Anaemia is a common ailment among women, especially those with heavy periods. When blood tests show low iron levels, doctors usually reach for their pads and write out prescriptions for iron tablets. If these don’t help the symptoms, the next step is iron injections. These forms of iron are inorganic and badly tolerated by the body, although they do raise the iron levels and help restore energy. The bad news, aside from the damage inorganic iron can cause, is that, almost invariably, women on iron tablets get dark circles under their eyes, which are unattractive and rarely fade, even after the tablets are discontinued.