The importance of iron in the body

Occurrence of iron in the body

In contrast to macronutrients such as hydrogen, oxygen or carbon, which occur in larger amounts, trace elements are present in very small quantities in the body, often less than 1 gram per kilogram of body weight. Despite their small amount, trace elements are fundamentally important. They fulfil numerous functions, including supporting the formation of enzymes, promoting muscle contraction and contributing to energy production. They are also components of various body parts such as bones, teeth and haemoglobin. Iron is a component of haemoglobin and plays a decisive role in the transport of oxygen by the red blood cells in the blood. In smaller amounts it also serves to store oxygen and supports the proper function of various other cells in the body. There are two main types of iron: haem iron, which is mainly found in meat and fish, and non-haem iron, which occurs in vegetables and dairy products. The former is absorbed more efficiently than the latter, and both are supplied to the body during the digestive process.

A (very short) explanation of iron values

The doctor's laboratory report contains various values related to iron balance. Not every value is easily understandable for patients; most are really meaningful only to doctors. Two values are particularly important and also easy to understand.

Haemoglobin - the "working" iron

A laboratory value that doctors often request is haemoglobin — that is, the "active" iron circulating in the blood, i.e. the iron that is currently doing its job, namely transporting oxygen to the cells. If this is too low, not enough oxygen arrives, which brings the typical symptoms such as fatigue and pallor. The normal value in the blood should be 8.4–10.7 mmol/l. This is the current "modern" notation, which, unfortunately, hardly any patient understands. Previously the more comprehensible notation grams per litre or g/dl was common, which laypeople can follow better and is therefore still often used in patient information today. Here are the current values in g/dl, which differ for men and women:

Normal values for haemoglobin - Men: 13–18 g/dl, Women: 12–16 g/dl. It becomes medically critical when these are undershot; this is then called anaemia (iron deficiency in the blood).

Ferritin - the iron store

Iron is extremely important in the body, so the body cannot rely on it being supplied sufficiently and regularly through food; it must build up its own buffer or store so that it always has enough iron available for haemoglobin.
There is also a reference value for this store. The body strives to keep the haemoglobin value constant, which means the first signs of the danger of a deficiency are found in the iron store. Even if the haemoglobin value is still normal, the store can already be worryingly depleted. This gives the opportunity to counteract a potentially quite dangerous iron deficiency in time. The normal value for ferritin - Men: between 20 and 250 μg/l. Women before the menopause: between 10 and 120 micrograms per litre (μg/l); after the menopause they align with the male value.

Also important is transferrin, which transports iron between digestion and ferritin and between ferritin and other stations. For the sake of clarity and comprehensibility we will spare an explanation at this point; an understanding of haemoglobin and ferritin is sufficient for the average user.

This explanation is highly simplified and cannot replace analysis by a doctor!

Unfortunately it does happen repeatedly that doctors refuse more detailed tests, perhaps because they do not consider them necessary or because they generally regard everything to do with the topic of micronutrients as unscientific esotericism or simply because they have no idea and want to conceal this by claiming it is unnecessary. In that case our customers are welcome to take action themselves and use the iron test from Medivere.
If this shows very divergent values, a doctor should always be consulted again — and if your own doctor refuses, you might want to consider changing doctors!
There are a large number of diseases that can also influence these values and that can sometimes be very serious. Such things must definitely be clarified before addressing the solution to the problem.

Attached are 2 examples of laboratory reports.

In this case you may not feel anything yet or possibly feel slightly exhausted and should replenish your iron stores as soon as possible, depending on your usual diet (meat or non-meat) possibly with moderately high-dosed supplements (7–14 mg per daily portion).

Example 2: Ferritin and haemoglobin are already severely deficient, clearly felt by the person concerned with constant tiredness (pallor is not always a reliable sign).

In that case a doctor must be consulted first. He must find the cause of the deficiency, e.g. an extremely unbalanced diet or chronic blood loss due to gynaecological problems or intestinal inflammation, and treat these medically.
A rapid correction by iron infusions may also be important; diet and supplements tend to work rather medium- to long-term.

Only when all of this has been clarified, confirmed and treated should you become active yourself, e.g. with dietary supplements. Self-treatment without a doctor is no longer advisable!

By the way: Truly hospital-relevant conditions such as chronic inflammations or tumours always belong in the hands of a doctor. For less drastic problems an engaged and well-trained ecotrophologist, a Heilpraktiker (licensed alternative practitioner) or an osteopath (who nowadays also all have to demonstrate the Heilpraktiker qualification) can often be the better and, above all, usually the more patient contact!