Can You Take Vitamins A, D, E And K With Iron?

Vitamins are organic compounds that you need for your metabolic processes. Your body cannot produce most vitamins, so you have to get them in your diet. Minerals are single, inert elements that perform a variety of metabolic tasks. Iron is a mineral that is involved in oxygen transport, as well as cell growth and differentiation. There is no reason vitamins A, D, E and K can't be taken with iron, and in some cases, the mineral and the vitamins work in tandem.

Vitamin A and Iron

Vitamin A functions as a main component of rhodopsin, a pigment in the eye that's responsible for the eye's ability to adjust to light. Vitamin A is also essential for tissue strength, growth, immunity and red blood-cell production. Vitamin A mobilizes iron from its storage sites and moves it to developing red-blood cells to assist in hemoglobin production. Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrier component of the red-blood cell.
According to the Linus Pauling Institute, a deficiency in vitamin A could worsen an iron deficiency.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for calcium and phosphorus absorption and bone mineralization. It works with the parathyroid hormone and another hormone, calcitonin, to absorb minerals in the small intestine and regulates the deposit and reabsorption of them in bone tissue. Vitamin D and iron may be taken together.

Vitamin E and Iron

Vitamin E's main purpose is as an anti-oxidant. An anti-oxidant is an agent that prevents cells from being destroyed by oxygen. Vitamin E protects red-blood cells and muscle tissue. The "Journal of Nutrition" published a 2002 American Society of Nutritional Sciences study on iron supplementation in rats with inflammatory bowel disease. The study found that iron supplementation exacerbated the disease, but vitamin E decreased the inflammation and rectal bleeding. These findings suggest the addition of vitamin E to oral iron supplementation may be beneficial. However, further research is needed to determine if the same effect is true for humans with IBS.

Vitamin K and Iron

Vitamin K is key to blood clotting and bone development. It is essential for maintaining normal levels of four of the 11 blood-clotting factors and is often used in the control and prevention of bleeding disorders. There are no known contraindications to taking vitamin K with iron.