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Constantly feeling colder than others is, along with fatigue, a classic sign of iron deficiency. Since feeling cold is a symptom, you have to look at the whole picture; heavy periods, hard exercise or a plant-based diet can often be the explanation for the depletion of the depots.
You can boost your iron absorption yourself by eating iron-rich foods together with vitamin C, and avoiding coffee or tea with meals. However, if the diet does not help, there may be underlying medical reasons. If you feel cold a lot and lack energy, it is therefore always best to check your blood values in healthcare instead of guessing.
Sitting with a blanket in the office when everyone else thinks the temperature is normal is common. The same goes for cold hands in the grocery store, frozen feet on the couch or the feeling of never really getting warm again after a walk. If you're constantly cold, it could be anything from low body weight and stress to thyroid problems – but a common and often overlooked explanation is low iron stores or iron deficiency.
Why you're constantly cold – here's an iron-rich diet to add
When the body has too little iron, it becomes more difficult to form hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen. Then the tissues get less access to oxygen, and this can contribute to fatigue, lack of energy, dizziness and cold hands and feet. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common form of anemia, but you can also have low iron stores before your blood levels have had time to drop significantly.
So being cold is not a diagnosis in itself. It is a symptom that needs to be put into context: What does your period look like? Have you changed your diet? Do you exercise a lot? Do you donate blood? Do you have stomach problems, pregnancy, recent surgery or long-term inflammation? Such questions help determine whether iron is a likely part of the explanation.
When being cold can actually be due to iron deficiency
Typical symptoms of iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia are pronounced fatigue, paleness, palpitations, shortness of breath on exertion, headaches, dizziness and cold hands or feet. Some also notice poorer concentration, brittle nails or restless legs. The symptoms often come on insidiously, which means that many people have time to get used to it before they react.
In everyday life, it is usually noticeable by feeling significantly colder than the people around them. This could be the woman with heavy periods who suddenly needs double socks at work, the runner who feels unusually sluggish and frozen after a workout, or the person who eats a plant-based diet and gradually becomes both more tired and more sensitive to the cold. When feeling frozen also goes hand in hand with a lack of energy, it is a combination that strongly indicates that the iron level may be too low.
Iron-rich diet to add to your everyday life
There are two forms of iron in food: heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is found in animal foods and is more easily absorbed by the body. Non-heme iron is mainly found in legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fortified products, but absorption is more affected by what you eat at the same time.
If you want to increase your iron intake in practice, it is often smarter to add the right foods to the meals you already eat than to change your entire diet. Examples of iron-rich foods include:
black pudding and liver pâté
beef, lamb and game
shellfish and certain fish and meat products
beans, lentils and chickpeas
tofu and soy products
pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and nuts
spinach and other dark green leafy vegetables
iron-fortified cereals, porridge and bread
For many, small adjustments work best. Switch to an iron-fortified breakfast, add chickpeas to your salad, choose liver pâté on your sandwich, or build a dinner around lentils or meat along with vegetables that contain vitamin C. A well-thought-out combination makes a bigger difference than just focusing on a single “superfood”.
Get more out of your food – this is how you optimize your iron absorption
Iron absorption is not only determined by how much iron you eat, but also by how your meal is composed. Vitamin C improves the absorption of non-heme iron, and meat, fish and poultry can also increase absorption from plant sources. Therefore, a lentil stew with peppers, tomatoes or citrus can have a better effect than the same dish without these additions.
At the same time, there are things that can slow down absorption. Phytates in cereals and legumes as well as polyphenols in tea and coffee, for example, can reduce how much iron the body absorbs, and calcium can also affect bioavailability. This does not mean that you have to avoid these foods, but if you are trying to increase your iron, it may be wise not to drink tea or coffee with the most iron-rich meal.
For those of you who eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, planning becomes extra important. American nutritional recommendations state that vegetarians may need almost twice as much iron as the table values, because non-heme iron is absorbed less well than heme iron. It is possible to get enough, but it requires more structure in everyday life.
That is why an iron-rich diet is not always enough
An iron-rich diet is an important part of the solution, but it does not always solve the root cause. If you lose blood every month through heavy menstruation, bleed from the gastrointestinal tract, are pregnant or have impaired absorption from the intestine, the iron requirement may be higher than what food alone covers. In this case, you need to both investigate the cause and assess whether dietary advice is sufficient or whether iron supplements and further medical evaluation are needed.
Heavy menstruation is a very common cause in people of childbearing age. Bleeding that lasts more than seven days, requires changing protection every hour for several hours or contains large clots should be taken seriously, as recurrent blood loss can deplete iron stores over time.
In others, the problem lies in the busyness. Celiac disease is a clear example, where the small intestine may have more difficulty absorbing nutrients, and long-term iron deficiency or anemia is an established reason to consider investigating the disease. Inflammatory bowel disease, previous stomach surgery or bleeding from stomach ulcers, polyps or bowel cancer can also play a role, especially in adults with new or unexplained iron deficiency.
When you should test your values
If you are very cold and at the same time feel tired, have less energy, become short of breath more easily or have heavy menstruation, there are good reasons to check your blood values. If iron deficiency is suspected, hemoglobin and ferritin are often looked at, where ferritin reflects the body's iron stores. A normal or slightly lowered hemoglobin does not rule out that the stores are already low.
It is also worth remembering that coldness is not always due to iron. Thyroid disorders, other types of anemia, low energy intake, chronic illness or certain medications can cause similar symptoms. Therefore, testing is often more valuable than guessing – especially if the symptoms have been going on for a long time or affect work, exercise, recovery or everyday functioning.
Coldness that does not match the surroundings is sometimes the body's way of signaling that reserves are starting to run out. The earlier you catch it, the easier it is often to find the cause and choose the right action before the symptoms have time to become a new normal.
