Your Questions & Answers

At FABHEALTH we like to receive feedback from our consumers about their positive experiences with our various FAB products. We have included below a number of questions received and answered by our team at FABHEALTH as well as a number of testimonials from satisfied consumers.

If you would like to ask a specific question of our team, or send us a testimonial about your experience with FABHEALTH, please contact us via the contacts page.

“I’m a 38 year-old mother of 2. How much Iron do I need to take? Is there enough iron in FABFOL?”

YES. Each FABFOL Plus tablet contains 12 mg of elemental iron. It has been calculated that a women needs to take between 22 and 36mg of iron a day to help them cope with the iron demands that pregnancy puts upon their body. Ideally this should begin before they become pregnant and continued throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Some iron supplements contain high doses of iron. This is often because non-chelated iron is very poorly absorbed from and tablets and they need to contain a lot to get a small amount into the body. FABFOL PLUS contains FAB Iron, which is iron in a highly absorbable form.

During the early stages of pregnancy a mother has enough iron in their body to support their immediate needs i.e. to fuel their increased blood supply to the developing baby, placenta development and an increase in blood volume. During this time it has been shown that any EXTRA iron that is taken in to the body gets given preferentially to the baby – because the mother does not compete for it as they still have some iron stores.

As a mothers iron stores become depleted a mother needs to increase their daily iron requirement from more available sources this is when mothers start competing for iron with their developing baby.

There is evidence which has shown that when a baby gets more iron in the early stages fewer low birth weight babies are born preterm and at due date (approximately 250g) whilst this does not seem a lot it can make a huge difference to premature babies. Low birth weight can contribute to poor health outcomes late in life.

Will I get constipated taking FABFOL Plus?

We know from over 50 years of experience that the likelihood of you getting constipated taking FABFOL Plus is very small.

Because so much iron is absorbed from each tablet very little is left over in your intestines. It is the amount NOT ABSORBED from a tablet that causes constipation. Therefore the goal of iron treatment is to produce a tablet that has excellent absorption rates.

Why is iron so important?

Iron is needed to make heamoglobin. This is what transports oxygen around your body. Oxygen is your body’s petrol and is needed by every muscle and organ in your body to work. Without haemoglobin not enough oxygen can be transported to where it is needed. This is why you get lethargic, tired and sluggish.

During the early phases of pregnancy your body gets iron from your diet & supplements. If there is a shortfall, your body is very clever and takes additional iron from stores in your body that have been laid down all through your life.

If these stores become depleted – which often happens later in pregnancy – you will start to feel more tired, unless you increase your iron intake

Often, mothers become more tired earlier in their second (or more) pregnancy as there has not been enough time to replace their iron stores.

When should I take my FABFOL Plus/FAB Iron?

You should take your FABFOL Plus tablets in the morning preferably with a glass of orange juice. Vitamin C increases the amount of iron absorbed from a tablet.

You should avoid taking your tablets at the same time as having tea and coffee and high fibre containing foods (cereals and some breads). Iron absorption is affected by caffeine and tannins.