If you’ve ever felt run down, woke up tired, or had strange cravings throughout the day, these could be signs that you have an iron deficiency.
Women are particularly affected, with about one in four experiencing low iron levels.
Nutritionist and dietitian Susie Burrell said that while daily pressures, menstruation and lower dietary intake may be the reason behind this, some men may also have problems with low iron levels.
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“If you’re a sporadic carnivore, you don’t give your body a chance to absorb the large amount of iron,” Burrell told Today Extra.
“People who eat meat and have that cheeky burger at the club, they don’t have exposure to dietary iron and they don’t notice it until it’s low.”
With plant-based diets becoming increasingly popular among Australians, Burrell said it was important to include certain foods in the diet to prevent low iron levels.
“Particularly if it’s plant-based, if you only have plant iron, you want to make sure you have legumes, nuts and seeds,” she said.
She said these foods can improve absorption, which is important if you’re an active person who does a lot of training or shift work where you don’t notice iron running low.
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If you’ve had plenty of sleep but still feel tired, get winded climbing stairs, have dull skin and brittle nails, or have strange cravings, but you’re not pregnant, these are key signs of low iron.
“You feel like you need meat or you need to chew on hard things, people will describe it as chopping or crushing rocks, that’s pretty common when it comes to low iron levels,” Burrell said.
If you think you have low iron levels, Burrell cautioned against taking an iron supplement without first talking to your doctor.
“We would never supplement with iron without getting a blood test and seeing your GP,” he said.
“It’s a metal and you can have too much of it.”
To boost your iron levels naturally through food, Burrell suggested including a source of iron at every meal, if you eat meat, eating red meat three to four times a week, and increasing your consumption of eggs.
See what else Susie said in the video above
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