[YxSyk]

I don't know if I should take iron or not.. anyway, i'm 17 & quite active, but I've never taken iron supplements before. I'm taking b12 though, and i try to eat lots of foods high in iron especiaslly green leafy veggies and beans, and I take vit C with it. I dopn't feel tired or anything, but should i still take iron? cause i've heard that it's toxic unless you're really deficient. I don't even know if i get too much iron (or not) in my diet and how much it absorbs, so if i take iron i'm scared that i'm going to overdose. Has anyone else NEVER taken iron before as a vegetarian/vegan and still feel fine, or know someone who doesn't take iron?

 

[Tesseract]

I would suggest one of two things: (1) go to the doctor and ask for a blood test to see if your iron is OK, or (2) track your iron intake using a nutrition tracker software such as <a href="http://www.FitDay.com" target="_blank">www.FitDay.com</a> for a week or so and see whether it thinks you're gettig enough iron. A third, sort of cheapskate method is to go give blood. Generally, they will do a quick iron test before they let you give blood-- the one where they prick your finger, drop the blood it in the blue solution, and watch it sink. If it fails to sink, your iron is too low to donate.<br><br><br><br>
Iron deficiency tends to have noticeable <a href="http://ne.essortment.com/irondeficiency_rchi.htm" target="_blank">symptoms</a>, so if you don't have any of these, chances are you're fine.

 

[gaya]

Agree with Tess^^^. If your watching your sources for iron and taking it with C, that seems like a good enough path. You could always get a blood test for serum ferritin.<br><br><br><br>
eta: those blood tests when you donate blood aren't really accurate. By the time your hgb/hematocrite is low your stores are already depleted so I don't think it's the best test.