Iron Shortage

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Anemia and Iron Deficiency

The relationship between anemia and iron deficiency is universally known. This mineral is in fact a fundamental part of hemoglobin, a molecule contained in red blood cells and essential for the transport of oxygen in the blood.

From this awareness comes the frequent and spontaneous use of iron supplements, widespread especially in sports with the aim of increasing the hemoglobin values ​​in the blood.

A little less known are all the other causes of anemia (aplastic, sickle cell, haemolytic, pernicious etc.), which are independent of iron deficiency.

The anemic form caused by iron deficiency is called iron deficiency anemia .

Often the condition remains asymptomatic or manifests itself with mild symptoms, such as pallor, weakness, dizziness, cold extremities and brittle nails. These symptoms are unspecific and common to all the various forms of anemia; therefore, before evaluating the use of iron supplements, it is important to seek medical attention and make sure that the symptoms depend on an actual mineral deficiency.

What to Know about Iron

Few people have sufficient knowledge of iron metabolism in the body. For this reason we briefly report some physiology, useful to establish the necessity or not of iron-based supplements.

• The absorption of iron, at an intestinal level, varies in close relation to the body's need; if this increases the mucosa of the intestine absorbs it in greater percentages and vice versa.
• The daily losses of iron are quantifiable in about 0.8-1.5 mg a day, but there is a certain individual variability, especially in women.
• Only 10-35% of the iron present in animal foods and 2-10% of that contained in vegetables is actually absorbed. If we assume an average percentage of 10%, the intake must be equal to 10 times the requirement; in this case it is therefore quantifiable in 8-15 mg / day.
• The presence of vitamin C, citric acid (it is therefore useful to add a few drops of lemon on the fish or on the steak), sugars (especially fructose) and amino acids, facilitates the absorption of iron, which is instead hampered by tea and coffee . Also in vegetables and whole foods there are substances capable of limiting iron absorption; normally the quantity removed from the organism is irrelevant for the purposes of overall metabolism, but can contribute to the onset of deficiency states if the diet is at the same time poor in meat and fish.
• The balance of iron is regulated above all in terms of absorption, while elimination is relatively constant (0.8-1.5 mg per day) and occurs mainly with bile, faeces, small intestinal hemorrhages, desquamation of skin and urine.
• For every ml of blood lost, about 0.5 mg of iron is left.
• It is difficult to quantify blood loss during menstruation; a reasonable average is between 30 and 60 ml per month, but some women can lose much less or much more, without trespassing on the abnormality. Considering a value of 46 ml and distributing the total losses (46/2 = 23 mg) for the 30 days of the month, a daily surplus of 0.76 mg is obtained. To satisfy this quota, about 7.6 mg of iron a day are needed.

Causes of Iron Deficiency

From what has been said so far, we can identify various factors that predispose the individual to iron deficiency:

• reduced intake, due to diets poor in meat and mainly based on whole grains and vegetables;
• diet too rich in bran (used by some to regulate bowel function);
• insufficient absorption: achlorhydria, diarrhea, gastro-intestinal alterations, abuse of laxatives;
• excessive blood loss (haemorrhoids, bleeding from the nose, heavy menstrual flow, ulcers, bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract, etc.);
• pregnancy and breastfeeding;
• sport (especially the endurance race).

Iron Supplements

The use of iron-based supplements is justified in the presence of the risk factors listed above or when specific blood tests have shown an anemic form due to a lack of iron.

The treatment of these conditions involves the administration of external martial sources (iron supplements), since food alone may not be sufficient to rebalance important deficiencies.

Adjusting one's dietary habits is still important, just think that the vitamin C contained in a glass of orange juice is able to triple the absorption of iron provided by breakfast.

The use of iron supplements should only be done under medical advice, after a careful evaluation of specific blood tests. Only in this way can problems be avoided by excess and discover the real causes of the anemic situation.

To learn more about iron supplements and how to use them, read this article.