Did you get a full iron panel, including ferritin, before you started supplementing? I think it’s wise to know where you stand with iron markers, before starting to supplement, or embarking on an iron lowering strategy, like blood donation. And to continue to monitor markers after the strategy has been implemented
Iron deficiency Anemia does exist, and someone who is chronically low in iron can indeed benefit from taking iron supplements and eating iron rich foods. I would be wary about any sort of iron supplement, however, as they are notorious for causing stomach and GI issues. Also, iron is a strong promoter of bacterial growth, even by completely neutralizing the effects of antibiotics. This was discovered early by E.D. Weinberg, which sent him on a 50 year career focusing on iron (he continued to publish articles long after his retirement, too). Iron supps and the iron used in fortification don’t have any of the protective mechanisms that you would get from plant or animal based foods (like red meat or spinach), so this could cause an overgrowth of bacteria in the gut or something like SIBO pretty easily, much more easily than whole food iron. Ideally, if iron supplements are necessary, I think they should be used short term to get above deficiency level, and then simply use higher iron foods, if possible.
Excess iron is a big problem in the US, which adulterates bread and rice with iron via so called “fortification.” Iron intakes in the US are the highest in recorded history, and maybe all of human history, seeing as a large percentage of that iron come from fortification and supplements. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I found a huge benefit, both in mental and physical energy, from lowering a high iron load in my body to near deficiency.
Peat did write a bit about the dangers of iron, but I only ever saw the one article. Weinberg’s book was much more in depth, as is the website he started, irondisorders.org. Anthony Colpo also wrote some great articles on the dangers of excess iron.
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