When should we start supplementing with iron?

You should be on all of the minerals, B2 and B12 before introducing iron.

Generally, I recommend introducing an iron supplement after taking B12 for some time. Usually adding it in about 1 month after starting B12 is a good idea. Because ferritin can start to drop after B12 is introduced and the body starts using up a lot more iron to fix enzymes in the body. So then if you see your ferritin dropping too low, it’s a good idea to then add in one of my recommended iron supplements.  

But there’s no hard and fast rules with introducing an iron supplement. It depends on the person. Plenty of people can just eat lots of meat and they don’t need to take an iron supplement at all.  

But other people are very deficient in iron, and they have very low ferritin. So for example, if your ferritin is below 50, you could start taking one of my recommended iron supplements right away even before starting B12. It can help prevent a further drop in ferritin, and many people with low ferritin and a cellular iron deficiency notice that supplementing heme iron increases their energy.  

So if you have very low ferritin, you can start taking an iron supplement at any time