Sources
Last reviewed July 2026 · This is the same source list the Ferruna app shows on its Sources screen.
Ferruna is a tracking tool. Where it shows information about iron, that information comes from a fixed list of health authorities and peer-reviewed papers — published here so it can be checked, quoted and disagreed with. The app does not invent citations, and its AI coach cannot add to this list.
Ferruna is a tracking tool, not medical advice. It doesn't diagnose, treat, or predict health outcomes. Talk to your GP or pharmacist about iron supplementation, dosing, and your blood test results.
Nothing below is a recommendation for you personally. These are summaries of what published sources say, not instructions.
What the sources say
Each statement below is short on purpose, and belongs to the source underneath it. If you quote one, please carry the attribution with it.
The NHMRC publishes reference values for iron intake in Australia and New Zealand. The values differ by age and sex, and are set higher for menstruating women than for men of the same age.
National Health and Medical Research Council, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand — Iron
Vitamin C increases absorption of non-haem iron — the form found in plant foods and in most oral supplements.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Iron — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals
Polyphenols in tea and coffee, and calcium taken at the same time, can reduce how much iron the body absorbs from a dose.
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Iron — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals
Haem iron comes from red meat, poultry and fish; non-haem iron comes from legumes, tofu, wholegrains, nuts and leafy greens. Haem iron is the more readily absorbed of the two.
Healthdirect Australia (Australian Government funded), Foods high in iron
In two 2017 randomised trials in iron-depleted women, iron absorption from oral supplements was higher when doses were given on alternate days than on consecutive days.
Stoffel NU et al., The Lancet Haematology, 2017 — peer-reviewed
In iron-depleted young women, oral iron doses of around 60 mg and above raised hepcidin — a hormone that in turn suppressed absorption of iron taken later the same day or the following day.
Moretti D et al., Blood (American Society of Hematology), 2015 — peer-reviewed
Those last two are findings from published trials, not a schedule for you to follow. How often to take iron is a decision for your GP or pharmacist — it depends on why you're taking it, what else you take, and how you tolerate it. Ferruna tracks the schedule you and your clinician settle on; it does not set one for you.
More iron is not better. The NHMRC and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements both publish an upper level for daily iron intake from all sources, and iron-containing products are a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under six — supplements belong out of reach. Whether you need iron at all is a question for a blood test and your GP.
National Health and Medical Research Council, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand — Iron; NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Iron — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals
The World Health Organization's 2016 guideline covers daily iron supplementation for menstruating, non-pregnant adult women and adolescent girls in populations where anaemia is common. Iron in pregnancy sits under separate WHO antenatal guidance, and is a conversation for your GP or midwife.
World Health Organization, Daily iron supplementation in adult women and adolescent girls, 2016
Ferritin reference ranges vary between laboratories and by age and sex, so there is no single healthy number that applies to everyone. Ferruna deliberately does not publish a target.
Ferruna's own position, not a claim from any source above. Interpreting a ferritin result is a conversation for your GP or pathologist.
Health authorities
- Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand — Iron National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia
- Foods high in iron Healthdirect Australia (Australian Government funded)
- Iron — Fact Sheet for Health Professionals National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements (US)
- Guideline: Daily iron supplementation in adult women and adolescent girls World Health Organization, 2016
Peer-reviewed research
- Iron absorption from oral iron supplements given on consecutive versus alternate days, in iron-depleted women — Stoffel et al. The Lancet Haematology, 2017
- Oral iron supplements increase hepcidin and decrease iron absorption from daily or twice-daily doses, in iron-depleted young women — Moretti et al. Blood (American Society of Hematology), 2015
How Ferruna uses this list
These sources back the general guidance surfaces in the app: intake context, and absorption factors such as vitamin C pairing and separating iron from tea, coffee and calcium. The coach can discuss those factors; it does not set or recommend a dosing schedule. The app renders this list and only this list — its AI coach cannot introduce a source that is not here, and it does not generate citations of its own.
If you think something here is out of date or wrongly summarised, we would rather know: hello@ferruna.com.au.
← Back to Ferruna