As i mentioned before, the following posts will be about iron.
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What do we know about it? The iron is present in a great variety of foods, with best sources being the foods made from blood (think irish black pudding), liver and meat. Many plant based foods also contain high quantities of iron (beans, grains), but most of the iron is removed during processing, so white rice has less iron than brown rice, and the same goes with the white bread. Some will add iron to the white bread and white flour.
Iron absorption - the heme iron from animal foods is better and faster absorbed than the non-heme iron from plants. The non-heme iron can also be bivalent (Fe2+ ferrous iron) and trivalent (Fe3+ ferric iron). The Fe3+ needs to be converted into Fe2+ in order to be absorbed by the human body. Similar with Calcium, metal binders like oxalates and phytates can disrupt the iron bioavailability. When you have low levels of iron you will absorb it faster and in bigger quantity than when you are high on iron.
The iron can be stored in the liver as ferritin, and the ferritin spills over into the blood stream, so it can be measured in the serum. From intestine to liver and from liver to tissue, the iron is transported by a protein called transferrin. Most of the iron is sent to the bone marrow, to synthetize haemoglobin. The haemoglobin is incorporated into red blood cells, released into the blood stream and destroyed 4 months later by the spleen, then the iron is released into the blood stream and taken by transferrin protein to the liver. And the process is repeated. Our body is very efficient at reusing iron, and because of this only a small percentage is lost daily (1-2 mg). Except for women, they can lose more during menstruation.
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 8 mg per day for men and 18 mg per day for women. Pregnancy increases the iron needs due to the expanding blood volume and the embryo needs. If iron stores in the liver are high, the liver release a hormone - hepcidin, suppressing the iron absorption from the intestinal wall to the transferrin protein, and instead it is degraded and eliminated vial stools.
There is a genetic condition called hemochromatosis, where far too much iron is absorbed and the liver can be damaged by the excess iron storage. The treatment for this include frequent blood donation to eliminate the extra iron.
That's all for today, next post will be about the iron functions in the body.
Yours truly,
George
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