Iron glycinate

• Helps prevent iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia.
• A factor in maintaining good health.
• Helps in the formation of red blood cells and their proper functioning.

Ferrous iron reacts with glycine to form bis-glycinate chelate, an electrically uncharged and nutritionally fully functional compound. The lack of an electrical charge, unusual for an iron supplement, makes it less likely that Iron Glycinate™ will interfere with the absorption of other minerals such as calcium, vitamin E, or vitamin C. The solubility of iron from bis-glycine chelate is not affected by changes in pH from 2 to 6. This means that it travels unchanged through the stomach, into the intestine, where it is absorbed and released for transport throughout the body.

Patient compliance with iron bis-glycinate appears to be better than that seen with inorganic forms of iron supplements for two reasons. First, taste: In a study of 145 pregnant women (which concluded that daily supplementation with iron bis-glycinate chelate was significantly more effective than iron sulfate, even at a lower dose), the percentage of taste complaints among women receiving iron sulfate was 29.8%, whereas 0% of women receiving the bis-glycinate chelate complained of taste. Second, iron bis-glycinate is less likely to cause the gastrointestinal side effects associated with standard iron supplementation.

A published study on absorption showed that there was a significant correlation between the absorption of iron bis-glycinate chelate and serum ferritin (the higher the ferritin, the lower the absorption and vice versa). This translates into a lower risk of toxicity. Another advantage of the chelate form of iron bis-glycinate over other iron supplements is that it does not act as a pro-oxidant.

Iron is an important component of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and ferritin. These proteins are involved in the transport, storage, and release of oxygen in tissues.