Iron Supplement: Floradix
By Chris Helmstetter, LAc
Most people are deficient in many essential vitamins and minerals, and iron is no different. Iron is especially important because it is a key ingredient in the body’s process of making new red blood cells on a daily basis. A severe lack of iron results in anemia. Symptoms of iron deficiency include fatigue, decreased endurance during exercise, pale complexion, increased frequency of infections and a decrease in concentration and mental alertness. Both men and women are typically iron deficient, but the degree of deficiency is greater in menstruating women, during pregnancy and in vegetarians.
The difficulty with iron is that most multivitamins and supplements contain a form that does not dissolve well and is poorly absorbed. About 10% of the iron from food sources is absorbed into the body, while only 2-10% of the iron in solid supplements is absorbed. The unabsorbed iron passes into the large intestine where it causes it’s main side effect – constipation; and increasing the concentration of solid iron in products just increases the unwanted side effect. This leaves most people with the problem of needing other products to treat the side effects of supplementation.
There is however one iron supplement that resolves this dilemma: Floradix. Floradix is a liquid iron supplement that contains 10mg of iron per dose (the recommended daily amount is 15 mg/day) as well as Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, carrot, nettle wort, spinach, quitch roots, fennel, ocean kelp and African mallow blossom. The form of liquid iron (ferrous gluconate) in Floradix has a 17-25% absorption rate and exceeds the the RDA with 2 daily doses. Including Vitamin C and the B Vitamins co-potentiates its absorption while the plant extracts increase digestion and foster an ideal acidity level in the stomach. The result is a highly absorbable and potent iron supplement that is entirely non-constipating.
We use it ourselves and recommend it to our patients and so can attest to its merits. Floradix is an ideal aid to almost any person in need of additional iron because it is preservative free, has no alcohol, is vegetarian and gluten free and easy to take. And because we buy it directly from the manufacturer we are able to offer it for the lowest price of any local distributor such as health food stores or vitamin shops.