Iron & Gut Health: Why Low Levels Leave You Tired & Losing

If you’ve ever felt exhausted even after a good night’s sleep — or noticed your hair thinning — iron could be the missing link.

Why iron matters

Iron’s main job is to carry oxygen through your blood. Without enough, your cells don’t get the fuel they need. The result? Fatigue, brain fog, and weak or brittle hair. Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient gaps worldwide, especially for women, yet it’s often missed until symptoms get severe. Your body prioritizes iron for vital organs first, which is why hair, nails, and skin are often the first places to show changes.

The gut connection

Here’s what many people don’t realize: even if you eat plenty of iron-rich foods, your gut has to absorb it. Low stomach acid, gut inflammation, or even stress can block that process. That’s why iron deficiency isn’t always about eating more — it’s about absorbing more. There are two types of iron in food: heme (from animal sources, absorbed more easily) and non-heme (from plants, which needs vitamin C for better absorption).

Food first approach

Want to support your levels naturally?

• Add iron-rich foods: lentils, spinach, grass-fed beef, pumpkin seeds.

• Pair plant-based iron with vitamin C (think spinach + lemon, or lentils + tomatoes) for better absorption.

• Reduce blockers: too much coffee or tea at mealtime can interfere with iron uptake.

  
  

When to get support

If fatigue, hair loss, or brain fog keep showing up — even with diet changes — it might be worth checking your iron and related labs. Functional testing looks at whether your levels are optimal, not just “normal.”

💛 At The Cure Method, this is exactly the type of hidden deficiency I help clients uncover so they can finally feel energized again.