hi no problem
sorry i didn't say much about iron before - it was because of the possible anemia of chronic disease I think. I wouldn't focus too intently on iron, when the ferritin level is already decent. worth investigating, but perhaps not something to throw a supplement at just now.
but as to your comment about interference with iron, excess calcium can inhibit iron absorption as well, and gluten is a biggie for iron depletion too (which is why flour tends to be fortified).
when taken as supplements, zinc and iron compete so if you take one, it can affect the other. if you choose foods that are rich in both iron and zinc, you don't get the competition effect.
eating foods high in vitamin C can improve iron absorption. eg red pepper, strawberries, broccoli.
when I eat eggs, they are normally stuffed with wilted spinach and sautéed red pepper. I have NO trouble with iron and I eat about 6-8 eggs per week.
I'm a coffee drinker too, one a day week days, maybe two a day on weekends.
I think it's all amazing too
and so glad the interweb exists to help find all the excellent info available out there.
hitting the rdi's is definitely no joke. around the world, conventional agriculture has really depleted soil nutrition, and all they generally put back is n, p, and k. in some places they do recognize the need to do so and fertilize with zinc. but I don't believe it's by any means standard practice. crazy thing i found out, when wheat is low in zinc it ends up with a higher gliadin to glutenin ratio which in turn makes it more likely to aggravate people with gluten sensitivity. meanwhile high soil phosphorus binds with toxic cadmium and somehow, when absorbed into produce, that p-cd combination masks plant magnesium deficiency. so the producer has a product that's cosmetically fine, but potentially missing what you're actually eating it for, and adding cadmium (which blocks zinc!) into your system instead. moral of the story, choose organic when you can, and grow your own food when you can. conventional grocery produce might look bigger and cost less, but you could probably hit daily targets sooner, with less food volume, when choosing organic/homegrown.
overall with rdis it can help to go for nutrient density - there are particular foods that really pack a punch and i like to make sure those are on the weekly shopping list. then mix it up for the rest.
once you've gotten your head around the RDIs a bit, you can also look at the idea of inflammation factors - those are fun ;) very useful info to have on board as well. but you don't have to do it all at once. big learning curve.
in general, I'd say don't get *too* hung up on pills until you have the food part organized, and the mag glycinate on hand to balance your d3 supplement. if you want to add anything beyond the vit d3 and the mag, consider investing in a high quality multivitamin/multimineral.
as for mag glycinate, you can probably find some online at iherb.com.au or some other net vendor. and failing that sure try magnesium oil - it's not oil just mag salts mixed with water. if you order mag chloride flakes you can just make your own. I have tried it a couple times now but I don't think it does much for me - I've been working hard on my mag status for years though. probably the worse off you are the better it helps.
if you end up getting tests and don't like the look of your zinc numbers, look up solaray copper zinc on iherb.com.au they should have it. (the copper zinc balancing act is key as well, and not all zinc supplements bother with copper).
