Tired, Anaemic, and cold

[Richard Akindele]

Disclaimer: The following is provided for information only. It's not to be taken as medical advice. Consult your doctor before deciding on any treatments.

Do you often feel tired. Perhaps after only a short amount of work, you become very exhausted.

How about your body temperature? Do you feel cold all the time?

These are symptoms of low Iron levels in your blood.

You may want to get a blood test to check your Iron levels.

How does Iron level lead to tiredness, and low body temperature?

As it turns out,

- Iron is used in creating Haemoglobin.

- Haemoglobin carries oxygen in the blood.

- Oxygen is required in breaking down the food that you eat (carbohydrates, fat, etc).

- Breaking down the food that you eat, produces energy.

So, as you can see, we're dealing with a chain reaction here. Low Iron levels, means low Haemoglobin levels, which means poor oxygen circulation in the body, which means food doesn't get broken down, which means energy doesn't get produced in the body.

Therefore, you end up tired, anaemic, and cold.

So, there you have it.

If you have low Iron levels, what needs to be done to correct it?

You can take Iron supplements, and/or eat more Iron-rich foods.

Any side effects of taking more Iron?
Yes. When you take Iron, it solves your tiredness problem, but also comes with its own baggage. Here are some of them...

Constipation.
Stomach cramps.
Farting.
Burping.
Dark stool.
etc.

How do you minimize these side effects?

Constipation: eat fiber-rich foods. Eat baked beans.

Stomach cramps: This may correct itself as your system gets used to the sudden influx of Iron.

More Info:

Some factors may prevent Iron from being absorbed into your body. So, just because you take more Iron, does not mean it's going to benefit you.

Milk is known to reduce Iron intake into the body.

Drink a lot of water, and a lot of vitamin C to improve intake.

Next time you're feeling lethargic, check your Iron levels.

[Richard Akindele]

As a follow-up, it's useful to know that as our haemoglobin levels decrease, our body would try to compensate for it.

Your heart starts to beat faster.
Your lungs work harder to move more oxygen around the body.

This helps the body cope with slightly lower levels of haemoglobin.

However, if Iron/haemoglobin levels become very low, that's when tiredness sets in, you get feelings of breathlessness, dizziness, abnormal heartbeats, chest pains, etc.

These are serious symptoms and should not be ignored. It could be fatal if not treated. It may also render you vulnerable and susceptible to other diseases.