There's a German children’s rhyme that contains the line “Enough iron to make a nail.” It describes what human beings are made of - and it’s true that our body, blood and organs contain about 4 grams of iron. But many women have less than this for a wide variety of reasons - three out of four women have chronically low iron intake until the age of 50. This was confirmed most recently in 2008 in a study carried out by the Max Rubner Institute (German National Diet Study II MRI – Max Rubner Institute, German Federal Research Institute for Diet and Food (2008); 5.7.5. Iron, p.135f). Their diet does not allow them to reach the recommended target figures, and so they must either live with the consequences of low iron levels or adjust their diet and iron intake accordingly. But why are specifically women suffering from low iron levels, and what are the symptoms?