👋🏼 Welcome to Femme Fortified, where busy, ambitious women get science-backed insights to feel better, work better, and cut through the wellness noise.

Real health insights. Zero jargon. Just smart, actionable tips so you can feel your best and get back to being unstoppable.

Not a subscriber yet? Sign up here. 💌

Why does this feel so hard? Isn’t my body built for this?

For thousands of years, women carried pregnancies, raised children, and led families and societies without supplements, blood tests, or symptom tracking.

Yet here I was, bone-tired and foggy-brained, wondering why I felt like I was failing at something my body was supposed to do effortlessly.

Our biology hasn’t changed. But the world around us has. The way we get iron today is nothing like it was for the women who came before us.

They didn’t count milligrams or plan meals for absorption. They just ate. And it worked.

This issue kicks off a new series unpacking the disconnect between modern life and ancient biology—starting with how food systems changed, and why your body isn’t broken.

How Traditional Diets Made Iron Effortless

Before food was mass-produced, iron-rich foods were a natural part of the human diet.

Historically, no part of an animal was wasted. Organ meats (liver, heart, kidney) were some of the most prized foods consumed regularly across cultures because they were recognized as nutrient powerhouses.

For many coastal and river-based communities, shellfish were a major dietary staple. Oysters, mussels, and clams² contain more heme iron per serving than beef.

Shellfish also provide zinc, B12, and copper, which work synergistically to enhance iron metabolism. Unlike many modern seafood sources, wild shellfish were naturally richer in minerals due to the nutrient-dense waters they were harvested from.

Wild plants and whole grains were grown in mineral-rich soil. Whole grains retained their iron-rich bran and germ layers (unlike modern refined grains).

Fermentation³ and sprouting techniques⁴ (common before industrialized food production) naturally reduced phytates, which inhibit iron absorption.

In truth, a woman eating a traditional meal of wild-caught fish, whole grains, and fermented vegetables in 1800 would get far more iron than someone today eating a processed diet with fortified cereal and conventionally raised meat.

💬 Does modern life ever feel like it’s working against you? What’s your biggest challenge? Reply and let me know—I’d love to hear what’s getting in your way.

1  Liver is one of the most concentrated sources of heme iron. Heart and kidneys also contain high levels of iron, vitamin B12, and other critical blood-building nutrients.

2  Certain types of clams (100g) can contain over 25mg of iron—more than 130% of the daily recommended intake for women!

3  Traditional sourdough fermentation, for example, significantly reduces phytates, allowing for higher iron (as well as magnesium and phosphorus) bioavailability compared to mass-produced breads.

4  To find these products, look for terms like “sprouted,” “germinated,” or “activated” on the ingredient list of front label.