What you should know about Iron Supplementation + Pregnancy

Mar 11

Written By Evensong Women’s Health and Midwifery

If you’re feeling overly fatigued, you may need to consider upping your iron intake.

We would recommend Iron Extra by Vitanica or Floradix, which could be found at a local coop, but also easily ordered online.

Other herbs that can be helpful for anemia and are safe in pregnancy are dandelion root, yellow dock, nettles, and alfalfa.

This Iron Tonic tincture from Herb Love has three of them and is safe in pregnancy.

Exercise + Anemia

Exercise is an essential component of treating anemia as it aids in hemoglobin production, increases appetite, and reduces fatigue and irritability.

Organ Supplementation

Ancestral organs have a great beef organs supplement if getting these into your diet sounds like a challenge!

Here are iron-rich foods you can try:

Best sources

3 ounces of beef or chicken liver
3 ounces of clams, mollusks, or mussels
3 ounces of oysters

Good sources

3 ounces of cooked beef
3 ounces of canned sardines, canned in oil
3 ounces of chicken
3 ounces of cooked turkey
3 ounces of halibut, haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna
3 ounces of ham
3 ounces of veal
3 ounces of halibut, haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna

Why the type of iron you take matters:

Iron in plant foods such as spirulina (take 1 ounce), lentils, beans, and spinach is nonheme iron. This is the form of iron added to iron-enriched and iron-fortified foods. Our bodies are less efficient at absorbing non-heme iron, but most dietary iron is non-heme iron.

Dark chocolate also has iron so feel free to treat yourself with a little chocolate!