Interaction · Supplement
Iron + Calcium: separate the timing
Calcium blunts iron uptake — split across meals.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- Last revised
- 0
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
Assembled by the app from other entries in this library. It adds no evidence of its own — follow the links to the entries it draws on.
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
The evidence in words
The interaction
Iron and Calcium — a timing interaction. Calcium blunts iron uptake — split across meals.
What to do
They are fine to use in the same regimen, but not at the same time. Separate the doses (typically by 2–4 hours) so one does not block the other's absorption.
About Iron
Iron is the oxygen-carrying metal at the center of hemoglobin. Deficiency (low ferritin, then anemia) is the world's most common nutrient deficiency, especially in menstruating women, endurance athletes, and plant-based eaters. The body has no route to excrete excess, so iron status must be earned, not guessed.
The bigger picture
Supplement–drug and supplement–supplement interactions are the reason a stack should be read as a system, not a list. This platform's interactions graph maps them; the medication side always belongs with the person who prescribes it.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Calcium + Levothyroxine: separate the timingBinds thyroid hormone — separate by 4 hours.Evidence grade C
- Calcium + PPIs: separate the timingCalcium carbonate needs stomach acid — take citrate, or separate from acid-suppressing drugs.Evidence grade C
- Iron + Caffeine: separate the timingCoffee polyphenols cut non-heme iron ~40% — separate 2 hours.Evidence grade C
- Iron + Levothyroxine: separate the timingBinds thyroid hormone — separate by 4 hours.Evidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own — it is assembled from the entries it links to, whose sources are on their pages.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.