Indeed, these are very impressive numbers and ratios especially when calcium, iron and potassium are important essential minerals needed by the human body to stay healthy and improved immunity.
My last post I looked at calcium, in this post I'll look at iron.
Iron has several vital functions in the body:
· It serves as a carrier of oxygen to the tissues from the lungs by the red blood cell haemoglobin;
· It acts as a transport medium for electrons within cells; and
· It is an integrated part of important enzyme systems in various tissues.
Iron nutrition is of great importance for the adequate development of the brains and other tissues such as muscles.
Iron is important for growth. A newborn term infant has an iron content of about 75mg/kg body weight. During its first six months of life, the newborn infant will require an extra supply of iron to facilitate growth. The amount of iron requirements continue to grow as the child grows through puberty and then to adulthood.
There are two types of dietary iron:
· haem iron which is derived from meat, poultry and fish; and
· non-haem iron which is derived from cereals, edible seeds of various pod-bearing plants (peas, beans or lentils etc.), legumes, fruits and vegetables.
Haem iron can be degraded and converted to non-haem iron when foods are cooked at high temperature for long period.
Iron absorption by the body may be impacted by:
· the phytates which are usually found in all kinds of grains, seeds, nuts, vegetables, roots and fruits;
· phenolic compounds (only the galloyl groups), found in plants;
· consumption of betel nut leaves;
· calcium consumed as a salt or in dairy products.
Whereas, iron absorption may be enhanced by:
· the presence of ascorbic acid which acts as a potent enhancer of non-haem iron absorption;
· the consumption of meat, fish and other seafood also promotes the absorption of non-haem iron; and
· organic acids such as citric acid can enhance the absorption of non-haem iron.
The effects of iron deficiency are:
· a reduced physical working capacity, especially during endurance activities, as the iron deficiency causes impaired oxidative metabolism in the muscles;
· impairment of brain function and development. In humans, about 10% of brain-iron is present at birth, at the age of ten years, the brain has only reached half its normal iron content, and optimal amounts are first reached between the ages of twenty and thirty years; and
· negatively influences the normal defence systems against infections.
