Iron question for women over 55?

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Old_Cat_Lady
Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I have my daily goal of Iron set a 44% which I believe is 8mg and the RDA for women my age. I always go over. I eat mini-wheats as a snack, often bran flakes, and other snacks that really put me over. Sometimes as high as 200% of RDA.
Question: Do you worry about going over on a regular basis? Iron is a heavy metal. (one of those that can be dangerous in large quantities).
Some mature multivitamins have 0 iron. But womens 50+ always seem to have that 44% of RDA. My main concern is taking enough. I definitively do not want to be iron deficient. I eat the cereal maybe 25% of my days. I like taking the multi with a bit of iron to make sure I at least get the 44%. Many days logged I can tell I would not reach that 44% without the multi so I kind of need it.
I do not give blood and don't want to. I go to the doctor about every 3 years for bloodwork. Blood iron level was in proper levels. I use USDA entries for veggies and meats.
I want to know how other ladies feel about their iron intake.

Replies

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I feel fine about my iron intake and follow my doc's recommendations. I don't stress over it on a daily basis
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I needed to take high potency iron for a while because of an issue with anemia (which included a hospitalization). Now that the cause has been fixed (small bleeds in the stomach) and my numbers are stabilized at normal I do not pay attention at all to my iron intake. Annual blood tests and the several times a year I donate whole blood gives me and my doctor enough information to know I don't need to pay attention to it. If my hemoglobin ever drops below 13, we will have a different conversation.

    If you do not have an issue either with too little or too much hemoglobin, I wouldn't be concerned. I am guessing you never have had an issue if you are only getting an RBC every 3 years.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
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    So I will just go by the doctors tests. I don't remember the number, but last time it was about 3/4 of that chart. Ex: if a scale of 1 to 10 it would have been 7.5.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
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    I have problems with borderline anemia, so I don't worry about too much iron in my diet. I do take a supplement now, because I was having problems last fall. I'll get my iron tested in a couple of weeks to see how it is doing.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Old_Cat_Lady wrote: »
    So I will just go by the doctors tests. I don't remember the number, but last time it was about 3/4 of that chart. Ex: if a scale of 1 to 10 it would have been 7.5.

    What chart are you talking about? Iron is one of those things where RDA pretty much means nothing. You can ingest iron and not absorb it, you can ingest a little and absorb all of it, etc.

    Normal levels, as determined by an RBC blood draw are: men, 13.5 to 17.5 (grams per deciliter), women, 12.0 to 15.5

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