HOW DOES IT WORK?
Ultimate Iron provides essential iron and other synergistic ingredients to help build red blood cells and maintain muscles and nerves. Important for energy and stamina, Ultimate Iron combines liquid liver fractions, a source of heme iron, with vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B12, and trace minerals in a natural form that supports the liver.

Iron
Iron is essential to life. Critical to the entire process of respiration, iron helps form hemoglobin in red blood cells and is used to transport oxygen to cells throughout the body.1 Iron is vital to the production of many substances in the body used for energy production, including myoglobin, L carnitine, and aconitase. Several proteins in mitochondria contain iron, while many enzymes depend on iron as an important cofactor.2

There are two forms of iron: heme and non-heme. Heme iron comes from animal sources, such as beef, fish, and poultry. Plants are the main source of non-heme iron; other sources include iron-fortified foods such as cereal and bread. Ultimate Iron provides heme iron from the liver fractions, ferrous succinate as non-heme iron, plus proven absorption enhancers to provide a well-rounded, effective iron supplement.1 Research shows that non-heme iron's absorption is significantly improved when taken in conjunction with heme iron.3

Iron deficiency is a worldwide problem, with as much as 80 percent of the world's population being iron deficient.1 In the United States, women of childbearing age are most likely to be iron deficient because of monthly blood loss due to menstruation. In fact, 3 – 5 percent of women aged 18 to 44 have iron deficiency anemia, with as many as 13 percent having iron deficiency without anemia.4 Some researchers estimate that up to 25 percent of American adolescent girls are iron deficient.2 Mild iron deficiency symptoms include weakness, pale skin, irritability, and fatigue.  5,6

Iron is a significant nutrient for energy and stamina, which affects physical work performance, immunity, thermoregulation, and cognitive functioning.6,7 Because iron is an important part of mitochondrial enzymes, it is essential to cellular energy production.6

One randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted on women who went to the doctor because of occasional fatigue showed that those who were given iron supplements experienced significant improvement in energy versus those given placebo.8 Iron supplementation improved energy even in women who were not shown to be deficient.6

Liquid Liver Fractions
Animal liver is rich in iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, folate and other vitamins and minerals; however, liver is also very high in cholesterol.9,10 Because liver extract contains heme iron, it enhances the absorption of the iron in Ultimate Iron. Heme iron is also easier to digest and less likely to cause stomach upset.11

The liver fractions in Ultimate Iron are supplied from cows raised in Argentina. The cattle feed is free from additives, hormones, solvents, and pesticides.12 Produced by exposing the liver material to enzymes that hydrolyze the protein bonds, liquid liver extract provides the benefits of liver without the cholesterol.11

Vitamin C
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is a powerful antioxidant that is crucial for collagen production and immune system support. This water-soluble vitamin also aids in iron absorption, transport, and storage.1,13 In one study, adding ascorbic acid to a meal of rice (which provides non-heme iron) increased iron absorption five fold.3 Adequate levels of vitamin C are also necessary to maintain energy and strength.13

Folic acid
Folic acid or folate is essential to cell production and maintenance, including blood cells. Required for support of neural tube development in fetuses, folic acid is especially important to women of child-bearing age.14

Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that is used by the body to produce DNA, blood cells, and maintain healthy nerve cells. Because of its use in the body, vitamin B12 is important to energy production.15 It also has implications in cardiovascular health. Absorption of vitamin B12 can diminish with age or when the stomach acid production is low.16

Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll, responsible for sustaining the life of plants through photosynthesis, is also rich in enzymes and magnesium. Sometimes called “plant blood,” chlorophyll is chemically similar to hemoglobin in human blood. Foods rich in chlorophyll have been linked with increasing hemoglobin content.17 In addition, chlorophyll has been extensively researched for its support of the immune system. 18,19


REFERENCES
 

1. Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Iron. Office of Dietary Supplements. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron.asp. Accessed on May 24, 2007.
2. Fleming T., ed. Iron. In: PDR for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 234-240.
3. Cook JD, Finch CA. Iron nutrition. West J Med. 1975 Jun;122(6):474-81.
4. Brutsaert TD, Hernandez-Cordero S, Rivera J, Viola T, Hughes G, Haas JD. Iron supplementation improves progressive fatigue resistance during dynamic knee extensor exercise in iron-depleted, nonanemic women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Feb;77(2):441-8.
5. Killip S, Bennett JM, Chambers MD. Iron deficiency anemia. Am Fam Physician. 2007 Mar 1;75(5):671-8.
6. Patterson AJ, Brown WJ, Roberts DC. Dietary and supplement treatment of iron deficiency results in improvements in general health and fatigue in Australian women of childbearing age. J Am Coll Nutr. 2001 Aug;20(4):337-42.
7. Ghosh K. Non haematological effects of iron deficiency - a perspective. Indian J Med Sci. 2006 Jan;60(1):30-7.
8. Verdon F, Burnand B, Stubi CL, Bonard C, Graff M, Michaud A, Bischoff T, de Vevey M, Studer JP, Herzig L, Chapuis C, Tissot J, Pécoud A, Favrat B. Iron supplementation for unexplained fatigue in non-anaemic women: double blind randomised placebo controlled trial. BMJ. 2003 May 24;326(7399):1124.
9. Nutritional summary for beef, variety meats and by products, liver, raw. Nutrition Data. http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20tw.html. Accessed on May 25, 2007.
10. Scheid HE, Schweigert BS. Vitamin B12 content of organ meats. J Nutr. 1954 Jul 10;53(3):419-27.
11. Murray, M. Glandular Extracts: What You Must Know. Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT. 1994:22-25.
12. Farr, J. Enzymatic Therapy Quality Assurance Department. In-house communication (electronic mail). May 31, 2007.
13. Fleming T., ed. Vitamin C. In: PDR for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 486-498.
14. Fleming T., ed. Folate. In: PDR for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 157-167.
15. Fleming T., ed. Vitamin B12. In: PDR for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 477-486.
16. Oh R, Brown DL. Vitamin B12 deficiency. Am Fam Physician. 2003 Mar 1;67(5):979-86.
17. Bhat, S.R. Chlorophyll: The wonder pigment. Science Reporter. 2005:42(7):29-32.
18. Kumar SS, Shankar B, Sainis KB. Effect of chlorophyllin against oxidative stress in splenic lymphocytes in vitro and in vivo. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2004;1672(2):100-11.
19. Chiu LC, Kong CK, Ooi VE. Antiproliferative effect of chlorophyllin derived from a traditional Chinese medicine Bombyx mori excreta on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Int J Oncol. 2003;23(3):729-35.