Calculating Iron

joyceabe
joyceabe Posts: 1 Member
in MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions
Hi there,
I’ve been iron deficient for a while now and I modified my diet to make sure I try to hit the 90-100% for Iron as per the nutrient summary. I read that I should hit 18mg/day. Does anyone know how to calculate what my % number means in mg?

Answers

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,168 Member
    edited March 14
    The percents are usually based on the US RDA/MDA for that nutrient as defined in the US labeling regulations.

    According to this:

    https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label

    . . . the 100% value is in fact 18 mg. You should be able to use arithmetic to figure out other percents and such. If you're having difficulty with that in some way (since most of us struggled with story problems in middle school math ;) ), someone here could probably help with a more specific question.

    If you're getting 90-100% now, that would be 0.9 x 18 at 90% (16.2g) to 1 x 18 at 100% (18g).

    I assume when you say that you're deficient, that's based on blood tests, and that you know (1) taking supplements for iron can distort future blood test results (not so much an issue from iron inherent in food), (2) that some iron sources are more bioavailable than others, and (3) that vitamin C can enhance bioavailability of non-heme (loosely, plant-based) iron (when eaten at the same time).

    Best wishes!

    ETA P.S. You might also find this helpful:

    https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/

    I've gotten a lot of good nutritional info from these fact sheets.

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