Hi Elliot
I’m a human who is an athlete, nurse practitioner, and also experienced very low ferritin levels. I agree to the great (evidence based) information has been provided above.
I have received IV iron (common therapy in Canada if your levels are so low). It was amazing, and I can actually enjoy going up hill now. Yes, it is prohibited by the world anti doping agency (WADA).
Couple of Tips:
-I added list of foods contain high iron/vitamin c on my phone as reminder (grocery shopping), found the visual cues helpful.
-The “Lucky Iron Fish” is a simple and effective cooking tool that adds extra iron to your daily foods or drinks. It was develop by a colleague of mine, initially as creative way to treat iron def. anemia in Cambodia. Iron deficiency negatively impacts over 2 billion people on the planet. Yikes!
-Since it can take 3-6 months (or longer) Floradix Liquid Iron 6x500mL bottles cost $239 (Canadian), ferrous gluconate tablets likely more cost saving (1 bottle per month (at max dose 100mg/day) cost $4.74 cdn).
-Liquid forms of iron tend to stain your teeth.
-if the iron upsets your stomach;
-you can try taking it a bedtime.
-take iron supplements with meals (iron absorption is enhanced when supplements are taken on an empty stomach; however, tolerance and adherence may be improved when iron is taken with meals)
-iron supplements can be taken every other day.
-I wouldn’t personally train at high altitude with ferritin levels below 50 (I imagine it would feel very terrible and my suggestion is based on former high altitude training protocol-best to ask Scott).
-adequate ferritin levels is also helpful to support your immune function, which I think is very important to endurance athletes.
I hope this is helpful