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82. Do Athletes Need More Iron? · Eat More Carbs | A Period Recovery Podcast

• 0:00
  Making sure that if we are taking an iron supplement, we're
• 0:02
  looking at if it is a heme based iron or if it's a non heme iron.
• 0:05
  Because a lot of fortified foods and even some supplements are
• 0:08
  going to be non heme iron based. And therefore we could be taking
• 0:11
  something that again, we're not necessarily absorbing and
• 0:14
  utilizing properly. Hello and welcome to the More
• 0:21
  Carbs podcast. My name is Jenna Fischer and I'm
• 0:23
  here with my Co host Riley Beatty.
• 0:24
  Today we're going to be talking all about iron before we.
• 0:27
  Jump in and start chatting all things iron.
• 0:29
  This is just a quick reminder that we are currently accepting
• 0:32
  new clients and new athletes who want to work with either Jenna
• 0:35
  or myself. Our Concierge Sports Nutrition
• 0:37
  Coaching program is an individualized program for
• 0:40
  athletes who want to maximize their performance and optimize
• 0:42
  their health on an individualized basis with sport
• 0:45
  and guidance from My Sports Dietitian.
• 0:47
  Before we get into our iron questions, Riley, what's your
• 0:49
  high and low? My high and my low this week are
• 0:52
  actually have to do with me being postpartum.
• 0:54
  Starting off with my hat. Currently I am breastfeeding
• 0:58
  Charlie. I'm actually exclusively
• 1:00
  pumping. So this is something that I
• 1:02
  didn't even know about before I became pregnant and after
• 1:04
  postpartum. But basically I'm exclusively
• 1:06
  pumping and she exclusively drinks like milk from the
• 1:09
  bottle. This was something that we
• 1:12
  decided a couple weeks like after we had Charlie just
• 1:15
  because we were having some challenges.
• 1:16
  So I have been exclusively pumping for the last 8 months,
• 1:20
  which is a whole journey in itself.
• 1:22
  But basically I have a lot of milk stocked up in my freezer
• 1:27
  because with pumping a lot of the times you might be an
• 1:30
  overproducer and that was the situation that I was in.
• 1:32
  So I'm currently so I'm creating more milk than Charlie is
• 1:35
  drinking. What we've been doing is we have
• 1:37
  been collecting that milk and we have been freezing it over 8
• 1:40
  months. I've been very lucky to stock up
• 1:42
  a lot of milk. So I currently write now heavy
• 1:45
  entire freezer that is breast milk.
• 1:47
  Again, this meant the TMI for this podcast, but you know,
• 1:50
  we're all close friends here, so I have to share with you.
• 1:52
  So basically, I have this entire freezer full of milk with the
• 1:56
  goal of being able to stop pumping earlier.
• 1:58
  So that provides more flexibility for me.
• 2:00
  It makes it just easier for our whole family.
• 2:02
  We are currently moving to North Carolina.
• 2:04
  We are really lucky because we get relocation because of my
• 2:07
  husband's job, but I have the entire freezer of milk that
• 2:11
  cannot be unfrozen. So we had to figure out how we
• 2:15
  are going to transport this entire freezer that has about
• 2:19
  six months of milk stocked up in it.
• 2:21
  This has been literally stressing me out for months
• 2:24
  because every time I dash some milk and goes in the freezer,
• 2:28
  I'm like, how is this milk getting to North Carolina?
• 2:31
  Because it cannot become unfrozen.
• 2:33
  If it becomes unfrozen, you have to use it within 12 hours.
• 2:37
  And there's no way that you can use six months of milk within 12
• 2:40
  hours. So I have been stressed about
• 2:43
  this freezer because what are you supposed to do with it?
• 2:45
  But this past weekend, my parents are such champs.
• 2:49
  They drove down on Saturday, we rented a U-Haul.
• 2:52
  We like locked the freezer shut and they drove the freezer to
• 2:56
  North Carolina on Sunday. This entire laser of breast
• 3:01
  milk, like just for Charlie and myself, this is just a huge
• 3:05
  shout out to them. Now I get to stop pumping like
• 3:08
  so much earlier. And now we have a safe location
• 3:10
  for the milk. And, you know, we were just
• 3:12
  cracking up all weekend because they think it's so funny that
• 3:15
  they're driving this truck of breast milk from South Carolina
• 3:17
  to North Carolina. And they're talking about how
• 3:19
  they like the milkmen and like milk delivery and all the
• 3:21
  shenanigans. But just a huge shout out to my
• 3:23
  parents because that is such a relief for me.
• 3:26
  So that's my pie. It was not necessarily expected
• 3:29
  on this podcast, but I just have to share.
• 3:31
  Shout out to your parents, that was awesome and I'm glad that
• 3:34
  you guys found a solution and that takes that stress off of.
• 3:36
  You too. Yeah.
• 3:37
  My blow also has to do with postpartum to something else
• 3:39
  that nobody told me about. I smell horrible.
• 3:42
  I smell so bad because of the hormones and I literally am
• 3:46
  giving myself the ick and nobody talks about it.
• 3:49
  No one does talk about that. Everybody talks about the hair
• 3:51
  loss, which is definitely happening.
• 3:53
  The amount of like smells happening right now.
• 3:56
  I'm just, I'm so sorry for everybody who just got the IT
• 3:58
  because I have the IT, but everybody who's listening, this
• 4:01
  is just the postpartum life right now.
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  But you know what? Just like good things come to an
• 4:05
  end, bad things come to an end too.
• 4:07
  So it will end. That's the good part, right?
• 4:09
  It actually has happened, been happening since I was pregnant
• 4:13
  and what was happening because I was really sick in my first
• 4:16
  trimester. I could not stand the smell of.
• 4:19
  You couldn't stand the smell of your.
• 4:20
  Yourself yeah and I tried like 10 different deodorants and it
• 4:22
  didn't work Welcome. This is this is the TMI podcast,
• 4:25
  but hey, nobody's talking about it, so we're going to.
• 4:28
  We're all thankful that you're sharing so that way we're better
• 4:30
  prepared for if and when those times might happen for us or
• 4:33
  other people we know. Hopefully if you're as shocked
• 4:36
  as I was about this, you will not be prepared.
• 4:38
  What about you? What are your high?
• 4:39
  In your lips. I'm gonna start off with my
• 4:41
  high. I have talked about this so many
• 4:43
  times about how fortunate and how thankful I feel to be a part
• 4:46
  of RBSN and that was something I've probably felt from day one.
• 4:50
  This past month, my husband and I really wanted to take an
• 4:52
  extended trip that we had been really planning since we
• 4:57
  probably met one another. I had present, you know,
• 4:59
  probably planning this since high school, but because I work
• 5:01
  at RBS and because I've been a private practice setting, it was
• 5:04
  something that we were able to do.
• 5:05
  Very thankful for the opportunities in private
• 5:07
  practice. RBS is very happy that you are a
• 5:09
  part of it. Milo, What kind of stems from
• 5:12
  that, I guess, but about a couple new outfits to go on this
• 5:15
  trip. I wanted to make sure that I
• 5:16
  didn't walk around in the exclusive athletic wear that I
• 5:19
  usually wear on the day-to-day day basis.
• 5:21
  So I bought a couple cheaper, you know, outfit pieces from
• 5:24
  Nordstrom, like things that came together as like a pair of like
• 5:26
  a skirt and a top. Anyway, I had this one outfit I
• 5:29
  really loved. I thought I looked so cute in
• 5:30
  it. I got back and I washed this
• 5:33
  like set of tank top and shorts and I did exactly what the
• 5:36
  direction said. I hand washed it in cold water.
• 5:38
  I hung it to dry and it is now a piece of clothing for ants like
• 5:43
  it is, it is so small. It's a pair of shorts and the
• 5:46
  shorts have shrunk so much that the lining of the inside of the
• 5:49
  shorts is longer than the short itself.
• 5:52
  Maybe this isn't the best thing for me, but I typically don't
• 5:54
  wash new clothing, I just wear them.
• 5:57
  I know other people wash them first and that's probably what
• 5:59
  you should do, but I'm not that person.
• 6:01
  I just packed it in my suitcase for it and felt great and then
• 6:04
  came home and washed it. It is so small now I'm out a
• 6:07
  whole outfit that I really liked.
• 6:09
  Amy even followed the instructions like you took extra
• 6:12
  care. It wasn't like you just threw
• 6:13
  him in the washer dryer. Exactly.
• 6:15
  No, I'm really good about following washing instructions
• 6:18
  because I don't want my clothes to get room.
• 6:20
  So just because I don't buy a lot of clothes that aren't
• 6:23
  athletic clothes. So when I do, I'm like, I want
• 6:25
  to take care of this and make sure it lasts a good amount of
• 6:27
  time. But yeah, no.
• 6:30
  I'm so sad that is I feel that in my soul, like the low is.
• 6:33
  I feel that that's why we just have to go back to wearing
• 6:35
  athletic clothes. Exactly.
• 6:36
  I shouldn't have deviated from what I know.
• 6:38
  Speaking of things that we know though, we do know quite a bit
• 6:40
  about iron and we want to share what we know about iron with you
• 6:43
  today. So we're going to chat all
• 6:45
  things iron. From an athletic standpoint, the
• 6:47
  recommendations for athletes might be a little bit different
• 6:49
  from the general population or someone who's dealing with a
• 6:51
  chronic condition. So just take that as we talk
• 6:54
  through these topics. This isn't recommended advice
• 6:56
  for taking iron in a supplement or anything like that.
• 6:58
  We're just going to kind of go over the basics of what iron is
• 7:02
  in its role in the human body. So, Riley, what's iron?
• 7:04
  Iron is one of the essential minerals that we need for a lot
• 7:09
  of different processes within the body.
• 7:11
  When we look at nutrients that we need, we have, you know, our
• 7:15
  six essential nutrients. We have carbs, proteins, fats,
• 7:17
  vitamins, minerals and water. Minerals are one of those
• 7:20
  nutrients that are essential and they do not provide any energy
• 7:24
  for the body. Iron is really important in
• 7:26
  energy production and a lot of the energy systems within our
• 7:29
  body, but it's not going to provide calories.
• 7:32
  Just going on a quick tangent before we really get into iron,
• 7:35
  but iron is a great example of why we don't always recommend
• 7:39
  calorie counting and macro counting because iron is one of
• 7:43
  those essential nutrients and this essential mineral that
• 7:46
  might get lost when we're just focused on calories and macro
• 7:50
  nutrients. What is iron's role outside of
• 7:53
  energy production in the human? Body iron's most known role is
• 7:56
  within the blood. Iron is really important for red
• 8:00
  blood cell production and therefore oxygen and nutrient
• 8:02
  delivery and circulation throughout the entire body.
• 8:05
  So we can think about it on a very simplified basis is if we
• 8:08
  do not have enough iron, we cannot produce enough blood
• 8:11
  cells and therefore we're not going to be able to deliver
• 8:14
  nutrients, specifically oxygen to the working muscles.
• 8:17
  And this can really hinder performance in athletic, but
• 8:20
  then also just in our day today. So basically what we're saying
• 8:23
  is that when we breathe in oxygen, that oxygen latches to
• 8:27
  our red blood cells. That oxygen is then carried to
• 8:29
  our working muscles where it's used for the production of
• 8:32
  energy within our working muscles.
• 8:34
  So it's really, really important for using our muscles and
• 8:37
  therefore might be even more important for.
• 8:39
  Athletes exactly. And hearing what we just talked
• 8:41
  about, you might be thinking OK, I need lots of iron.
• 8:44
  I need to supplement with iron and before you get into that, we
• 8:47
  have many, many things to talk about because with iron, just
• 8:50
  like a lot of our vitamins and our minerals, supplementation is
• 8:53
  not necessarily going to give us a better performance effect, a
• 8:56
  better performance outcome. It is really important that we
• 8:59
  have enough iron, but we need to dive into it a little bit more
• 9:03
  before we just start supplementing with it.
• 9:04
  You never want to just start supplementing something just
• 9:07
  because we hear it helps with a certain function or a certain
• 9:10
  process within our body. When it comes to iron though,
• 9:13
  and the sources of iron, there's a lot of talk about like heme
• 9:16
  and non heme sources. Heme iron is what we think of as
• 9:19
  our sources that come from animal products and non heme are
• 9:22
  going to be our sources that come from plant based sources.
• 9:25
  So if you hear Riley and I say heme or non heme throughout the
• 9:28
  podcast, we're simply referring to the source of iron in which
• 9:31
  it's coming from, whether that be an animal based product.
• 9:33
  Or a plant based product, correct.
• 9:35
  And with heme versus non heme iron, it is really important to
• 9:38
  differentiate that these two iron components are not going to
• 9:42
  be equivalent in their makeup and in their bioavailability.
• 9:45
  When we look at heme iron, which like Jenna mentioned is going to
• 9:48
  be in those animal products, heme iron is going to be much
• 9:51
  more bioavailable. Non heme iron is not going to be
• 9:55
  as bioavailable. About 95% of our non heme iron
• 10:00
  is actually not absorbed by the body.
• 10:02
  So we're only getting about 5% of that availability when we're
• 10:05
  consuming iron through non heme sources.
• 10:08
  Would it be safe to say then that heme sources of iron are an
• 10:12
  easier way or a better way potentially to get an iron?
• 10:16
  Yes, correct. Heme iron is definitely going
• 10:19
  to, like I mentioned, more bioavailable and it is going to
• 10:22
  be a better source of iron for the body.
• 10:25
  But we understand that there's a lot of plant based athletes out
• 10:28
  there or individuals who might not be really consistently
• 10:30
  consuming beamed based iron products.
• 10:33
  So, you know, incorporating some of those non heme iron sources
• 10:36
  is going to be just as important.
• 10:38
  The thing though to remember is if non heme iron is less
• 10:41
  bioavailable, then you're going to really need to focus on that
• 10:44
  if you are a plant based athlete.
• 10:46
  We have less iron contained in plants and that iron is going to
• 10:49
  be in that non heme. So when we're thinking about
• 10:51
  athletes, we do have a lot of athlete listeners.
• 10:54
  Why is iron so important then for athletes?
• 10:57
  So I look at athletes, there's going to be an elevated need for
• 11:01
  iron within the athletic population.
• 11:03
  So on a day-to-day basis, athletes will likely have a
• 11:07
  elevated need for iron based off of a couple of different things.
• 11:11
  With exercise and with performance, we do see a greater
• 11:15
  circulation. We do see a greater need for
• 11:17
  iron because of that. Additionally, you work with a
• 11:19
  lot of runners, so you maybe you can talk a little bit more about
• 11:21
  this, but with exercise we can damage red blood cells with heel
• 11:25
  strike. That's going to increase the
• 11:26
  recommended amount of iron that you need on a daily basis.
• 11:29
  If we're thinking about the needs of an athlete being
• 11:31
  slightly more elevated than that of a non athlete, that doesn't
• 11:35
  necessarily mean though that we need to go out and immediately
• 11:37
  start supplementing with iron. Kind of like we chatted about
• 11:40
  before, but what might be some of the causes of like not having
• 11:44
  enough iron in the body to see that adequately reflected in our
• 11:47
  lab values? Oh, I'm so glad that you brought
• 11:50
  this up. And we're going to have to dive
• 11:51
  into the supplement thing because that's one of the
• 11:53
  biggest mistakes that I'm seeing athletes make with not having
• 11:56
  enough iron, iron deficiency anemia.
• 11:58
  We're going to see some like health outcomes and we're also
• 12:01
  going to see some, you know, drops in performance.
• 12:03
  We're going to start seeing more fatigue in and out of sport.
• 12:06
  Feelings of coldness is something that a lot of people
• 12:09
  feel, you know, hold possibly adjusted menstrual cycle
• 12:12
  because, you know, lack of red blood cell production.
• 12:14
  I think the biggest 1 though that people often see is going
• 12:17
  to be that fatigue in and out of sport.
• 12:20
  Obviously too, if you get your labs checked, you're going to
• 12:23
  see, you know, below normal values.
• 12:25
  But I think the biggest thing in the beginning is definitely
• 12:27
  going to be that fatigue. I don't know if you have any
• 12:29
  other symptoms that you see a lot in your runners.
• 12:31
  I think as far as like an iron deficiency symptoms, those are
• 12:35
  probably the biggest ones, fatigue probably being the top,
• 12:38
  which is sometimes described as like feeling tired all the time.
• 12:41
  The biggest thing that I see though is that people will
• 12:44
  assume that the feelings that they have is feeling tired,
• 12:47
  feeling low of energy is due to lack of iron or a low level of
• 12:51
  iron. So they begin to supplement
• 12:53
  without getting their labs tested.
• 12:55
  And in reality, their iron levels were OK, it was that they
• 12:58
  were under fueling. So those symptoms can often be
• 13:01
  similar to that of not adequately fueling in a runner
• 13:05
  or an athlete. And that's why it's really
• 13:07
  important not to just jump into supplementation, especially with
• 13:10
  iron, because it can be a difficult 1 to supplement with.
• 13:14
  Definitely. And that's why I actually, I'm
• 13:16
  not going to talk about any values on this episode because I
• 13:20
  don't want people trying to jump in and supplement on their own
• 13:22
  because they're there's just so much individuality with
• 13:25
  supplementation with iron as well as like you're feeling
• 13:29
  foundation and you're feeling approach with iron And also to
• 13:32
  labs are definitely going to be your number one place to go.
• 13:35
  But there could be so many different reasons on why your
• 13:37
  labs look the way that they look, and it can be challenging
• 13:41
  to interpret that without the help of a professional.
• 13:43
  If we're thinking about an actual iron deficiency though,
• 13:47
  what are some things that can cause low iron the 1st?
• 13:49
  Thing is definitely going to be, you know, inadequate iron
• 13:52
  intake, right? So not consuming enough iron
• 13:54
  containing products or consuming iron at the wrong time.
• 13:57
  So if you're taking it at the certain period of time after
• 14:00
  exercise, there is a hormone that is released that can block
• 14:04
  iron absorption. Are there other things like
• 14:06
  calcium? And we'll talk about some of the
• 14:08
  other products in a little bit. Block iron absorption.
• 14:10
  So even if you are consuming iron, if you're not taking it at
• 14:13
  the right time or if you're not taking it with the correct
• 14:16
  nutrients, it can definitely be blocked.
• 14:18
  On the other side of things, if you have increased iron loss,
• 14:21
  big thing I think with this is any type of surgery which you
• 14:25
  know, you're going to see a blood loss or if you have a
• 14:27
  heavy menstrual cycle that is going to increase blood loss.
• 14:30
  Also kind of like what we talked about with heel strike, that's
• 14:33
  going to damage red blood cells. Poor absorption, kind of going
• 14:36
  back to inadequate intake and then increased demand.
• 14:39
  Either it was something like being an athlete, being pregnant
• 14:42
  or possibly a chronic disease. So if we look at that from what
• 14:46
  Riley just mentioned, those individuals who might be at
• 14:48
  higher risk for developing an iron deficiency would be someone
• 14:52
  like a woman of childbearing age or someone who is pregnant who
• 14:55
  does have an increased need for iron.
• 14:58
  Also, anyone who is potentially a vegetarian or vegan and has a
• 15:02
  harder time getting those heme sources of iron in and they're
• 15:05
  maybe more focused on their non heme sources, but maybe don't
• 15:08
  know which non heme sources to include or when we should be
• 15:11
  including them, kind of like Riley mentioned.
• 15:13
  And then lastly, we have athletes and those with chronic
• 15:15
  conditions that might cause an increase for need of iron.
• 15:19
  I was actually really anemic during most of my pregnancy even
• 15:23
  though it was, you know, consuming iron based products.
• 15:26
  But something that I really struggled with was consuming
• 15:28
  like meat, steak, red meat. Those foods are going to be the
• 15:32
  highest in that heme iron. And it was really challenging
• 15:36
  for me to, you know, even look at a piece of meat.
• 15:38
  We know that bioavailability with iron in foods is just going
• 15:42
  to be so much higher than a supplement.
• 15:44
  It was definitely a challenge that I navigated throughout
• 15:46
  pregnancy. Very difficult, especially as an
• 15:49
  individual who has an increased need not only from being
• 15:52
  pregnant but also from being an athlete.
• 15:53
  There are kind of two compounding factors there and it
• 15:56
  came to maybe some of the inversions that you experienced
• 15:58
  during pregnancy with that and getting in enough iron and what
• 16:01
  sources of iron that we can include in our diet.
• 16:05
  You mentioned red meat and kind of those meat sources, but what
• 16:07
  other like heme sources of iron are there that are easily
• 16:10
  absorbed? By the body, so steak, red meat,
• 16:13
  those are going to be your most bioavailable and they're also
• 16:15
  going to contain their most heme containing iron compared to
• 16:19
  almost anything else. Also lamb is a another iron rich
• 16:23
  food. Thickened Turkey and shellfish
• 16:25
  also going to be iron containing products.
• 16:28
  Those are going to be your main heme iron sources.
• 16:30
  What about non heme iron sources?
• 16:32
  With non heme iron sources those are going to be mainly found in
• 16:36
  plant based foods. So spinach has a little bit.
• 16:39
  I really get kind of mad when people recommend spinach as an
• 16:42
  iron source because it has so little in it and it also has
• 16:46
  like other components in there that could block iron
• 16:49
  absorption. So I'm not not really sure how
• 16:51
  bioavailable the iron in spinach actually is.
• 16:53
  Another thing that is going to be really rich in non heme iron
• 16:57
  is going to be lentils and then also hemp seeds.
• 17:00
  Those are two of the other products that I found that are
• 17:03
  going to be higher in that non heme iron.
• 17:05
  So incorporating some of those non heme sources if you are a
• 17:08
  plant based athlete would be a good thing to incorporate in
• 17:11
  order to add some iron or non heme iron to your intake.
• 17:15
  As far as mitigating the risk for the development of iron
• 17:18
  deficiency, what should athletes.
• 17:20
  Doing something that we do at RBSN is we talk about feeling
• 17:24
  focuses a lot. And if you've been listening to
• 17:26
  eat more Carbs podcast or if you have work with us with
• 17:28
  one-on-one, you know that we talk about feeling focuses with
• 17:31
  all of our athletes. We like to have a almost like
• 17:34
  blood health fueling focus where we build a meal that is focusing
• 17:39
  on iron and iron absorption. Something that we didn't talk
• 17:42
  about with the non heme products yet is non heme iron, like we've
• 17:46
  mentioned is less bioavailable, but when you pair non heme iron
• 17:50
  with vitamin C, you're going to help with that bioavailability
• 17:53
  and you're going to help with that absorption.
• 17:55
  So if we are eating lentils, we're pairing it with red bell
• 17:58
  Peppers so that the vitamin C from the red bell Peppers are
• 18:01
  helping you absorb that non heme iron from the lentils.
• 18:04
  Additionally, hemp seeds are going to be rich in that non
• 18:07
  heme iron and we could pair that with strawberries because
• 18:10
  strawberries contain a lot of vitamin C and that will help
• 18:12
  with the absorption of that iron from the hemp seeds.
• 18:14
  In our blood health meals, we're focusing on pairing
• 18:18
  complementary foods that are going to help with the
• 18:20
  absorption of iron, and we're also avoiding foods that are
• 18:23
  going to block the absorption of that iron.
• 18:26
  A very drastic and extreme example that I always give is
• 18:30
  don't drink a glass of milk when you get a steak because steak is
• 18:33
  going to contain a lot of that heme iron.
• 18:35
  Milk is going to contain a lot of calcium.
• 18:38
  Calcium and iron are going to block each other.
• 18:40
  So we're not necessarily gaining either of those nutrients and
• 18:43
  not pairing. If that's something that you
• 18:45
  love and enjoy and you think it tastes good together, go for it,
• 18:48
  but that's not necessarily going to to the feeling focused then
• 18:51
  in that meal. So what's the difference then
• 18:53
  between food sources of iron and supplemented iron?
• 18:56
  When you look at their research, individuals who are anemic
• 18:59
  responds so much better to a continual dosage of iron
• 19:04
  containing food versus a supplement.
• 19:06
  And that's because we're not going to get into the Super
• 19:08
  nitty gritty vulnerable or anybody.
• 19:10
  But when there is a large dosage, given the
• 19:14
  bioavailability and the absorption, the absorption rate
• 19:17
  by the body is going to be less. So what happens times with
• 19:21
  supplementation is we're getting these huge dosings, but we're
• 19:24
  not necessarily absorbing it properly and utilizing it.
• 19:27
  So it's not going to greatly affect our iron levels even
• 19:31
  though we've quote UN quote increased our iron.
• 19:33
  So with any athlete at RDSN, what we do is we make sure that
• 19:37
  we are first adjusting the food amount and making sure that
• 19:40
  we're optimizing timing before looking at a supplement because
• 19:44
  research supports iron from food versus from a supplement.
• 19:48
  And even if you are taking a supplement, you should look at
• 19:50
  taking it, you know, every other day or something like that
• 19:53
  compared to taking it every day because of the absorption then
• 19:56
  also with compliance. So there can be a lot of like GI
• 20:00
  upset and Constipation with iron supplements.
• 20:03
  So that's just something to think about and make sure that
• 20:05
  you're managing if you are somebody who is anemic.
• 20:08
  Or has been prescribed an iron supplement by a medical
• 20:11
  professional. Because of course we don't want
• 20:13
  to just start taking a supplement simply because we
• 20:15
  start to feel tired. And we are an athlete, so we
• 20:17
  know we have increased needs without knowing that we actually
• 20:19
  have a need for it, like Riley mentioned in the beginning after
• 20:22
  an analysis of lab results. And additionally to making sure
• 20:26
  that if we are taking an iron supplement, we're looking at if
• 20:28
  it is a heme based iron or if it's a non heme iron.
• 20:30
  Because a lot of fortified foods and even some supplements are
• 20:33
  going to be non heme iron based. And therefore we could be taking
• 20:37
  something that again, we're not necessarily absorbing and
• 20:39
  utilizing properly. So if we're looking at kind of
• 20:42
  back to that whole idea of non heme sources and fortified
• 20:45
  foods, fortified foods then contain non heme sources.
• 20:48
  So it would be best to pair those fortified foods with that
• 20:51
  vitamin C again like you mentioned before.
• 20:53
  Yes, and something that I was actually doing a lot when I was
• 20:56
  pregnant because I was avoiding meat products as I was leaning
• 20:59
  on fortified foods like something like a Quaker Oat
• 21:02
  Squares. I don't know if you've seen that
• 21:03
  cereal, but it has about 60% of your daily value of iron.
• 21:06
  And I would pair that with strawberries.
• 21:08
  And then I would use a milk product that did not contain
• 21:11
  calcium. So products like almond milk or
• 21:14
  soy milk that have not been fortified with calcium because
• 21:16
  they don't naturally contain calcium, I would use those as
• 21:19
  like the base sort of like the soy would be the protein and
• 21:22
  therefore I could not block absorption by having calcium.
• 21:26
  And then I could try to maximize the absorption by pairing that
• 21:28
  vitamin C with the with the non heme iron.
• 21:30
  So there you have it, if you are looking for a quick and easy
• 21:33
  breakfast option that is a blood health meal.
• 21:36
  Riley just gave you a great example.
• 21:37
  It goes back to like this is it's all just so individualized
• 21:40
  and my lab values looked different with me being pregnant
• 21:44
  versus me being non pregnant. And even throughout my entire,
• 21:47
  you know, nine months of being pregnant, my lab values changed
• 21:50
  and my approach to feeling changed because, again, this is
• 21:53
  all just so individualized. Just reach out if you all have
• 21:55
  questions about anything. Even if you are an athlete and
• 21:58
  you have lower levels of iron or potentially a lower intake of
• 22:02
  iron, working with a dietitian and making sure that you are
• 22:04
  getting in those fueling focused meals that are potentially to
• 22:08
  help boost your intake of iron is a great place to start.
• 22:11
  Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Eat More
• 22:13
  Carbs podcast. If you have questions, Riley and
• 22:15
  I, please reach out to us on Instagram.
• 22:17
  You can find Riley at easy dot sports dot nutrition and you can
• 22:20
  find me at Jenna dot Fisher dot nutrition.
• 22:23
  Please make sure you rate, subscribe and review.
• 22:25
  And as always, remember to eat more carbs.