Shortness of breath and lack of iron: is there a link?

Caution : You must consult your doctor for your health. This page presents only a personal and alternative point of view which should not be considered as an attempt to prescribe medicine.

Do you experience severe and early shortness of breath during your physical activities?

Even after walking up a few steps of your stairs, are you out of breath like you've run a marathon?

What if you ran out of iron?

Let's take a closer look at the lack of iron in the body, its consequences on the body and its link with shortness of breath.

Iron: what role for the body?

Iron is one of the mineral salts essential for the proper functioning of the body.

Its main role is to transport and store the oxygen contained in the blood, to the organs and muscles of the human body.

Iron is also necessary for the constitution of hemoglobin and myoglobin.

Hemoglobin is a protein that is responsible for fixing oxygen in red blood cells, and gives them their color.

Rather, myoglobin is needed by muscles.

Lack of iron causes general anemia of the human body.

Organs requiring the most oxygen (heart and brain) often see their capacity reduced.

Consequences of lack of iron

When there is a lack of iron, the body reduces its production of hemoglobin.

This leads to significant anemia of the body, especially in children and pregnant women.

Women with heavy periods and people suffering from repeated bleeding are also very affected.

The consequences of a lack of iron in the blood are often:

• pallor and dizziness: the iron deficient individual is more or less extreme pallor (especially the lower skin of the eyelids).He is also prone to dizziness,
• decreased physical strength: inability to lift heavy materials,
• early shortness of breath during physical exertion: at the slightest effort, the sick individual is exhausted,
• great sensitivity to cold,
• heart problems,
• stunted growth and development,
• poor concentration skills leading to reduced learning skills,
• palpitations: they are directly due to the lack of hemoglobin in the blood.The heart is forced to work harder to bring oxygen to the body,

Premature births, as well as dry skin and hair.

What is the link with shortness of breath?

When they lack iron, red blood cells shrink and are less colored.

They are therefore unable to supply oxygen to organs such as muscles.

The latter therefore no longer receive the necessary for normal activities, such as walking.

The direct consequence of this lack is an increase in the respiratory rate to allow the body to obtain oxygen.

This is the main reason why people lacking iron in their blood are always short of breath with the slightest exertion and experience chronic fatigue.

Prevent and remedy the lack of iron

Be aware that the human body by itself cannot produce iron.

Iron supplies to the body come from food.

It is therefore necessary to adopt a diet of foods rich in iron.

Examples of foods are meat, fish, spinach etc.

It is advisable to avoid herbal substances such as wheat, black tea, and white beans.

These prevent the absorption of iron.

In addition, iron-based therapy may be prescribed for individuals lacking iron.

However, sometimes a good diet is not enough to reduce the shortness of breath that can be caused by a blocked diaphragm.

It is therefore a good idea to practice exercises to free your diaphragm at the same time as you rebalance your iron needs through diet.

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