40% of Female Teens Deficient in This Nutrient

💃 If you’re a nonpregnant woman or teen, listen up.

A study just published in JAMA found 40% of US females between the ages of 12 and 21 were deficient in iron 🩸

Why should you care?

Because screening for iron deficiency is not routine for this age group!

Guidelines in the US recommend screening for iron-deficient anemia every 5-10 years, but this recent study found that only 6% of the participants actually had anemia, compared with the 40% with iron deficiency.

⚠️ That means iron deficiency can exist WITHOUT anemia and can easily be missed by routine screenings.

What can we do?

The best way to test for iron deficiency is with a blood test for ferritin 🩸It’s a simple thing, but your provider needs to be proactive to order it and know how to interpret it.

In functional medicine, we aim for optimal levels on blood tests, which are not always the same as what’s considered “normal.” If ferritin levels are low, this can usually be corrected through dietary changes and supplementation.

Do you know what the most common symptom of iron deficiency is? Drop your guess in the comments and I’ll let you know.

↗️ Share to your stories to spread the word!

Reference

Weyand AC, Chaitoff A, Freed GL, Sholzberg M, Choi SW, McGann PT. Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in US Females Aged 12-21 Years, 2003-2020. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2191–2193. [link]

Multivitamins: 3 Questions to Ask

What to look for in a good multivitamin ⤵️

Taking a multivitamin can fill in the gaps of your diet and make sure you don’t miss out on important vitamins and minerals over time. Even people who have healthy eating habits can optimize their nutrient intake with a multivitamin. But the question is:

How do you choose the best one?

When I’m evaluating the quality of a vitamin, I ask these 3 questions:

1️⃣ Is it age-appropriate?

Children need lower amounts of most vitamins and minerals than adults, teenage boys need more zinc to support hormones, menstruating people need more iron to replace lost blood, and older adults have a higher need for vitamins like B12. That’s why it’s helpful to choose a multivitamin formulated for the right age and stage.

2️⃣Are the nutrients bioavailable?

By “bioavailable,” I mean the nutrients are both easily absorbed and readily utilized by the body. For example, methylcobalamin is preferable to cyanocobalamin (these are both forms of vitamin B12) and magnesium glycinate is preferable to magnesium oxide.

3️⃣What are the “other” ingredients?

Some vitamins are loaded with artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and binders. Jump to the “other ingredients” to make sure the product is actually going to help rather than harm your health.

When I’m working with my clients on their nutrition, I recommend professional-grade supplements available through our convenient online dispensary. Most healthcare providers are not educated in nutritional supplements, but it’s something we specialize in.

Best & Worst Uses of Peppermint Oil

⬇️⬇️ Best & Worst Uses of Peppermint Oil 

If you’re on the market for supplements to support better digestion, the first thing to know is that just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s harmless. 

Peppermint oil is a natural supplement that can work wonders in some situations but cause problems in others. 

Enteric-coated peppermint oil is best for digestive issues like:

✅ Gas

✅ Bloating

✅ Abdominal Pain

These benefits are well documented in research studies!!

The enteric coating is important because it prevents the peppermint oil from being released in the stomach. 

But there are some caveats. Peppermint oil can potentially worsen:

❌ Heartburn

❌ Reflux

Its safety is not known during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and it may interact with some medications. 

As a functional medicine practitioner, I make it a priority to stay on top of the research, risks, and benefits of nutritional and herbal supplements because they can be powerful tools in our medicine chest!

Give me a tap ❤️ if you found this helpful!

📣 New Study Shows Powerful Probiotic Effect

🤯 What most people don’t know about probiotics 🤯

Most people who take probiotics don’t think twice about what strains are in it. Does it have Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1? Bifidobacterium lactis BI-07? Or one of the other thousands of strains out there?

You might think it doesn’t matter, but the truth is that different strains have different benefits.

For example…

👉👉 A new study just found that a probiotic strain of Bacillus subtilis eliminated more than 95% of the dangerous Staph aureus bacteria in people with detectable levels in their intestines and noses.

That’s huge.

Because even though Staph aureus can be present without causing any symptoms, it can turn deadly—especially when it spreads in hospitals or nursing homes.

‼️ PLUS it’s almost impossible to eliminate because of antibiotic resistance.

This new research showing that a specific strain of probiotic can eliminate Staph without adverse effects is truly amazing.

But we have to remember that the effects of probiotics are specific to the strain. This doesn’t mean that just ANY probiotic can eliminate Staph infections.

It’s why we test instead of guess.

Reference

Piewngam P, Khongthong S, Roekngam N, et al. Probiotic for pathogen-specific Staphylococcus aureus decolonisation in Thailand: a phase 2, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Microbe. 2023;4(2):e75-e83. [link]

Making Sense of Folic Acid Supplements

⬇️ Proof that more of a good thing isn’t always better!

Folic acid is proven to reduce the risk of birth defects, like spina bifida. That’s why more than 80 countries have programs to fortify foods with folic acid.

But if women take folic acid supplements, is it possible to take too much? Here’s what a new study found:

➡️ Supplementing HIGH folic acid was just as dangerous as LOW folic acid when it came to genetic mutations ⬅️

If you want to know the science-y explanation for why, keep reading, but here are some takeaways:

✅ Too much folic acid is dangerous.

✅ Folic acid is synthetic. It is not found in nature.

✅ Folic acid is not active until after it’s processed in the body by an enzyme (and many people have a genetic mutation so this enzyme is not fully functional).

✅ Natural forms of folate that the body can process more easily are folinic acid and methylfolate.

Now you want the science?

Folic acid supports methylation of DNA. Too much can lead to hypermethylation. When DNA repair genes become hypermethylated, they work more slowly and allow more mutations to occur.

Phew 😅

Just remember: there is no one-size-fits-all in health, medicine, or nutrition. More is not always better.

Questions about nutritional supplements? Drop them below ⤵️

Reference

Cao X, Xu J, Lin YL, et al. Excess folic acid intake increases DNA de novo point mutations. Cell Discov. 2023;9(1):22. [link]