Patient One Iron Chelate supplies 28 mg of iron, an important component of hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to tissues throughout the body. Iron is also a part of myoglobin, a protein that helps muscle cells store oxygen, and ferritin, the body’s main iron storage protein found in the intestines, liver and spleen. Iron is an essential nutrient in human health, playing a role in immune function, cardiovascular health and cognitive development.
Having a sufficient amount of iron in the body is especially important for women of childbearing age. Athletes need approximately 1.5 times as much iron as non-athletes. Individuals who follow a vegetarian or lower protein diet can have twice the need for dietary iron because the iron content in vegetables is primarily in the form of non-heme iron, a form that is not well absorbed.
Conventional iron supplements, including forms such as ferrous sulfate, can cause unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects and are poorly absorbed. Our formula supplies Ferrochel® brand iron bisglycinate chelate, which provides many unique attributes that support its superior role as an iron supplement. These include molecular size and ionic charge, stability, non-reactivity, bioavailability and tolerability.
Ferrochel was developed using unique patented chemistry, allowing it to be absorbed rapidly from the lumen of the intestines into mucosal cells and then released for transport throughout the body. Ferrous iron is reacted with glycine to form bisglycinate chelate, a non-electrically charged compound that is totally nutritionally functional. The absence of an electrical charge, uncommon for an iron supplement, makes it less likely that Ferrochel can interfere with absorption of other minerals.