I'm a vegetarian and my doctor said I should start taking multivitamin with iron?

Question

Is anyone else taking this? I am fourteen and am wondering if it will give me more energy considering I am very low on energy lately. Any complaints about this vitamin?

Answer 1

Iron is not a vitamin. Iron is a mineral.

Iron deficiency anaemia is the commonest deficiency in the Western World. To correct it, supplementation is the way to go.

An iron rich diet alone may not be enough. My uncle eats red meat every day- he's anaemic and has to take iron pills. Its probably because your intestine is not absorbing the iron properly.

There are two things to do:

1. Carry on with the supplementation

2. Eat iron rich foods (such as nuts, beans, wholegrains)

Beans are great at combating anaemia.

I take a daily multivitamin & mineral supplement, to 'plug the gap' and make sure I am getting enough of everything.

BUT it is much more preferable to get your iron from food. This link should help:

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/iron.html

Taking an iron supplement will almost certainly help your tiredness & lack of energy. Keep up your doctor's suggested dosage and I promise your iron levels will go up. You will find that you have much more energy over time. It may take a while, but persevere.

I hope this helps, take care. :D

Answer 2

If you are a veg. you so need to take vit/min. supplements.  Vegetarians are at a higher risk for being deficient in not only iron but B vitamins as well.  I take 2 prenatals (nursing mom), an iron pill and sub-lingual (under the tongue liquid<tateless>) B complex as well.  If I miss a day or two I can hardly get out of bed!!!

Answer 3

I have been taking a multi vitamin everyday since I was 10. You might find a boost of energy from the vitamins, but more importantly you are getting guaranteed vitamin intake everyday that you might not be getting from the foods you eat. No matter if you are a vegetarian or not, taking a multi vitamin is a wise idea.

Answer 4

i had the same thing(last year when i was 14)

and i have beed taking them for a year now, and it has helped so much.

i have so much more energy now and less migranes and stuff.

you need to take it.

i have ONCE A DAY WOMENS MULTVITAMIN

Answer 5

multi vitamins are great but to honest, green veg like spinach and broccoli will be better for you than iron tablets, there are really great recipees for them too, look up linda McCartney.

Answer 6

I'm 15 and my doctor told me the same thing. He said I could take a womens multi-vitamin like the chewy choclate kind... I havent bought them yet. Right now I'm taking a organic Teen Multi-Vitamin from Whole Foods. It's really gross!

Answer 7

It sounds like your doctor thinks you may have iron-deficient anemia, which just means that you don't have quite as much iron in your blood as you should, and that makes it more difficult for oxygen to get transported throughout your body.  One of the common symptoms of this condition is fatigue.  Since you obviously don't eat beef, which is a really good source of iron, I would definitely give the vitamins a chance.

Answer 8

I take a multivitamin with iron--DEVA Multivitamin Once Daily.  VegLife also makes vegan once-a-day multivitamins, both with and without iron.  Both are quite good and won't choke you when you try to take them.  You can get DEVA from Amazon.com or any vegan online retailer.

Also, when you consume iron-rich foods (check out www.vrg.org for a list), make sure you consume something rich in vitamin C with it to help increase absorption.

Answer 9

Taking multivitamin with iron is not a bad idea. It won't hurt anything to do so. But then again, simply because someone is a doctor, does not mean that they know what they are talking about. Many doctors still believe that people NEED to eat meat. Which is quite ridiculous.