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Less is more is a much abused cliché, but one that resonates with surprising new research into the best way to take iron supplements. Iron deficiency and resulting complications like anaemia are a common problem, particularly in teenage girls and women in whom menstrual bleeding depletes iron stores. But iron isn’t that easy to take – it’s poorly absorbed and any left in the bowel can cause unpleasant side effects including abdominal pain, sickness, constipation or diarrhoea. The new research by a team from Switzerland unexpectedly suggests that taking lower doses, less often, is likely to boost absorption. Dr Mark Porter talks to Professor Michael Zimmerman, who works at the Human Nutrition Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

First broadcast on Inside Health, 31 January 2018.