Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron

Historically, iron supplements have (and continue to be) difficult to take, poorly absorbed and cause serious digestive problems. This is because iron is absorbed the best on an empty stomach. Yet, virtually all iron supplements can cause stomach cramps, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. That is why most iron products require you to take them with food to avoid the digestive pain. This may reduce the digestive issues but it also severely reduces the products’ effectiveness, requiring you to take even greater doses, which just compounds the digestive problems. Additionally we have the issues surrounding tablet absorption (most iron supplements are tablets).  University of Alberta researchers found that most vitamin and mineral pills went through our systems (and into the toilet) fairly intact. On the way these “bathroom bullets” cause a great deal of stomach issues as you might expect, passing what for all intensive purposes are stones.

There is a better way!

Many people try iron (even those diagnosed with low iron and prescribed tablets) but stop taking them due to digestive upset.  Generally they complain of severe constipation, however some people get loose bowels, nausea and stomach pains.  The result is they take the tablets for a while, but when the digestive effects get too much they stop and don’t finish the course.   So they never really get their iron levels up to scratch.

First we need to discuss why iron itself causes digestive issues. Iron is a stomach irritant. Your stomach doesn’t like to be irritated so it reacts, NEGATIVELY! There, we’ve said it. Research shows that the higher the level of available iron is in the stomach the more irritation it causes.  When higher doses of iron are given to people suffering from anemia (clinically low iron) they tend to suffer worse side effects.  The uptake of iron from the digestive tract is also important in this equation as obviously the longer the iron stays in your stomach the more irritation it causes. 

The majority of iron comes as complex salts in the forms of ferric or ferrous iron.  Some examples include iron (ferrous) gluconate, iron (ferrrous) sulfate, iron (ferrous) fumarate, etc. When you see the amount of iron listed on any package you may see for example 320mg, but this is the amount of the whole iron salt molecule.  The actual amount of iron available from the molecule is known as the elemental iron content and is much lower as it only measures the actual amount of iron.

Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron is different. Knowing that iron is a stomach irritant, we formulated our iron not to interact with the stomach and thereby avoid the possibility of stomach issues. This is accomplished with innovation.

Particle size

One of the ways to minimize iron’s irritation of the stomach is to limit its particle size. The larger the particle size, the lower its bioavailability and worse, the more it interacts with the stomach and the greater irritation it causes. Most iron supplements are quite large in particle size, some being as high as 150 micron, with many being over 20 microns.  Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron averages 0.3 microns. That is less than 1/50th of the size of most iron supplement particles. This greatly improves bioavailability and reduces stomach irritation.

Coating

Another way to minimize iron’s irritation of the stomach is to coat it. By completely encasing iron in another (non-irritating) substance, there is less risk of the iron coming in contact with the stomach lining. The less contact with the stomach, the lower the chance of irritation and side effects. By picking the right coating agent, you can have the iron move through the stomach to the intestine where it can be absorbed without irritation.  Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron is micro-encapsulated (each iron molecule is encapsulated separately) with NON-GMO lecithin. When it arrives at your stomach, it is recognized as lecithin and let pass through straight to the intestine without irritation. Once it reaches the intestine enzymes break the lecithin apart to digest it and release the iron to be absorbed easily and without stomach issues. As an encapsulating agent for iron, lecithin offers several advantages;

1. Lecithin is a healthy fat, essential for all cells in your body
2. Lecithin is nutritious providing your body with choline, inositiol and phosphatidylcholine
3. Lecithin is good for your memory and is used for treating memory disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
4. Lecithin is not a stomach irritant

Enhancers

Food reduces the absorption of iron, no matter which form you take. Unfortunately most brands require that you take food with iron to minimize digestive issues. Easy Vitamins & Minerals does not require you to take it with food. in fact we recommend you take it without food to optimize bioavailability. To further enhance bioavailability and absorption we have added enhancers. In the powder we have FIBERrific (instant inulin).  In the capsules we have FIBERrific (instant inulin) and vitamin C.

Both inulin (a natural vegetable fiber) and vitamin C are proven iron absorption enhancers.  Vitamin C increases iron absorption by forming a chelate with iron that remains soluble at the alkaline pH of the intestinal absorption sites. Inulin increases the amount of iron transporter proteins in the cecum. These proteins are essential for binding and transporting iron. Inulin also has the added benefit of increasing an intestinal enzyme which plays an integral step in iron absorption in the small intestine.

Easy to use

Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron is available in two easy to use forms. Capsules can be taken with water or your favorite drink. The powder can be mixed easily in water and sipped. Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron powder is a tasteless, odourless powder that can be mixed into any drink or soft food without changing the taste.  Easy Vitamins & Minerals Iron is iron that is in its raw organic form. It is highly absorbable and bioavailable, easy to take, without causing digestive difficulties.

Storage: Easy Vitamins and Minerals Iron should be stored tightly sealed in a cool, dry area until it is required.