Best Multivitamin with Iron For Women: The Top Supplement for 2024!

Iron is one of the most abundant minerals on earth but happens to also be one of the most deficient among the population, especially women.

It’s a major component of hemoglobin, a protein that transports oxygen to tissues of the body, as well as myoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen to your muscles.

Iron is also essential for brain health, growth and development, hormone synthesis, immune function, and muscle metabolism.

While iron is widely available in both animal and plant food sources, most people struggle to get enough due to insufficient dietary intake, poor absorption, or increased needs. So, when you’re running low on this important mineral, what’s a girl to do?

Answer: you turn to the best multivitamin with iron. You’re looking at the purest, cleanest, most effective women's multivitamin on the market specifically formulated for women’s needs.

In this article, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about the importance of iron for women and where you can find it.

The Importance Of A Daily Multivitamin

You’ll hear a lot of people say that taking a multivitamin is pointless because you should be able to get everything you need from food.

While we’d love to agree with that, the fact of the matter is that regardless of what kind of diet you follow, it can be difficult for your body to obtain everything it needs all the time from food.

Every diet has its nutritional gaps, be it paleo, keto, vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, or what have you. On top of that, there are external factors outside of diet like genetics, health status, and age that can all influence nutrient absorption.

With that said, let’s dig into five of the main reasons why taking a multivitamin is important.

Lifestyle and diet factors

Certain populations may have different intake needs than others.

For example, people who exclude specific foods from their diets—for example, vegans and vegetarians who don’t consume animal products—may require a higher intake of specific nutrients compared to people who regularly get them from food.

For female athletes or anyone engaging in strenuous activity, balancing nutritional needs is important. While the requirements for what vitamins and minerals they need are the same as the rest of the population, the amounts can differ due to depletion as a result of strenuous physical activity.

For example, exercise is known to reduce levels of the B vitamins and magnesium, and the need for specific antioxidants may be heightened after exercise, as well ¹.

Dietary intake

Our bodies rely on a specific intake of vitamins and minerals daily for optimal function.

While there are a few vitamins that can be produced in the body, most of them cannot, which means they must be supplied through diet. And the reality is that most people don’t consume enough of the nutrients their body needs.

NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey)—one of the most comprehensive nutritional databases in the world—has looked into the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies among the US population and zeroed in on some of the key missing nutrients ²:

• Vitamin B6
• Iron
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B12

Other less common deficiencies included vitamin A, vitamin E, and folate (B9).

Dietary restrictions can also complicate the matter. There is no single food that supplies all of the essential vitamins and minerals.

So, when you’re cutting out foods that are the main source of one nutrient, you have to make up for it elsewhere, generally through a good women's multivitamin supplement.

For example, except for mushrooms and nutritional yeast, vitamin B12 is only naturally found in animal products. If you’re someone who doesn’t include animal foods in your diet, you have to be supplementing with B12 to avoid a deficiency.

Age

Age can also play a role in nutrient intake. In general, total energy intake tends to decrease with age by as much as 1000-1200 calories in men and 600-800 calories in women, which can directly result in low nutrient intake.

For specific nutrients, it’s estimated that older Americans consume only one-fifth to one-third of the recommended dietary intake ³. On top of that, changes in nutrient absorption capabilities also change with age, which further interferes with levels.

But then we also have specific age groups that may need more of certain nutrients. If you’re going through menopause, you may need a little more support for bone health from calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium.

Pregnant? You’ll need to boost your intake of choline and folate. Heavy periods? Try getting more iron. Your nutrient needs change throughout your life and you need a multivitamin that grows with you.

Genetics

Your genetics can also influence your nutrient status by affecting how your body processes specific nutrients.

This is an important area to look at because certain genetic disorders can also interfere with how the body absorbs and utilizes nutrients. For example, having the MTHFR genetic mutation means that you can’t effectively and efficiently utilize folic acid, the synthetic form of folate or vitamin B9 ⁴.

Folate is not only essential during pregnancy, but it’s required as a cofactor for several biochemical reactions supporting optimal health. That’s why people with this genetic polymorphism opt for methylated forms of certain vitamins.

That’s also why knowing your genetic makeup is important to supporting your individual nutritional needs and choosing the right dietary supplements.

Intake vs. use

Eating a healthy diet may fulfill your body’s requirements for essential vitamins and minerals, but some vitamins function in a pair, and if you’re not getting enough of the other half, it doesn’t operate to its full potential.

Simply put, sometimes vitamins work better together.

Take calcium, for example. Calcium is essential for supporting bone health, but for it to function effectively, it also requires sufficient levels of vitamin D, magnesium, and vitamin K ⁵. These three nutrients act as the co-stars for calcium.

So, while you may be getting enough calcium through your diet, having a good multivitamin also helps to ensure you’re consuming enough of the other nutrients that calcium relies on to be a superstar.

Another power duo is vitamin C and iron. While the body can easily absorb heme-iron derived from animal foods, non-heme iron from plant foods is much more difficult to absorb. However, when you throw in vitamin C, it can enhance the absorption of iron ⁶.

What You Need To Know About Iron

Now that you know why having a good multivitamin in your stack is important, there’s one specific nutrient we want to give some love—iron.

Most people focus on the “core” nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, and the like, but don’t think twice when it comes to lesser-known nutrients like iron.

But why do you need iron?

Erythropoiesis

The process of red blood cell formation heavily depends on iron levels.

Sufficient levels of iron are essential for the proper function of hemoproteins like hemoglobin, which is involved in the transport and binding of oxygen; cytochromes, which function in the mitochondrial electron transport chain and metabolism; and catalases and peroxidases that play a role in redox reactions ^{6, 7}.

On top of that, metalloproteins that contain iron are required during DNA synthesis, gene regulation, cell proliferation and differentiation, steroid hormone synthesis, drug metabolism, and immune function.

Insufficient iron intake can result in the suppression of erythropoiesis by stimulating the IRP–HIF2α axis to reduce the production of erythropoietin, which subsequently impacts red blood cell formation ⁸. As a result, iron-deficiency anemia can develop.

Brain function

Although iron may not be the go-to nutrient for supporting brain health, it is essential.

It’s involved in several processes fundamental to the brain such as oxygen transport, DNA synthesis, mitochondrial respiration, myelin synthesis (nervous system), and neurotransmitter synthesis and metabolism ⁹.

Abnormal iron homeostasis can result in cellular damage through the production of free radicals that induce damage to lipids, proteins, carbs, and DNA.

While iron is essential for proper brain function, excessive accumulation of iron can be toxic. High levels of iron in the brain can induce oxidative stress by generating free radicals that damage DNA. Disruptions to iron homeostasis can also affect the function of mitochondria, which can accelerate the progression of neurodegenerative mechanisms ⁹.

Long story short, abnormal iron homeostasis can contribute to the development and progression of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, Frederich’s ataxia, Huntington’s, and restless legs syndrome.

Healthy immune system

Cells of the immune system also rely on sufficient levels of iron to perform optimally.

Iron is required for the proliferation and maturation of immune cells, especially lymphocytes, which are involved in generating a specific response to infection ¹⁰.

Although the role of iron in the immune system isn’t completely understood, it’s well-established that iron deficiency increases susceptibility to infection, while iron overload also increases the risk of infection ¹¹. It's all about balance.

Energy

Iron may not contribute directly to energy production but looking at iron levels could explain fatigue, even without diagnosed anemia.

This is because of iron’s role in oxygen transport; insufficient supply of oxygen to tissues can result in suboptimal function and subsequently fatigue. This is especially common for menstruating women.

A 2012 study on the effects of iron supplementation in nonanemic menstruating women with fatigue found that taking an iron supplement improved their score on the Psychological Scale for fatigue by a whopping 47.7% compared to the group taking a placebo who saw an increase of 28.8% ¹².

Another study looked at women 18-52 with fatigue and found that 80mg of iron daily resulted in greater improvements in fatigue ¹³.

Other Sources Of Iron

While you can meet your daily intake of iron through NutriGenesis® Multi, including animal foods in your diet is another way to load up on heme iron.

Keep in mind that while the body can absorb non-heme iron, it’s much less bioavailable than heme iron.

Here are some of the best iron-rich foods:

• Heme iron
• Shellfish
• Organ meats (liver, kidneys, brain, heart)
• Red meat
• Turkey
• Fish
• Eggs
• Non-heme iron
• Spinach
• Legumes (lentil, chickpeas, beans)
• Pumpkin seeds
• Quinoa
• Broccoli
• Tofu
• Dark chocolate

Final Thoughts

Dietary supplements containing iron are an important component of a healthy and balanced diet. Because several factors can interfere with iron levels, keeping levels up with a good whole food multivitamin is important to support overall health and well-being.