As we, all know iron is one of the important minerals needed for our body on a daily basis. You induce iron into your body through a good food diet. But when the food sources don’t provide you with enough iron, a supplement may be prescribed to you by your doctor.
A deficiency in iron is usually related to anemia and this is confirmed by a CBC blood test or a complete blood test. Although too much iron is not good for the body, taking a supplement does help those who suffer from anemia.
Chelation is a chemical process where iron molecules and amino acids bind together for easy absorption for plants and animals. The iron found in the dietary sources has natural amino acids in them but what chelation attempts to make are supplemental iron similar to the natural occurring amino acids.
In other words, we can say that the chelated iron is nothing but disguised amino acids, which are easy for the plants and animals to absorb.
There have been debates on how effective chelated iron supplements are. It is known that when added to plants, it showed improvement in the growth. But in humans and animals it is difficult to know how well it is absorbed due to some factors like existence of other minerals in the body, which may interfere or some pre-existing illness.
When iron enters the body it is reduced to ferrous iron which is readily absorbed and some are stored in the blood, liver, and spleen for reuse. It is absorbed in the small intestines and any iron chelated or non-chelated is broken down in the intestines for the body to distribute. So it is pretty much a personal choice to choose a chelated iron supplement.
So in short, iron supplements are chelated to make it easy & efficiently absorbed by the body. But remember first to get your doctor to check your iron levels and if you need the supplements or not and how much iron is too much for you.
|