Why Low-dose is more efficient than High-dose when it comes to iron

Restoring iron counts

•  Restoring iron values takes a while, just like the onset and development of iron deficiency doesn't happen overnight. It is a quesEon of balance where the uptake of iron needs to match the losses.

•  Natural losses include for instance loss of blood through menstruaEon and natural intake is based on the diet.

Natural dose

•  The regular amount of iron we need in a mixed diet is 12 - 18 mg in total per day.

•  In healthy individuals the average iron demand is 1 mg daily for men, 1.5 - 2.5 mg daily for women and during pregnancy 2-3 mg daily.

Natural dose

•  A heme iron tablet with a dose of 18 mg will yield up to 4 mgs for bodily needs, whereas a non-heme tablet of 100 mg will yield 2 mg. The rest is reacEve and remains in the gut.

•  The body will absorb no more than it needs of heme iron and the rest is completely inert – no stomach problems.

Iron absorpEon

•  Most of the daily iron will be in non-heme form, which is bound in plants or bound chemically in the regular syntethic supplements. Non-heme iron is not very bioavailable, so more than 95 % will not be absorbed.

•  Heme-Iron is taken up at a significantly higher rate, 20 -40 % and will not produce side-effects like the syntethic supplements. It is also not affected by other simultaneously ingested food or drink.

Uptake of non-heme iron

•  30 days of supplementaEon with 100 mg Fe++ non-heme iron at a bio-availablity of 2 % theoreEcally gives 60 mg absorbed iron. At 4 %, which is unusual, the amount is 120 mg.

•  Non-heme supplements at 100 mg Fe++ per dose regularly have an incidence of side-effects leading to terminaEon of the therapy of around 30 %.

Uptake of Heme-iron

•  SupplementaEon with 18 mg of heme iron for thirty days with a bio-availability/uptake of 20 % gives 108 mg of absorbed iron.

•  Heme iron is very well tolerated and is known to have a side-effects raEo as placebo. This means a higher therapy success rate.

This is why heme iron tablets with a dose of 18 mg Fe++ can compete with non-heme tablets of 100 mg Fe++.

More than 60 mg non-heme stops zinc uptake

•  A dose of more than 60 mg of non-heme iron per

day will block the uptake of Zinc, an essenEal trace element vital for many biological funcEons and that has a crucial role in the enzyme system in the body.

•  Heme-Iron will not affect the uptake of Zinc.

Syntethic supplements with high doses

•  There is a clear tendency to use non-heme iron supplements in very large doses because many believe a strong deficiency situaEon should be cured as quickly as possible.

Syntethic supplements with high doses

•  However there is a large risk for therapy-ruining side-effects and a normal uptake will not permit a large change quickly.

•  A steady therapy with an efficient and well tolerated iron, such as Heme-Iron in tablet form, is therefore always preferable.

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