Iron Deficiency – Functions, Symptoms, & Causes Explained By Dr. Berg

Find out what causes one of the world’s most prevalent nutrient deficiencies.

hey guys dr. Berg here in this video we’re going  to talk about iron deficiencies okay iron is the most common deficiency so let’s just kind of break  it down to make it really basic iron is needed for oxygen transport through the blood okay it also  is involved in producing energy at the cellular level it actually helps make DNA it helps with  hemoglobin myoglobin which is basically the transport oxygen system to the blood and also to  the muscle so iron is needed to transport oxygen to the different parts of the body and then  neural globin which is basically similar to these other oxygen transports but it goes to the  central nervous system like the brain spinal cord and that type of thing but iron also helps make  T cell so it’s involved in the immune system so the symptoms of iron deficiency are fatigue kind  of washed out and if a woman actually is a like has really heavy menstrual cycles they can be  anemic and they have low iron and they’re just kind of always tired chronically fatigued increase  heart rate rapid breathing especially when you go up inclines low endurance you run at a gas real  fast restless leg syndrome is an iron deficiency it could be other things but iron is one of the  causes attention deficit disorder like attention content of problems with concentration associate  kids and adults poor memory involved with low iron interesting it so normally we need about eight  milligrams of iron per day postmenopausal women need 18 grams of iron that’s 10 grams more  per day then the average person a pregnant woman needs 27 milligrams of iron every single  day yes iron is in spinach it’s in vegetables it’s in legumes and beans but the challenge  is that the animal sources of iron are much more absorbed by the body that you can still get  it if you’re vegetarian for sure if you actually have a variety of vegetables but it’s much easier  to get it from like meats and chicken and fish in that type of now other nutrients needed to absorb  iron you need vitamin A so when you have people are deficient in iron they’re usually deficient in  vitamin A at the same time copper zinc so you need these other minerals and by the way when you’re  taking iron is a supplement a lot of times they use something called ferrous oxide which is I  don’t recommend that source it’s not the best source for the body and you want to get it from  food it’s all possible but if you’re actually taking iron as a supplement and you take at the  same time as you take calcium chances are you’re not going to absorb it so you want to take your  iron and take your calcium later about two hours later don’t combine those two when you’re low  in iron you have poor conversions from t4 to t3 so the thyroid needs iron for its conversions  so one of the causes of an iron deficiency is yes maybe you’re a vegan but you’re not doing  it correctly and you’re having just maybe too many refined grains that could be a cause of  your iron deficiency if you’re a celiac or IBS or you have a digestive issue or a low stomach  acid you’re not going to be able to absorb iron that well or if you have a gastric bypass we  have chronic inflammation you’re not going to absorb iron and this is interesting too there’s  something called phytic acid and that is something naturally in legumes grains nuts and seeds and  if you’re consuming those foods and they’re not germinated you’re going to actually block the  absorption of iron and other minerals so here’s the catch-22 if you consume those those foods you  need to germinate them which basically means soak them in water overnight dry them out and then  consume them now there are certain conditions genetic conditions that have too much iron in  the liver because the liver is the organ that stores mostly iron and it can become very very  toxic so what I recommend in that situation to remove the ions is to consume legumes grains  seeds and nuts that are not germinated so you can you know try to limit this toxic iron  and maybe take more calcium as well alright so that’s just some basic data on iron and  put your comments below hey guys thank you so much for watching please click the subscribe  button and I will see you in the next video