Every woman has a recommended amount of specific vitamins and minerals she needs for normal growth and development. During bouts of illness or due to some diseases, these vitamins or minerals may be lost or not absorbed properly. In addition, when a woman is menstruating particularly heavily, she can lose vital vitamins and minerals.
Iron Loss
During menstruation, women lose from .5 to 2.5 oz. of blood per day, according to Merck Manuals. Occasionally, women experience a heavier bleed or a menstrual bleed longer than the average seven days. Losing this much blood may result in a condition known as iron-deficiency anemia. This condition causes a reduction in healthy red blood cells, which are the carriers of oxygen throughout the body to the tissues. Iron-deficiency anemia causes extreme fatigue, pale skin, weakness, shortness of breath, headache, dizziness, cold hands, irritability, brittle nails, rapid heartbeat and poor appetite.
Increasing Iron Absorption
The mineral iron is responsible for creating red blood cells and for carrying oxygen throughout the body. Vitamin C is a vitamin needed to increase the absorption of the mineral iron. Vitamin C is also responsible for reducing the risk for developing cancer, protects the eyes against cataracts and also helps create collagen and boosts the immune system. The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75 mg; the recommended daily intake of iron is 18 mg for women 31 to 50 and 8 mg for women 51 and older.
Treating Iron Deficiency
Your physician may treat your iron-deficiency anemia with iron supplements and vitamin C. Iron supplements can be purchased on their own or as a part of multivitamin or prenatal vitamin. Some physicians may suggest taking a prenatal vitamin to increase your iron intake instead of an iron tablet, especially if you plan to conceive. This is because prenatal vitamins contain folic acid, which is needed to maintain a healthy pregnancy. Vitamin C, which is used to increase iron absorption can be purchased on its own, if you are not taking a multivitamin or prenatal vitamin that contains it already. Alternatively, if you are taking an iron supplement, you can take it with orange juice.
Warnings
It is possible to be deficient in other vitamins and minerals during the menstrual cycle due to malnutrition or medical problems not related to menstruation itself. The symptoms of malnutrition may mimic the symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia. To know if you have iron deficiency or malnutrition, have a blood test done by your physician. Do not take iron supplements without consulting your physician first.
