A lack of iron in your body can lead to several problems, including sleep issues. It can disrupt your sleep cycle and lead to problems like periodic limb movement disorder and insomnia. A lot of people tend to overlook the signs of iron deficiency or anemia, but it is vital to keep its level in check.
Effects of iron supplements on sleep
Results showed a significant improvement in the severity of symptoms for restless leg syndrome, fatigue, and sleep quality. Additionally, participants experienced a significant decrease in headaches, dyspnoea (shortness of breath), and heart palpitations.
Iron plays a key role in the metabolism of monoamines in the brain thus iron deficiency leads to symptoms such as apathy, drowsiness, irritability and lack of attention occur due to impaired monoamine oxidase activity7.
Severe iron deficiency anaemia may increase your risk of developing complications that affect the heart or lungs, such as an abnormally fast heartbeat (tachycardia) or heart failure, where your heart is unable to pump enough blood around your body at the right pressure.
In many cases, mild iron deficiency anemia comes on so gradually that you may not even know you're anemic. Symptoms of mild anemia are subtle and include feeling grumpy, weak or tired more often than usual and getting headaches or perhaps having problems concentrating.
A large 2020 study in BMC Psychiatry found that people with iron deficiency anemia had a significantly higher incidence and risk of anxiety disorders, depression, sleep disorder, and psychotic disorders.
You may also find that low iron causes weight gain. There are a couple of reasons for this; firstly, your energy levels are low and so your exercise levels reduce; secondly, iron is essential for thyroid function, and an underactive thyroid will lead to weight gain.
Tea, coffee and wine contain tannins that reduce iron absorption by binding to the iron and carrying it out of the body. Phytates and fibres found in wholegrains such as bran can reduce the absorption of iron and other minerals.
Iron-Rich Foods
Heme iron is found in meat, fish and poultry. It is the form of iron that is most readily absorbed by your body. You absorb up to 30 percent of the heme iron that you consume. Eating meat generally boosts your iron levels far more than eating non-heme iron.
Common causes of chronic insomnia include: Stress. Concerns about work, school, health, finances or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events or trauma — such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss — also may lead to insomnia.
Taking the supplement before bedtime also ensures increased iron absorption, as your stomach will most likely empty before bedtime. Eating your meal at least two hours earlier before sleep would help increase iron absorption.
According to a specialist, you should take iron early in the morning to have a good effect, because at this time the body has just undergone a long sleep and this period is when the calcium and iron levels in the body are at a low level. best. Therefore, every day taking iron in the morning is what experts recommend.
– It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks of taking regular iron supplements before your symptoms start to improve. – You may need to keep taking iron for several months to build up your iron reserves and keep your anemia from returning. Take your pills for as long as your doctor recommends, even if your symptoms have improved.
Although in vitro studies show that iron absorption can be inhibited by magnesium laxatives such as magnesium oxide, taking oral iron supplements with magnesium laxatives is not considered a clinical problem.
Foods to avoid
milk and some dairy products. foods that contain tannins, such as grapes, corn, and sorghum. foods that contain phytates or phytic acid, such as brown rice and whole-grain wheat products. foods that contain oxalic acid, such as peanuts, parsley, and chocolate.
Inhibitors of iron absorption include phytate, which is a compound found in plant-based diets that demonstrate a dose-dependent effect on iron absorption. Polyphenols are found in black and herbal tea, coffee, wine, legumes, cereals, fruit, and vegetables and have been demonstrated to inhibit iron absorption.
Surgery or medications that stop stomach acid production will also decrease iron absorption. Blood loss. Loss of blood can cause a decrease of iron and result in iron-deficiency anemia. Sources of blood loss may include GI bleeding, menstrual bleeding, or injury.
Yes. Low iron causes low energy, which may result in burning fewer calories and causing you to keep reducing your caloric intake to lose weight.
Here we report that dietary iron-deficient anemia causes a variety of changes in nutrient metabolism and may even cause apoptosis, possibly as a result of the associated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the liver.
What does the headache feel like? The type of headache a person experiences as a result of iron-deficiency anemia can vary. Some people will experience a dull aching sensation throughout their head. They may also feel lightheaded or dizzy.
In adulthood, the behavioral disorders linked to iron deficiency are depression, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, and psychotic disorders [16].
Having an iron-deficiency may not cause insomnia or sleep problems but it can make you feel exhausted and overtired, which in turn may hinder your efforts to fall asleep in the first place!
Sustained stress is another cause of anaemia. Excessive stress hinders the manufacture of hydrochloric acid in your body, which is very important for the integration of iron and proteins. The deficiency of iron is equal to lack of haemoglobin and thus, anaemia.