You feel tired and for no particular reason? Do you have regular headaches, feeling short of breath or you are just plain lazy? You are not alone in this then, and such symptoms may be associated with a rather common and overlooked factor of iron deficiency (Especially, in case you happen to be a woman!).
Iron is an essential mineral that your body requires to steel hemoglobin, a protein present in red blood cells as well as transports oxygen. When the body is lacks sufficient iron the body can not promote good red blood cells in great quantity consequently resulting in an iron-deficiency anemia.
The World health organization (WHO) reports that more than 30 per cent of the reproductive age group of women in different countries in the world are iron depleted (most of this group without any knowledge about it). The present day blog post shall endeavor to discuss all the information you would want to know about iron deficiency in women i.e., what it is, what causes it, what are its symptoms, how is it prevented and how is it treated, in a light-hearted style.
Introduction: What does Iron matter?
What are the iron deficiencies?
Iron deficiency is the deficiency of iron in the body, insufficient to meet body requirements, mainly the production of hemoglobin a protein contained in the red blood cells that transport oxygen in the body. Fatigue, weakness, and shortness of breath are seen when storing iron is low and results in an impairment in the distribution of the oxygen to tissues. When untreated, iron deficiency may advance into iron-deficiency anemia, which is a more serious form of this health issue and has impacts on overall health and well-being.
Iron occurs in two forms of dietary use:
Heme Iron, which can be sourced using animal-derived food production as red meat, poultry products, and fish and Non-Heme Iron, which is insurance using plant-derived food manufacture as legumes, tofu, lentils and spinach. The body takes up heme iron faster than non-heme iron. This variance especially matters to women, and most particularly to the ones who have some vegetarian or vegan diets because they are prone to iron deficiency as they lack the dietary benefits or absorption of iron.
Women are much more likely to have iron deficiency than men and there is nothing random about it. There is a number of natural and lifestyle factors that increase the risk of being deficient in this vital mineral in women.
A major cause is monthly menstruation loss of blood. Whenever a woman is on her period particularly when it is heavy and lasts several days the body looses iron together with blood. This repeated loss may cause Iron deficiency over time and at an accelerated rate in case the amount of iron lost is not compensated by diet or Supplements.
When a woman is pregnant her body also requires additional iron nearly tripled the amount required. The reason is that the growing baby and placenta require blood rich in oxygen to grow. Failure to consume sufficient iron in foods or supplements means that the mother is soon to be iron deficient.
The requirements of iron even after childbirth are high. Iron is transmitted to infants by lactating women in their milk. They must be able to maintain this need of iron in their bodies; otherwise, their iron can decline.
Most women have involved themselves in different diets to lose their weight, or eat vegetarian or vegan diets. Although being vegetarian may be healthy, plant diet easily lacks the form of iron which is easily and quickly absorbing by the body (known as heme iron). Such diets can lack iron unless they are well planned to avoid the chances of deficiency.
Certain health diseases such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or previous stomach surgery (such as gastric bypass) may interfere with the absorption of iron in the body, even when a person is taking sufficient amounts of iron.
Being aware of these risk factors, women would be able to regain control over their health and avoid iron deficiency in order to avert the emergence of a larger issue.
Ever have the problem of feeling empty- even when you sleep and eat quite a bit? It is possible that that eternal tiredness is not just the life or stress that you are living under but it is your body sending a red flag signal that you are lacking iron.
Iron deficiency usually sneaks in. Initially, you may only be fatigued, or you may have trouble concentrating. The signs get direr with time:
It is easy to dismiss such symptoms as lifestyle related. Your body is communicating with you, listen to it.
You should not panic and Google your symptoms. Confusion could be handled by a simple blood test. The doctors tend to examine:
There are cases when you have seemingly normal hemoglobin and yet you also lack iron stores. That is why it is important to test ferritin.
Best Foods of Heme Iron:
Best Non-Heme Iron Foods:
Pro Tip: Combine iron rich foods with foods that are high in vitamin C (such as citrus fruits, tomatoes or bell peppers). Iron inhibitors are to be avoided; these include tea, coffee and plus calcium foods involved in meals. Iron inhibitors are to be avoided; these include tea, coffee and plus calcium foods involved in meals.
Admit it, when you are dazed, out of breath or feeling very tired all the time even the most basic activities seem like a mountain to be climbed. In case you have low iron levels and food is not helping enough, then supplements of iron would do you a world of good to get back to your feet.
Physicians commonly prescribe such forms as ferrous sulfate, ferrous gluconate, or ferrous fumarate all of which are made to replenish your body of iron. These pills do not take much space but have a strong hit. Depending on the levels that are very low, your physician will come up with the appropriate dose and term.
Although iron supplements can be a life changer, they do not necessarily sit well in the stomach. You may be:
So never quit! Eating these with a meal or changing to slow-release or less active formulations can ease these side effects.
A large meta-analysis performed in 2022 at The Lancet Haematology found that 80 of individuals responded to oral iron supplements and thus corrected their iron deficiency in 6 to 12 weeks. It is a quick way to be human once again!
Regardless of experiencing fatigue, difficulties in breathing, recurrent WCM, or other symptoms listed above, it is recommended that you should be tested in case you experience one of them. Regular checking is advisable to women who continually lose iron (either through menstruation or child bearing).
Besides this, where it so happens that you are planning a pregnancy, then pre-conception attention should cover a screening of the iron deficiency.
You do not wait and the symptoms attack you. The prevention of iron deficiency may include the following:
Meera, age: 28; Bangalore:
I was feeling fatigued most of the time, even after sleeping a proper amount of time through the night. I believed that it was all there was to becoming an adult, work, life stress. However, I began having dizzy spells and could not concentrate in the workplace. During a routine checkup, it was found that my iron-levels were deathly low. I did not imagine that something so simple can influence my body and my mind in such a way. In combination with iron dietary supplements, green leafy vegetables, and some additional attention, within several weeks, I felt myself back. I will never miss my blood test now every year.”
Fatigue is not the only thing associated with iron deficiency, it may impose something to your crazy abilities, immunity, fertility, and even to your heart. It becomes a hazard of premature birth, babies born with low birth weight and depression after delivery by the expectant.
A PubMed-indexed article with 2025 subjects attributed insufficient oxygen levels due to untreated iron deficiency to an increased chance of cardiovascular diseases in post-menopausal women.
Among women, iron-deficiency is very widespread yet very avoidable and curable. Awareness is at the very origin of it. And when you or someone close to you is constantly tired, washed out or simply appears to be in a brain fog, all the time, dismiss this state of affairs, saying that it is because of stress or age.
Get tested. Eat smart. Refill where needed.
Caring about your iron is caring about plain energy, health, mood and future.