Your voice of Hair
“Girl you know I got low iron!”
How many times have you heard this from someone around you? You might even be the person who says this every time you start feeling cold or get up too fast and get dizzy. Either way, we’ve all heard this line before. The fact of the matter is…WE NEED IRON. Iron is one of the most important minerals that we have in our body that is needed in order for our bodies to grow and function properly. It has many jobs including: carrying oxygen from our lungs throughout our whole body, hemoglobin production, and of course, growing and strengthening our hair. Iron is essential to the human body.
Iron Deficiency + Symptoms
Low iron affects many women/men but Black Women in particular. On average about 20% of Black women and 17% of Black men are dealing with iron deficiency. Both Black and Hispanic women are 2-3 times more likely to deal with anemia than White women. Low Iron can stem from blood loss for example from heavy menstrual cycles or gastrointestinal bleeding, not getting enough iron rich food in your system, pregnancy and also having a hard time with iron absorption. The “why” behind this all is extremely important due to you needing to know how to combat the low levels and finding an answer. As the colder seasons kick in, symptoms of low iron will increase…meaning that everyone needs to be on top of their health!
As a doula who mainly works with Black and Brown parents, I am constantly urging parents to work on boosting their iron levels by the foods they eat and vitamins and checking in with medical providers. But, this is not the only thing. There is an emphasis on iron levels even from birth, I urge moms to do delayed cord clamping because of the iron rich blood being transferred from mom to baby. One benefit of this is decreasing the chances of having conditions such as anemia, this is how important iron is.
When you hear about iron, one of your first thoughts is usually anemia. Anemia is a condition in which you are lacking the proper amount of hemoglobin/ healthy red blood cells. Hemoglobin is the molecule that contains iron, which allows it to pick up oxygen from the air we breath and deliver it to different parts of our bodies. Low iron (also meaning low hemoglobin) can cause fatigue, brittle nails, hair loss, dizziness, constantly feeling cold, shortness of breath, ice cravings, elevated heart beat, and more. Because iron is carrying out oxygen from the lungs to every part of the body, it is imperative that we are getting what we need to maintain the proper levels. Without iron carrying oxygen throughout the body, your organs are not able to properly function.
Iron Deficiency + Hair Loss
When thinking about your hair and iron levels, looking into ferritin is very important. Ferritin is a protein that actually stores iron and then releases it when needed to the proper places and organs in the body. This protein represents the total iron stored in your body. An inadequate level of ferritin is <30 ng/mL. Hair loss is one symptom of low iron, it is suggested that it can even lead to alopecia. You can read a bit about alopecia and its link to other vitamins in one of our past blog posts here: https://the4cvoice.com/your-hair-needs-vitamin-d/. Iron itself is in the follicles of our hair; when one is experiencing low iron levels, the body will try to get it from wherever it can. In this case, when hair loss is directly related to low iron, the body will react by taking the iron from the hair follicle and transferring it elsewhere. At that point, our bodies are just attempting to get oxygen to other parts of the body leading to brittle hair or overall hair loss/shedding. With iron being the mineral that helps carry oxygen throughout the whole body, its impact on our hair is huge. Without the oxygen getting to our scalp/hair, we are unable to actually retain hair and maintain shine, thickness and healthy hair overall. Our scalps absolutely need that oxygenation to maintain hair health.
Diagnosing Iron Deficiency
While we may hear the “you know I have low iron!” joke all the time, we must keep in mind that this is truly a serious thing. Feeling dizzy, brain fog, experiencing hair shedding, fatigue and so many more symptoms isn’t ideally how someone would like to navigate through life. Anemia is serious and can lead to a blood transfusion in serious cases. We cannot diagnose ourselves, going to the doctors and getting some blood work done will be the most important step to take. Depending on what your lab results say, you can move forward to treatment. There are different ways to manage and increase iron levels.
At Home Remedies
- There’s honestly nothing better than being able to take matters into your own hands and handling things on your own terms…especially your health. Managing iron levels can simply start in your home. I love cooking and knowing what food can help increase iron levels is key. Iron rich foods include red meats, poultry, beans (black, navy and kidney), eggs, seafood such as oysters, shrimp, clams, iron fortified cereals, bread and pasta, and of course green leafy green. For someone like me who loves oysters, I can say that I’m going straight to The Oyster Bar after this. Or…for the guys and gals who love to cook you can make lamb chops, sauteed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes or even sweet potatoes. Whatever you like! During breakfast make sure you’re including a citrus drink like orange juice that helps with iron absorption.
- Multivitamins are also recommended and if you’re good at taking a daily supplement they’re an easy choice. Companies such as Nature Made and Garden of Life are good choices.
- Doctors can also prescribe oral iron liquid drops or formulations that you can take. Some people also order online or go to stores with natural products such as Whole Food’s to pick it up too.
Managing Iron Levels at the Doctors
- Blood tests will tell you an accurate number of your iron levels. (Iron, Ferritin, TIBC, Iron Saturation)
- A doctor can also have you get iron through an IV especially if you’re having a difficult time tolerating oral iron liquid or supplements.
No matter how this is being managed you also want to make sure that you are not getting too much iron in your system. This could have an adverse effect on your organs due to an overload being stored in the heart, liver, pancreas and thyroid causing them to function improperly. So ALWAYS go to a medical professional.
Let’s Wrap This Up!
The fact of the matter is…we literally need iron to function. If you want to have healthy hair, ensuring that your iron levels are in good standing is crucial. We don’t want other parts of our body literally having to steal some iron from our hair follicle to continue to function. You can do many things to help elevate levels. Remember to check in with your medical providers, cook delicious iron rich foods and take your supplements. The lack of iron can lead to hair loss or the most serious case anemia. If you are wondering why you can’t seem to shake off that feeling of fatigue or dizziness or even wondering why your hair growth and retention is stagnant or continuously shedding, think about checking in with your doctor. As Black and Brown people, this affects us the most so we have to tap in !
Get some blood work done, iron might just be what you need to feel good overall and remember, https://the4cvoice.com/shop/ will always be here to provide nutrient rich products!
Also check out this tik Tok page. She is a Black hematologist : https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR9cYR6o/
This is very helpful information, I’m interested in trying the iron drops. Can’t keep losing these edges !
We’re happy this was helpful! Check in with your primary care doctor soon! They’ll be able to tell you which dosage is best for you. You can also start with multivitamins in the meantime, to make sure you’re covered for all major vitamins and minerals.