LIANA
The Liana library · monograph IV

Iron Bisglycinate

Iron that shows up gently, on alternate days — and leaves when your ferritin recovers.

In Maya's Formula Nº 001: 25 mg · alternate days — ferritin of 12, and a plan for it to climb.
Three things to remember — that's all
1
Your ferritin of 12 said yes.

This is temporary — iron is only ever in a formula while the level is low.

2
Every OTHER day, away from coffee.

Skipping a day absorbs more than doubling up — and coffee, tea, and calcium block it.

3
It leaves.

When your ferritin passes about 50, we retire it. That's a promise, not a subscription.

“Measured-low ferritin responds beautifully to gentle iron on alternate days — better absorbed, kinder to the gut. And iron without a measured deficiency does harm, which is why this is the ingredient that always, always exits.”

Want the depth? It's all here — tap what you're curious about. Nothing below changes the three things above.

◦What it istap to read

Iron carries your oxygen. Ferritin — the storage form your panel reads — falls quietly with heavy periods, low intake, endurance training, or absorption trouble, and the fatigue it causes is the kind people learn to live with for years.

Bisglycinate wraps the iron in two glycine molecules, so it slips past the gut irritation that makes people quit ferrous sulfate within a week.

◦The research — and who paid for it2 studies + 1 against
Strong — when ferritin is measured low
Alternate-day dosing increases iron absorption versus daily dosing — the reason 'alt-day' is printed on the formulaStoffel et al., Lancet Haematology, 2017 · doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3026(17)30182-5Independently funded — Swiss public science (ETH Zürich).
Ferrous sulfate's gastrointestinal side effects: systematic review and meta-analysis — why the gentler chelateTolkien et al., PLoS ONE, 2015 · doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117383University-led — no seller money behind the conclusion.
Read against us Iron without a measured deficiency isn't neutral — excess iron is oxidative, and unneeded supplementation has real downside. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Iron fact sheet · ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/

Iron is the clearest case of Liana's rule: it enters on a lab value, and it exits on one.

How we weigh a study: we read it for you — including who paid for it. A study funded by the company selling the result is flagged and never load-bearing on its own. No supplement brand pays Liana — nobody's thumb is on this scale.

◦How we dose ittap to read
25 mg elemental, alternate days

Hepcidin — the absorption gatekeeper — rises for ~24h after a dose; skipping a day absorbs more than doubling down.

Away from coffee, tea, and calcium

Each can cut absorption by half or more; give iron its own moment, vitamin C helps.

Four hours from thyroid medication

Iron binds levothyroxine in the gut — spacing is non-negotiable.

◦Safety — and who should skip ittap to read
  • The most dangerous supplement in the house for a small child — keep it high and closed.
  • Unexplained low iron in anyone not menstruating is a clinician conversation about *why*, before it's a supplement.
  • GI upset even from bisglycinate? Take it with a small meal; absorption trades a little for adherence.
◦When it leaves your formulathe goal is zero
The goal is zero

Ferritin above ~45–50 with stable hemoglobin, and iron is retired from the formula — usually within two retest cycles. On the homepage card this is written as a promise: iron, then retired. It is the signature move of a formula that answers to your blood.

◦The bottle we chose
One bottle, not a shelf

Thorne · Iron Bisglycinate, 25 mg

In an unregulated aisle, the brand is half the decision — so we made it for you.

Exactly the formula's dose

25 mg elemental per capsule — no pill-splitting arithmetic.

NSF Certified for Sport

Independently tested for label accuracy and contaminants — the strictest common certification, on an ingredient where accuracy matters.

The gentle chelate

True bisglycinate, so the alternate-day plan doesn't fail on stomach upset.

Clean capsule

No dyes or unnecessary excipients riding along.

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Your own formula names the right bottle for your case. No brand pays to be here.