Iron: What do we eat to prevent anemia?

Today I want to talk about iron, anemia and how we can increase the intestinal absorption rate of iron in the body. But first let's talk a little about minerals…

Like vitamins, minerals are essential nutrients for survival, without which the body cannot perform its basic functions. These are in turn divided into macroelements (Ca, Mg, P, Na, K, Cl) and microelements (Fe, Zn, Se, I, Mn , Cu, Ag, Au etc.). It's important to remember that they can become toxic in large quantities, so we shouldn't take them for granted.

We take all of them from our diet (both plant and animal sources), but it seems to me that lately I've been hearing about a lack of calcium, iron or magnesium. Let's start with iron, because iron deficiency is a global phenomenon.

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Why do we need iron?

Iron (Fe) is a trace element, so in our body it is found in amounts less than 5g (as much as a nail), and if it exceeds this dose it can be toxic. Being a mineral, it's not as easily destroyed by heat and light as it's the case with some vitamins, so it's not distroyed by cooking ( only about 35% is lost ). Iron is also recycled in the body, so we don't lose much every day, and the body will absorb somewhere between 5-30% iron from food, depending on the needs.

The daily requirement of iron differs from person to person. In the table below we see the recommended daily requirement depending on age, sex and the existence of pregnancy, for non-vegetarians. For vegetarians and vegans, the daily recommendation is 1.8 times higher than these figures:

Although we do not need more than 5g of iron in the body, as in the case of macroelements, it plays major roles.

-Iron is part of many proteins and of hemoglobin (there is two-thirds of the iron in the body). Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells and is, in fact, what gives the blood its red color. Its role is to transport oxygen to the tissues to achieve cellular metabolism, and to remove carbon dioxide from the tissues . Thus, if we lack iron, we can observe it by lack of energy in the body, among others;

-Iron is also found in myoglobin in muscles, which regulates the level of oxygenation of the muscle in the red blood cells.

-Plays a key role in brain function, some areas of the brain containing a significant amount of iron, and a deficiency causes neurotransmitter alterations and behavioral changes. Some studies show that those children who had a low iron level when they were babies had a lower IQ score than those children who had no iron problems when they were very young, and this is irreparable. However, iron deficiency can create cognitive performance problems at any age !

-Linear relationship exists between iron and resistance to infections, because iron also plays an important role in the immune system. In this case, leukocytes have a reduced ability to kill foreign organisms.

About anemia

Not all anemias are caused by a lack of iron, but also by a lack of B9, B12 or other causes. Iron deficiency anemia (or iron deficiency) is just one of the most popular types of anemia in the world. It is characterized by a pale blood color and low hemoglobin.

What can create this deficiency? Conditions that cause a massive blood loss (especially in women, so the recommended daily dose is higher than in men), intestinal diseases (such as chron and celiac disease), low intestinal absorption, poor diet in iron sources, or a combination of these. Another cause is fatty liver (with many toxins) and the famous "lazy gallbladder" that slows the absorption of iron in the intestine.

Sources of iron

First of all, I want to mention that iron is divided into 2 categories, depending on the origin:

- Hem iron (huh? Why does the name come from?… From hemoglobin, we talked above about its role) - from animal sources: in red meat and, in particular, organs: liver, kidneys, heart, but also in egg yolk, fish. Dairy products do not contain iron, or contain insufficient amounts. This form of iron is absorbable by the body, and we absorb from these sources between 10-30% of what we eat;

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- Non-hem iron - from vegetable sources: legumes (beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas), green vegetables (spinach - Popeye knew what he knew: D, salad, parsley , green peppers, cabbage, broccoli, etc.), beets, unrefined whole grains (whole wheat, rye, barley, oats), dried fruits, nuts and seeds (sesame, pumpkin seeds, cashews). The non-heme form is transformed into the heme form in the stomach by gastric acids, and we absorb between 5-10% of what we eat.

Recommendations

-If you always feel tired, your level of concentration and productivity has decreased and you do not find a cause in a sleep or diet deficiency, it would be good to do your tests and check the iron level (the most common tests: hemoleukogram, serum iron - measures the amount of iron in the blood, ferritin - measures the deposit of iron in the liver);

- I do not recommend taking iron supplements by ear, but only after performing tests and following the doctor's advice, because too high of an iron level gives toxicity, just like other minerals;

-If you are a vegetarian / vegan and have stomach problems (you take anti-acid pills, alkaline water or baking soda around meals, you have an unbalanced pH) you risk not being able to turn non-heme iron into heme iron. I advise you to keep it under observation through medical examinations;

-In the case of green leaves, rich in oxalates (which are inhibitors of iron absorption), it was found that steam cooking reduces the level of oxalates and thus increases the bioavailability of iron in the body. However, spinach also comes with vitamin C, so balance between raw and cooked;

-Try to not take the calcium supplement around an iron-rich meal, especially if you have problems with its level in the body, as calcium inhibits iron absorption. Other inhibitors you want to avoid if you have an iron deficiency: coffee, tea, beer, chocolate (because of the tannins and polyphenols).

- Iron is absorbed together with vitamin C. If you have a predominantly plant-based diet, you should not worry, but in the case of meat, it is good to combine it with a salad;

-If you have problems with iron, most likely the problem is not with exposure, but with digestion and absorption, and iron supplements often do not solve the problem. I advise you to solve stomach, intestinal and digestive problems first.

Sources:

• https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/en/ida_assessment_prevention_control.pdf
• https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/
• https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10026/dietary-reference-intakes-for-vitamin-a-vitamin-k-arsenic-boron-chromium-copper-iodine-iron-manganese-molybdenum-nickel-silicon-vanadium-and-zinc
• https://scoaladeslabit.ro/cum-eficientizezi-absorbtia-fierului-in-organism?fbclid=IwAR1kUbQ19IkNYFKAh6Nk2_wpOTflpFP9m3HMgS16EcVm6dPC_7XVMycDgLc

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Lavinia Dinca

Nutritionist