{"id":22739,"date":"2024-03-27T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=22739"},"modified":"2024-03-12T09:07:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T13:07:37","slug":"timing-of-iron-supplements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2024\/03\/27\/timing-of-iron-supplements\/","title":{"rendered":"Timing of Iron Supplements"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

A Vegetarian Resource Group member contacted us with a question about when to take an iron supplement. Here\u2019s what they said: \u201cMy health care provider recommended that I take a low-dose iron supplement once a day. I\u2019m vegan and eat small meals and snacks throughout the day. When is a good time for me to take the iron supplement?\u201d<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s our response:<\/em><\/p>\n

Iron is best absorbed on an empty stomach, either about 1 hour before or 2 hours after meals so one idea would be to take your supplement right when you wake up and wait an hour or so to eat breakfast. If this isn\u2019t feasible, you could take your supplement 2 hours after your last meal or snack of the day. Maybe taking it when you brush your teeth before going to bed, assuming you don\u2019t have a snack right before bed, would work.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s ideal to take iron supplements on an empty stomach, some people get an upset stomach, nausea, or diarrhea if they don\u2019t eat something along with their iron supplement. If that\u2019s the case for you, try taking the supplement with a small meal or snack or immediately after a small meal or snack. You\u2019ll absorb somewhat less iron but it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ll be getting more iron than if you didn\u2019t take the supplement at all.<\/p>\n

If you choose this option of taking your iron supplement with a small meal or snack, go for a meal or snack where you\u2019re not drinking tea, herb tea, coffee, or calcium-fortified plant milk. All of these beverages can reduce iron absorption. Also, avoid foods high in phytate such as whole grains, dried beans, nuts, and seeds which can interfere with iron absorption. You might choose a snack of fruit, vegetables, and\/or refined grains with your iron supplement.<\/p>\n

If you use a calcium supplement, ideally you would take this at a different time than when you take an iron supplement.<\/p>\n

Iron supplements may interfere with the absorption of some medications including levodopa, levothyroxine, penicillamine, tetracyclines, and bisphosphonates. Check with your health care provider about medications you are using and if they will be affected by supplemental iron.<\/p>\n

To read more about iron sources for vegans see:<\/p>\n

Iron in the Vegan Diet<\/a><\/p>\n

Latin American Vegan Foods High in Iron<\/a><\/p>\n

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD A Vegetarian Resource Group member contacted us with a question about when to take an iron supplement. Here\u2019s what they said: \u201cMy health care provider recommended that I take a low-dose iron supplement once a day. I\u2019m vegan and eat small meals and snacks throughout the day. When is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22741,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739\/revisions\/22741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}