Any woman who has a heavy menstrual cycle who is not supplementing iron will very likely have functional anemia.

Functional anemia means a slight deficiency in the nutrients required for your bone marrow to make adequate red blood cells. Iron is the most important nutrient your bone marrow needs to make adequate red blood cells, but B12, folate, and vitamin B six are also often important, and I find deficiency in these All the time.

A slight anemia puts a constant mild strain on your heart. I’m going to say that again— a slight anemia puts a constant mild strain on your heart.

It can raise your blood pressure, it can increase your risk of a stroke, and it will almost always contribute to fatigue, tiredness, lack of energy, and delayed healing of any part of your body. If you make it more difficult for any part of your body to get all of the oxygen it needs all day long and all night long, healing and repairing of that tissue will be delayed— whether it’s your liver, kidneys, your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, your skin, and especially your joints and nerves, which are the slowest healing tissues in your body.

This show aired Friday, October 4 on KDAR 98.3 FM