Is my iron too high????

kristy081

My iron % is 175 today, how much is that really ???

mph323

kristy081 wrote: »

My iron % is 175 today, how much is that really ???

Oops, never mind - food related question! :blushing:

I wouldn't worry about it. It's almost impossible to get a correct count of micronutrients from the MFP database.

lynn_glenmont

31.5 mg (18 mg =100% for labeling purposes; 1.75 X 18 = 31.5)

45 mg/day is the tolerable upper intake for adults, according to the National Institute of Medicine, so assuming your logging accounts for all of your iron intake (some entries don't include iron data), no, your iron was likely not too high today.

fr33sia12

In the UK 100% is 14mg so interesting how it's different depending which country you live in. I often go over the 100% and even more during my period. Don't forget you use up your iron stores when exercising, during your period and when you move your bowels, so going over every now and then won't harm you.

Francl27

It wouldn't be too high for me because I'm anemic.

Get blood work done if you're worried.

lemurcat12

Francl27 wrote: »

Get blood work done if you're worried.

This.

But no, going over the goal in MFP is not something to worry about unless you have a preexisting issue (which is something important to know anyway). How much you actually get from different foods varies a lot, individuals vary a lot.

amdphd

Iron intake does not equal what you are absorbing; a more acidic GI environment promotes absorption; less acidic (such as when someone uses an antacid) environments reduce actual absorption

amdphd

Is the 100% in MyFitnessPal for Iron based on the person’s age since iron reuiqments differ for older women vs. those who are still childbearing.

lynn_glenmont

amdphd wrote: »

Is the 100% in MyFitnessPal for Iron based on the person’s age since iron reuiqments differ for older women vs. those who are still childbearing.

No. It's based on what's on the label. And what's on the label will depend on the standards set by the country in which the package is intended to be sold.

amdphd

So if myfitnesspal shows that my daily iron intake at about 25%, and the standard on the, for example, box of cereal shows that a serving represents 45% (based on a 2000 cal diet), then the myfitnesspal is saying that based on my intake for the day I am at 25% do I assume that that % calculation is based on a 2000 calorie diet? or on the caloric intake that myfitnesspal recommends for me which is much less than 2000. The math is not making sense to me - if I eat a serving of cereal above I should be at 45% intake of iron but I am never even near that in the myfitnesspal nutrition even with my other intake of leafy greens etc.

lynn_glenmont

amdphd wrote: »

So if myfitnesspal shows that my daily iron intake at about 25%, and the standard on the, for example, box of cereal shows that a serving represents 45% (based on a 2000 cal diet), then the myfitnesspal is saying that based on my intake for the day I am at 25% do I assume that that % calculation is based on a 2000 calorie diet? or on the caloric intake that myfitnesspal recommends for me which is much less than 2000. The math is not making sense to me - if I eat a serving of cereal above I should be at 45% intake of iron but I am never even near that in the myfitnesspal nutrition even with my other intake of leafy greens etc.

Are you checking the MFP database entries you use? If you log a serving of a cereal that has 45% of the RDA for iron in a serving, then MFP should show that you've had 45%, not 25%. The % calculation is not based on how many calories you're eating. It's based on research of the amount of iron needed by humans. How much you need varies based on gender, age, whether you're pregnant, etc., but for convenience, they choose the value needed by adult, pre-menopausal women who are not pregnant to use on the label.

You need to check the database entries you're using. Compare them to package labels, or, for veggies that don't come with labels, you can check out the USDA nutrient database.

amdphd

Thanks for the clarifications!