources. Non-Heme iron have more iron then Heme iron , however, it does not absorbed well into our bodies so it is important to eat foods with Vitamin C and Heme iron foods to enhance absorption. For example, chicken with beans and a fresh orange. If the iron supplement you were taking gave you a daily 100% amount of Iron then you will be fine. The only harm from Iron is when mega doses (above the recommended dose) of Iron are supplemented over time.