One in ten Aussie women are iron deficient

Iron is an essential part of haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around the body through the blood. When levels drop significantly, tiredness, pale skin, shortness of breath and difficulty concentrating can follow.

Other less well-known symptoms of an iron deficiency might include a cracked or reddened tongue, a loss of appetite or cracked nails, says Dr Ronald McCoy, spokesperson for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Women are far more exposed than men because of menstrual blood loss, but some groups face an even higher risk, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, crash dieters, vegetarians and athletes.

If you do think you may be iron deficient, it’s important to get it checked with a healthcare professional. “Particularly with women, there are two key questions,” explains Dr McCoy. “Is this because of purely menstrual loss, which is the commonest cause, or is there another underlying condition?”
 

Eat smart

As well as identifying the causes of an iron deficiency, your practitioner can also determine the best course of action. It’s recommended that women eat around 18mg of iron per day (for pregnant women, the amount increases to 27mg). Not all iron, however, is created equal. Haem iron is found in red and white meat, while non-haem iron can be found in green leafy vegetables, legumes, dried fruits, egg yolk and tofu.

“The vegetarian foods that contain iron generally contain less iron than meat but also, we digest and absorb non-haem iron in a completely different way to how we digest and absorb haem iron,” explains naturopath and clinical nutritionist Tabitha McIntosh, who runs the Awaken Your Health clinic in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

In a nutshell, non-haem iron is absorbed far less effectively, meaning that much bigger quantities must be eaten. To get the most out of these food sources, make sure you eat them with some vitamin C or fructose, which help the body absorb iron. “Have a small iron meal on an empty stomach, with a glass of orange juice or a kiwi fruit or some strawberries,” Tabitha suggests.

Just as important is what not to eat iron with. Tea and coffee will block absorption, so are best consumed at least two hours on either side of a meal. Wholegrains, bran and calcium have a similar effect. “There was a research paper not long ago that showed having a good iron food source with some dairy reduced the absorption of the iron by up to 70 per cent,” Tabitha says. “So it’s really a matter of eating smartly.”
 

Exercise and iron

This becomes even more important if you’re hitting the gym, says Fernwood’s national product manager – weight management, Nic Linford.

“If people are undertaking a new exercise regimen, often what happens is that they start out going hell for leather and as part of that, you should always be monitoring to make sure that you’re getting at least the minimum requirements in.”

While athletes may need more than the recommended 18mg per day of iron, “the reality is, most of the Fernwood members would not require more than this because they would not be training at that kind of elite level,” Nic says. “But if people were starting to feel fatigued and their ability to bounce back from their training was being impaired, then iron deficiency would be one of the things worth looking at.”

Supplements

In serious cases of iron deficiency, your GP or nutritionist may suggest a short course of supplements. “Don’t take iron supplements unless you’re advised by your doctor,” cautions Dr McCoy. As the body has no natural pathway for excreting excess iron, it can build up in the organs and become toxic over a period of time. In the short-term, supplements containing ferrous sulfate can also have unpleasant side effects such as constipation, feelings of nausea and diarrhoea.

If you’re concerned about these side effects, there are alternatives, says Tabitha, such as iron-amino acid chelate and ferrous gluconate, which are found in liquid iron supplements.

“These two forms of iron don’t disassociate in the gut like the ferrous sulfate and they usually don’t cause the same intestinal discomfort.”

They may be gentler on the stomach, but even these supplements can cause side effects and should only be taken under medical supervision.
 

Future solution?

Scientists at the University of Adelaide are attempting to address global iron deficiency by genetically engineering a type of rice that’s rich in the nutrient.

The project is twofold. First, the team is looking at ways to move iron from the rice plant’s leaves, where it’s stored, to within the grain. They’re also trying to get most of the iron within the inner seed, so that it’s retained even when the rice is hulled and milled.

“We’ve managed to increase the amount of iron that’s getting into cereal grains by threefold, which is already quite a bit of progress for us,” says Dr Alexander Johnson from the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics. The team and its industry partner Harvest Plus aims to introduce the high-iron rice into developing countries such as Latin America and South-East Asia within the next five years. And although some Australian states currently ban genetically modified crops, Dr Johnson is hopeful that the rice may one day be on the market here.