Your Body Can't Use What It Can't Absorb: The Truth About Iron Deficiency

Feeling exhausted despite eating iron-rich foods? The mystery of persistent iron deficiency unfolds in this week's episode where we challenge the conventional wisdom about nutrition. The truth isn't just what you eat, but what your body actually absorbs.

This flashback episode returns due to popular demand as more clients struggle with persistent iron deficiency despite seemingly doing everything right. As a naturopath and clinical nutritionist with a special interest in perimenopause I've observed that most iron deficiency cases aren't simply about intake—they're about absorption barriers that silently sabotage your nutrient levels.

Discover how everyday habits secretly block iron absorption: the surprising impact of scrolling through your phone while eating, why stress redirects blood flow away from your digestive system, and the shocking competition between your morning coffee and iron supplements. You'll learn why tannins in coffee, tea, and red wine effectively block iron receptors for up to two hours, potentially explaining why your iron levels remain low despite supplementation.

Beyond these hidden barriers, we explore the crucial synergy between vitamin C and iron absorption, why inflammation from even mild food intolerances compromises nutrient uptake, and simple strategies to optimise your iron status. This knowledge transforms not just how you approach iron deficiency, but your entire relationship with nutrition—moving from "you are what you eat" to the more accurate "you are what you absorb."

Whether you're navigating perimenopause, menopause, or simply feeling depleted, these practical insights will help you finally address the root causes of iron deficiency rather than just treating symptoms. Click subscribe to ensure you never miss an episode of the Ageless and Awesome podcast, and connect with me on Instagram @the.perimenopause.path to share how these strategies work for you!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women

(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
I'm doing a flashback episodethis week because I've had so

(00:47):
many clients recently that areiron deficient and I did an
episode on this last year when Iwas doing Q&A Thursday and I
just figured, you know what?
I think people need to hearthis episode again.
So this episode covers a numberof different things of why
you're iron deficient and howyou can, I guess, address this,

(01:11):
because it's really important.
Iron is one of our mostimportant.
That's why we test it regularly, one of our most important
minerals that we have in thebody, and we use it for so, so
many things, and it's so commonthese days for people generally
to be iron deficient, but also Isee it a lot in women in peri
and post-menopause.
So sit back and enjoy thisflashback episode.

(01:36):
This week I have a questionthat I get a lot.
I'm seeing a lot of women whoare iron deficient in clinic and
in my programs, and one of thequestions I get a lot and I've
had this one from a lovely ladycalled Irene in Melbourne and
she said why am I iron deficient?

(01:56):
I eat red meat.
What's going on?
So there's a couple of thingsthat can be the cause of being
iron deficient and obviouslywith women, a lot of the time it
can be if you have quite heavyperiods and if you're not sure
whether or not you are havingheavy periods I have done a Q&A

(02:18):
on this a few weeks ago, so goand check that out but if you're
not having heavy periods andyou feel like, well, I eat red
meat, I shouldn't be irondeficient, well, there's a few
things we can talk about here.
As nutritionists, we used to sayyou are what you eat, and now
we're saying you are what youabsorb, and this is the thing.

(02:39):
These days, lots of people arenot absorbing their nutrients
very well.
Why is this?
There are quite a few reasonsfor this, so one is they may not
be chewing their food properly.
Even things as basic as thatcan mean you're not breaking
down your food properly if yourdigestion's not great and so,

(03:01):
yeah, you won't absorb yournutrients.
So there's that Not chewingyour food properly.
There is being distracted whenyou are eating.
So if you're watching TV, ifyou're looking at a screen,
reading anything but focusing onyour food, essentially, then
you're not smelling your food,you're not looking at your food.

(03:23):
You're not smelling your food,you're not looking at your food.
That kind of thing will reduceyour secretion of digestive
juices.
We have something called thecatholic reflex.
If you think about right now,think about what is your
favorite food.
Maybe it's chocolate cake,maybe it's fresh bread,
something like that.
Just bring into your mind rightnow what your favorite food is,

(03:46):
and I want you to really thinkabout it.
Imagine it in your mind,imagine what it smells like,
imagine what it tastes like.
And Even me, just talking aboutthis to you, my mouth is
watering, and I reckon for themajority of you listening to
this, your mouth will bewatering now too.
Guess what that's?
Some digestive juices.
We have enzymes in our salivawhich break down our food, and

(04:10):
we have this cephalic reflexthat will help prepare the
digestive system for food.
So if you're distracted, andparticularly if you haven't
cooked the food yourself so youhaven't kind of been immersed in
it for a little period of time,if you've ordered takeaway or
you're having restaurant meal orif someone else has cooked for
you and you literally come andyou sit down and you eat and you

(04:32):
haven't been through thatprocess of looking at the food,
smelling the food, thinkingabout the food, your digestive
system just simply may not bequite ready to digest that food.
And then if you're not chewingyour food properly, that's kind
of an extra layer.
And on top of that if you arestressed, then your digestive

(04:54):
system is not going to be aseffective.
You know that we have there's acouple of things.
We have a gut-brain connection.
We also have our stressresponse, which is the opposing
nervous system to our relaxationresponse.
The other term for ourrelaxation response is the rest

(05:16):
and digest response.
So if you're quite stressed,there is a reduction in blood
flow to your digestive tract andit will slow down peristalsis,
which is the movement of theintestines which propels the
food through the body.
So when that all slows down wecan get reduction again in those

(05:39):
digestive juices and the foodis just not going to be broken
down and absorbed, so your ironis not going to be absorbed.
So there's three thingsstraight away.
Another thing is and a lot ofpeople are really surprised when
I tell them this iron competeswith tannins.
Now, tannins are the dark, likea plant chemical that causes

(06:03):
the dark color of coffee, ofblack tea, of red wine, things
like that.
Any kind of dark beverage, abeverage that's naturally dark,
can compete for the samereceptor site in your body that
iron does, and it's actually alittle bit of a stronger
affinity.
So what that means is, if yousit down at a cafe, for example,

(06:26):
or if one of the first thingsyou do in the morning is when
you wake up is have a cup ofcoffee or tea, that will
essentially block your ironreceptors.
So if you're having an ironrich meal or even your iron
supplement within two hours ofhaving coffee or tea, then your
ability to absorb that iron isgoing to be very much reduced.

(06:49):
So this is really important.
If you are on an ironsupplement, take it at a time
that's at least two hours awayfrom tannin containing beverages
such as coffee, tea and redwine.
So yeah, there's a hot tip.
Another one is that to getreally good absorption of iron,

(07:12):
you need vitamin C.
So if you're having an ironrich meal, make sure you're also
having vitamin C foods.
Now, nature knows this, andwhen you're looking at
plant-based sources of iron,they will almost always also
have high levels of vitamin C inthem, which is awesome, so
you're going to get thatabsorption happening really well

(07:33):
.
Red meat doesn't tend to havethat, so you do need to be
mindful that if you are havingred meat for the purposes of
increasing your iron, thatyou're having some dark leafy
greens with it or some sort ofcitrus.
Perhaps that will help to giveyou that vitamin C so that you
can absorb your iron better.

(07:55):
The last thing I'm going tomention because this is my short
podcast, this Q&A the lastthing I'm going to mention is
that you may have someinflammation going on in your
digestive system that may bepreventing some of the
absorption, or breaking down andabsorption of your nutrients.
So if you've got something likefood intolerances, for example,
I speak to a lot of people thatare dairy intolerant, but they

(08:19):
might just have some milk intheir coffee and they may get a
little bit of diarrhea, butthat's okay because it's worth
it.
Well, every time you're gettinglike maybe a little bit of
bloating or a little bit ofdiarrhea and you know it's
because of a food intolerance,then you've actually got a
little bit of inflammation goingon in your gut and it's not
something you're even probablyaware of.
But if you have thatinflammation, that's going to

(08:42):
make it just that little bitmore difficult for your
digestive system to break downyour food and absorb your
nutrients, including iron.
So that's kind of my quick anddirty on why you iron deficient,
even if you're having red meat.
So thank you so much, irenefrom Melbourne, for that

(09:03):
question, because I think it'sreally important that,
particularly as women, a lot ofus are iron deficient and it's
really important to know why,particularly if you're having
iron supplements and you'rehaving foods that are high in
iron but you feel like you justcan never get on top of your
iron deficiency.
So yeah, there you go.

(09:25):
Hope you've enjoyed it.
Please let me know if you havea question for future episodes.
I would love to hear from you.
Thanks so much for joining meon the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked this episode,please make sure you click the
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(09:45):
If you feel like writing me afive star review, you would
absolutely make my day If youfound this episode resonated
with you.
Head over to my Instagram andDM me at theperimenopausepath.
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