You may get tired, have reduced concentration, get hair loss and brittle finger nails and generally feel weak.
low iron count has also been shown to have a negative impact on cognitive functions.

Iron status of pregnant women and those planning to conceive has an effect on the weight of the fetus, even to such a degree that it affects the health status of an individual during their whole lifetime.

Also the uptake of cadmium is increased, which may lead to osteoporosis.

The elemental iron is called organic or heme iron when it is bound to the proteins hemoglobin or myoglobin, as is the case in meat courses.

All other forms of iron are inorganic or non-heme and this is when the iron molecule is chelated or bound to for instance salts (as in vegetables) starch, citrates or other chemical compounds. The regular iron supplements are synthetic artificial chemical creations made with iron sulphate, iron fumarate or similar.

Our bodies can utilize both forms, but heme iron is vastly superior both in uptake and tolerance.

Outside of digestible iron there are intravenously given iron and transfusions. There are considered a last resort when oral iron is no longer tolerated. These are expensive, painful and cumbersome methods. They also have their risks, such as overdosing, allergic reactions and oxidative stress. However, iron is absolutely vital to life.

Heme iron works in all situations and tolerance is excellent. Tolerance and efficacy will not change over time.

Iron is stored, mostly in the liver as ferritin or hemosiderin. In a blood test the Hb-value tells how much iron in the form of hemoglobin the body has available for transporting oxygen to the cells. The ferritin count is used to measure stored iron.

The liver’s stores of ferritin are the primary physiologic source of reserve iron in the body.

Iron deficiency first affects the storage iron in the body. When stores are empty deficiency will appear. Since iron is primarily required for hemoglobin, iron deficiency anemia is the primary clinical manifestation of iron deficiency.

The heme iron in meat courses is being absorbed through a separate mechanism and is practically uninfluenced by what is eaten at the same time.

The calcium in milk products is also regarded as having a generally lessening effect on iron uptake.

The uptake of heme iron is not affected by simultaneously ingested food, drink or medication, since it follows a different and separate parallel uptake mechanism. Heme iron is taken up in any clinical situation, even after gut surgery.

Yes, if you for instance suffer from the rare and hereditary disease of hemochromatose or if you suddenly are exposed to huge doses. The poisoning dose is considered to be 20 mg or more iron per kilo of body weight. The result is primarily nausea, but it may also be dangerous. This is the reason that iron supplements should always be kept out of reach of children.

From Heme-Iron only what is needed is absorbed. The rest remains inert in the gut, as opposed to non-heme iron, which leaves the not-absorbed part as toxic and reactive free iron ions in the stomach causing gastro-intestinal side-effects. The efficacy of heme iron is so good, that a small dose is all that’s needed for iron replacement.

There is no BSE within the EU any longer and certification is very strict. Today this is not even theoretically a problem.

Heme iron tablet supplements have been in use in Scandinavia for more than 30 years. There have been no cases of serious side-effects or poisonings reported after use by literally millions.

The raw material is pharma-grade and comes with all necessary certification.

The OptiFer® heme iron supplements are accepted by the FDA and within the EU.

The OptiFer®-products are Halal-certified on the grounds that they are potentially life-saving.

In all published medical studies the effect of the OptiFer® supplements is very good and the tolerance is placebo level. Heme iron is by far the best form of oral supplementation.

Today a new raw material has been developed. All the iron in the OptiFer®-series of products is heme iron. The dosage 18 mg is based on food supplement regulations and will give an ideally steady and mild supplementation to correct iron values.

Since hemoglobin iron is so well absorbed, the efficacy means that the dose easily can compete with non-heme products with 50 mg or more per dose.

(“Iron supplementation in pregnancy: is less enough”, Eskeland et al. Acta Obstet Gyn Scand 76 1997)

The dried raw material powder when used as in tablets is totally inert over time and not susceptible to any change. Not absorbed hemoglobin in the gut is also totally inert and will not cause stomach problems.

The product withstands time and heat and the tablets are packed in airtight blister charts.

Supplement/Food legislation implies a best-before date, usually one or two years from date of manufacture.

The food industry is well equipped to produce much more raw material than needed for supplement tablets.

There will not be a shortage of hemoglobin raw material.

In clinical studies the ratio of side-effects is placebo level (lowest possible). It is very unlikely for poisoning to occur with the low doses in heme iron tablets.

Heme iron has no known interactions with medication, food or drink.

Heme iron supplementation has been in wide use in Scandinavia since the 1970s. There are no reported cases of serious side-effects or poisoning.