The iron options available to us have undergone a ‘Grand-Designs-Scale’ reno. And whether your taste is for supplements that offer more food-like forms (I’m thinking an off-grid rammed earth, built into a hill) or you welcome nutrition borrowing from the best that drug development has to offer us (Neofuturistic architecture?) – there’s something for everyone! These novel forms parallel newly identified means of iron uptake in our gut which completely rewrite our ideas on iron digestion, absorption & regulation. So if you’re still choosing iron products based on:’ organic, soluble and in its ferrous state’ – baby your ideas are out of date!
Because lo and behold that’s not in fact how iron occurs in our food
&
Surprise surprise – our digestive system is designed for the forms that do
Those forms include iron di & tripeptides, members of the large family of ferritins from either animals or plants, in addition to dear old haem. That’s right, while there might be a sprinkle of (Fe) citrate in your kim chi, there’s no bisglycinate in your borlotti beans, no iron fumurate in your fennel & no (Fe) sulphate anywhere to be seen (unless of course someone snuck in some as fortification)! So all these, organic (except SO4), soluble and ferrous forms (except citrate) are reliant on DMT1 transporters and are actually at a disadvantage compared with our newly discovered funky food forms & the curious ways they find to get across the intestines.
Including a range of phytoferritins present in most legumes – especially soy and the common pea.
Pea-Ferritin products anyone?
But this is just a small part of their story that you need to understand to know in which scenarios a supplement like this makes most sense. And equally the progeny of elite engineering: Iron Polymaltose (aka Maltofer) and Ferric Pyrophosphate nanoparticles (aka Sunactive, Lipofer) have their advantages in some patients and presentations and therefore also their place. As we wrap up the Supplement Boom Series putting all that we’ve learned into these final two episodes on iron has been nothing short of thrilling! 🤓
If Iron is important in your practice then you’re going to get enormous value out of these two recent episodes
Image Engin Akyurt via Unsplash
One of our most popular past episodes explored the relative efficacy of the many iron supplements on the market. Since then, the landscape has changed dramatically. New and novel forms have emerged — including haem iron products, phytoferritins, nanoparticles, dermal patches, and more — each claiming to solve long-standing issues with iron interventions. In this episode, we begin by retracing the evolution of iron as one of nutritional medicine’s most commonly prescribed interventions. From there, we examine the renewed interest in food as medicine and food-like forms: molasses and grape syrup, offal, iron-rich herbal tonics, and naturally iron-containing mineral waters.
In this second part of our iron investigation, we take the following forms to task: haem, plant ferritins, iron polymaltose & nanoparticles of ferric pyrophosphate. Discussing in detail each of their unique dynamics regarding digestion, absorption and regulation of iron. Ultimately it answers the questions when to use each form and why.
Listen in as we revisit some of our long-held assumptions about what makes a “good” iron form and hold them up against emerging evidence that is reshaping our understanding of digestion, absorption, regulation etc. It’s time to rethink iron — and update old ideas in light of new science.
