Calculate your personalized iron needs based on age, sex, diet type, and physiological factors like pregnancy and menstruation.
Heme iron (from meat, fish, poultry) is absorbed at 15-35% efficiency. Non-heme iron (from plants, supplements) is absorbed at 2-20% efficiency. Vegetarians need almost twice as much iron due to lower bioavailability.
Take iron with vitamin C (citrus, bell peppers, strawberries), avoid tea/coffee/dairy with iron-rich meals, cook in cast iron, and separate calcium supplements from iron by 2+ hours.
Fatigue, weakness, pale skin, brittle nails, restless legs, unusual cravings for ice or starch. However, only blood tests (ferritin, hemoglobin, transferrin saturation) can confirm iron status.