Verified
“18 mg Ferrochel is the gentlest, lowest dose in the set”
It combines the gentlest common form (bisglycinate) with the lowest elemental dose here (18 mg), which minimizes GI burden relative to higher-dose picks (Tolkien 2015).
Reviewed
Verified by SAC team
+20
XP on completion
Best Low-Dose / Maintenance
NOW Foods
NOW Foods Iron 18 mg Review
7.8/10SAC Product Score™
This is the maintenance and top-up choice, not the repletion choice. At 18 mg of gentle Ferrochel bisglycinate — exactly the RDA for menstruating women — it is ideal for keeping already-decent iron from slipping or for people sensitive to higher doses. If your ferritin is genuinely low, step up to a 25 mg pick.
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Read the complete Iron guide →How we built the SAC Product Score™ — 7.8/10
Form & Bioavailability30%9/10
Ferrous bisglycinate (Ferrochel) — the same gentle, well-absorbed chelate as the top picks, just at a lower dose.
Dose Appropriateness20%6/10
18 mg matches the women's RDA and is ideal for maintenance, but it is likely too low to correct an established deficiency quickly — the main reason it is not a repletion pick.
GI Tolerance & Safety20%9.5/10
The lowest dose of the gentlest form here — the easiest on the gut of any pick, well suited to dose-sensitive users.
Third-Party Testing & Purity20%5.5/10
Vegan, Non-GMO and Kosher with in-house GMP quality assurance, but no independent product-level seal (NSF/USP) — verification is self-audited.
Value per Serving10%9/10
At ~$0.08 per veg capsule over 120 servings, it is excellent value from a well-known value brand.
The product at a glance
- Form
- Ferrous bisglycinate (Ferrochel)
- Elemental iron
- 18 mg per veg capsule
- Size
- 120 veg capsules (120 servings)
- Diet
- Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher
- Facility
- GMP quality-assured (in-house)
- Serving
- 1 veg capsule daily
- Price (approx.)
- ~$9.99
- Cost / serving
- ~$0.08
Marketing claims vs. reality
Verified
“18 mg is right at the RDA for menstruating women”
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for iron in women aged 19-50 is 18 mg/day, matching this dose exactly — a correct, verifiable statement.
Not verified
“Suitable to correct an established deficiency quickly”
Repletion of low ferritin typically uses higher elemental doses; 18 mg is a maintenance-level dose and is likely too low to correct an established deficiency rapidly.
Partial
“GMP quality-assured”
NOW's GMP program is real but in-house; it is a legitimate quality process, not an independent product-level NSF/USP certification.
What our test actually found
01Match the dose to the job
18 mg is deliberately modest. That makes it the right tool for maintaining iron you already have — or for people who cannot tolerate higher doses — and the wrong tool for rebuilding a genuinely depleted ferritin, which needs more elemental iron.
02Gentlest option on the board
The lowest dose of the gentlest form adds up to the easiest-on-the-gut pick here. If previous iron made you nauseous even in chelate form, dropping to 18 mg is a sensible move.
03Exactly RDA-level
18 mg is the women's RDA, so this doubles neatly as a daily insurance dose for menstruating women whose intake falls short — closer to a targeted multivitamin's iron than a therapeutic course.
04Value brand, in-house testing
NOW delivers strong value and runs a real GMP program, but it is self-audited rather than a product-level NSF/USP seal. Fine for a maintenance dose; if you want certified verification, look higher up the list.
Pros & cons, no sugar-coating
Pros
- 18 mg Ferrochel — lowest dose here, gentlest on the gut
- Right at the RDA for menstruating women — ideal for maintenance
- Vegan veg caps at excellent value
- Well-known value brand with in-house GMP
- Same gentle chelate form as the top picks
Cons
- 18 mg is likely too low to correct an established deficiency quickly
- In-house GMP only — no independent product-level seal
The maintenance pick, not the repletion pick
The maintenance and top-up choice, not the repletion choice. If you are keeping already-decent iron from slipping — or you are sensitive to higher doses — 18 mg of gentle chelate is perfect. If your ferritin is genuinely low, step up to a 25 mg pick.
Check NOW Foods on AmazonIf this doesn’t fit — try these
Nutricost Iron Bisglycinate 25 mg
8.8/10Step up to a full 25 mg repletion dose of the same chelate at similar value.
See it on the list →Thorne Iron Bisglycinate 25 mg
9.2/10A certified 25 mg repletion dose when you need to rebuild ferritin.
See it on the list →Solgar Gentle Iron 25 mg
8.2/10A gentle 25 mg chelate widely available in stores.
See it on the list →Sources & further reading
- Tolkien Z, et al. PLoS One. 2015;10(2):e0117383.Tolkien Z, Stecher L, Mander AP, Pereira DIA, Powell JJ · 2015 · PLoS One · PMID 25700159
Ferrous sulfate supplementation causes significant gastrointestinal side-effects in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Supports lower-dose, gentle-form dosing to minimize GI burden — the rationale for an 18 mg chelate.
- Stoffel NU, et al. Lancet Haematol. 2017;4(11):e524-e533.Stoffel NU, Cercamondi CI, Brittenham G, et al. · 2017 · The Lancet Haematology · PMID 29032957
Iron absorption from oral iron supplements given on consecutive versus alternate days and as single morning doses versus twice-daily split dosing in iron-depleted women
Absorption efficiency, not just dose size, governs iron uptake — relevant to using a modest maintenance dose effectively.