Iron Deficiency: How to Eat Right

Contents

1 iron deficiency
2 Did you know?
3 What is iron?
4 Symptoms of iron anaemia
5 Causes of an iron deficiency
6 Increased demand
7 Low intake
8 Loss
9 Iron sources
10 Take Vitamin C, leave coffee and milk
11 Therapy of iron deficiency

Unfortunately,

iron deficiency

is still one of the most common deficiencies. A lack of knowledge about iron and iron-rich foods is probably the reason.

Did you know?

…The human body contains so much iron that you could build a 5 gram nail with it.
… About 25% of the women suffer this deficiency in industry countries.
…The iron in the haemoglobin of red blood cells transports 700 to 1000 litres of oxygen per day.

What is iron?

The trace element iron is responsible for the metabolic processes such as the transportation of oxygen, the energy supply of cells. Furthermore, iron plays an important role for a healthy immune system.

So a deficiency impairs the formation of haemoglobin and therefore an insufficient supply of the body with oxygen.

And since we absorb iron from food, it is important to have a diet which provides us with enough iron. Men need 10 milligrams of iron per day, women even 15 milligrams because of the monthly blood loss.

Symptoms of iron anaemia

Symptoms of iron deficiency are a lack of physical and mental performance, tiredness, weakness, headache, sensitivity, nervousness and irritability. There may be pallor, brittle, dry skin and brittle hair, cracks and grooves in the corner on the fingernails. If it is severe, you can develop heart palpitations, shortness of breath, burning tongue and constipation.

A lack of iron prevents the activity of important enzymes which are involved in many body processes. And as said, the infection risk is much higher.

Especially pregnant women should be careful since preterm birth and stillbirths are much higher with a lack of iron.

The easiest way to find out if you suffer iron anaemia is to make a blood test at your doctor.

Causes of an iron deficiency

•

Increased demand

: Children and teenagers need a lot of iron, so do pregnant or breast-feeding women. But also athletes have an increased demand due to hard training and the mineral loss when sweating.
•

Low intake

: If you are vegetarian or a picky meat eater, your iron level could be low because it is difficult to have a balanced diet with enough iron intakes. The difficulty for the body to exploit iron from the plant food is the reason.
•

Loss

: You might not have enough iron after a surgery, an injury or heavy monthly periods.

Iron sources

The most important sources of iron are meat, sausage and liver because egg and milk inhibit the intake. White flour products have a good absorption but only small iron content.
Since vegetarians eat no meat, no fish and no animal organs, they need other sources of iron. A variety of plant foods contain sometimes a lot of iron, especially spices such as dried coriander, parsley, black pepper and cinnamon. Legumes, whole grain cereals, sesame and poppy seeds and nuts are also a good iron source.
For example white beans and soybeans contain up to eight times as much iron as beef.

Take Vitamin C, leave coffee and milk

This vitamin supports the iron absorption, because several studies showed that iron anaemia can be treated with an increased vitamin C intake. An option is to choose vegetables and fruits with high vitamin C contain as a side dish such as peppers or cabbage or to drink a glass of orange juice.

In contrast, you shouldn’t drink coffee or black tea while eating since they are the strongest inhibitors of iron. But also phytic acid contained in unfermented whole grains and some unfermented legumes inhibit the iron absorption.

But also calcium in milk products inhibits the absorption of iron, especially iron from meat, so don’t consume this dairy products with a meat meal.

Therapy of iron deficiency

If a change of the diet doesn’t help, your doctor will give you iron tablets or prescribe you an iron infusion to replenish the iron stores.

Since the body can absorb iron only in limited quantities from food, it takes relatively long until the iron storage is replenished. So iron therapy should last for sure 3 to 6 months.

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