Alicia Shay

Hi Alicia, I recently read your article about iron deficiency...was wondering if there's a specific liquid iron brand you would recommend and if you have found a place where it is reasonably priced?

Hi Andrea!

Are you struggling with anemia or had problems in the past? Or just looking to maintain your current iron levels? I would recommend doses accordingly but the brands that I would recommend are:

Ultimate Iron by Enzymatic Therapy:

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-11626-enzymatic-therapy-ultimate-iron-90-softgels

Hema-Plex Nutritional Supplement For Total Blood Health by Nature's Plus:

http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-71833-natures-plus-hema-plex-nutritional-supplement-for-total-blood-health-90-softgels

You should be able to purchase on amazon, lucky vitamin or possibly a local health food store for a reasonable price. I've found that taking a combination of the above two are easy on the stomach but also most effective in building iron levels.

A couple years ago when I was at a distance/altitude summit at the Olympic Training Center, Randy Wilbur from the USOC suggested that research showed that chelated iron was absorbed best with the least amount of side effects and recommend these two combos. So I made the switch from the liquid iron to the above two and was FINALLY able to keep my levels higher without downing the nasty liquid ferrous sulfate. I've since made the recommendation to other female runners and everyone seemed to respond well.

I hope this info helps! Please let me know if there is anything else I can give my two cents about :)

I hope you are doing well!!

Thanks!

I recently had blood work done and it was 24ng/ml despite the fact that I've been taking 100mg of iron in pill form for the past year. So I'm not anemic but would like to get that level up to 65ng/ml.

I started taking liquid iron a couple weeks ago, but it is quite disgusting. Those softgels sound so much better! I will try what you recommend and then get my levels checked again in a few months.

I am so sorry but somehow I missed your reply! Any luck with the new iron supplements? When you mentioned that you are at 24ng/ml, did you mean your total iron levels or ferritin? What about your hemoglobin and hematocrit? The combo of ferritin, hemoglobin and hematocrit would give you the best snapshot of your iron status.

I agree about the liquid iron! After so many years of taking that stuff when I see the bottle my stomach turns. Yuck!

I hope you are feeling better!

I ordered the new iron pills so they should be here any day. Hopefully the new supplemements will help!

Ferritin 24ng/ml

Hemoglobin 15.4

Hematocrit 45.1

Your Hemoglobin and Hematocrit are rock star! For a female distance runner, it can be difficult to get into that range- for comparison, I am around 11 and 33.

I agree that your ferritin getting towards the low end indicating that your stored iron is possibly creeping down...so you would definitely want to keep an eye on it but on the other hand, I don't think you should hit the iron pills too heavy since you technically are far from being anemic and excess iron in the body is far from benign. I would recommend supplementing modestly and rechecking in a couple months.

Interesting. I did not realize that my hemoglobin and hematocrit were at pretty good levels, I've always focused in more on the ferritin. That's good to know - I won't go overboard on the iron supplements :)

Yep! Your actual oxygen carrying capacity (Hmg, Hct) are really ideal. I dream of those levels! :) If your stored iron (ferritin) starts to dive then you are at risk of your l15 and 45 slipping. Hmg and Hct ranges are pretty standard but individual ferritin levels can fluctuate widely…I've seen healthy athletes around 20's and up into the 200's! That simply indicates storage (in the bone marrow). Since anything in the low 20's is starting to get low, I would just keep an eye on it, supplement modestly and cont. eating good quality sources of iron.

In studies of non anemic women with low serum ferritin concentration have shown an increase in energy and/or performance when increasing lower end ferritin levels (even though the ladies weren't' technically anemic yet). So like I mentioned, you don't need to go crazy but will likely feel a boost in energy if you take in some extra iron especially if 24 is much lower than you have been in the past.

Sorry, that was long winded!

A couple reference studies as well a review by Alex Hutchinson.

Intravenous iron for the treatment of fatigue in nonanemic, premenopausal women with low serum ferritin concentration.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21705493

Effect of iron supplementation on fatigue in nonanemic menstruating women with low ferritin: a randomized controlled trial.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22777991

Short summary by Alex Hutchinson:

http://www.runnersworld.com/health/ferritin-and-fatigue