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What would cause a man to lose iron if they aren’t bleeding? Does it get “used up” by bodily processes and excreted? Is it used faster by athletes?
SOME IRON FACTIODS:
The average adult male has about 4.5 grams of iron in the body.
Iron is distributed in six areas of the body:
- Hemoglobin – about 3000 mg (66.4 %)
- Myoglobin – about 160 mg (3.5 %)
- Storage Iron (Ferritin, Hemosiderin) – about 1125 mg in men (25 %), 650 mg in women
- Tissue Iron – about 110 mg (2.5%) This includes ron-containing enzymes such as the cycochromes, peroxidases, catalse, oxidases, dehydrogenases
- Transport iron (transferrin) – about 4.5 mg (0.1 %)
- Labile Iron pool – about 110 mg (2.5 %). This is ion that is temporarily bound to cell membrane or cytoplasmic proteins before being incorporated into heme, enzymes or other structures
The body can only absorb about 1 mg out of every 20 mg of iron in food consumed.
- Ferric iron is not absorbable
- Ferrous iron is absorbable
Total daily iron loss is
- about 1 mg/day in 70-kg men and
- 0.8 mg/day in 55-kg non-menstruating females,
- 1.2 to 3.4 mg/day in menstruating fem
USA Food and NUtrition Board Recommended daily allowance of iron:
- Adult males 8 mg/day,
- adolescent males 11 mg/day,
- adult females premenopausal 18 mg/day, adult females postmenopausal 8 mg/day,
- adolescent females 15 mg/day,
- pregnant females 27 mg/day
Vegetarian diet contains less absorbable iron.
The adjusted US RDA adjusted for vegetarian diet is:- men 14 mg/day,
- postmenopausal women 14 mg/day,
- premenopausal women 33 mg/day,
- adolescent females 26 mg/day
Regular intense exercise increases iron requirements by about 30%.
1 Unit of Blood contains 250 mg iron.
1 unit blood donation in susceptible women, 3-4 units of blood donation in men may exhaust iron stores.CAUSES OF IRON DEFICIENCY:
Iron deficiency may occur from the sum of iron intake and iron losses as follows:INADEQUATE IRON IN FOOD
- Minerally deficient farmland leads to mineral deficient fruits and vegetables
- Lack of meat, seafood – both promote absorption of non-heme iron. Meat provides well-absorbed heme iron.
- Vegetarian diet – iron from plant sources are less efficiently absorbed
POOR ABSORPTION OF IRON
- Diarrhea
- Malabsorption Syndrome (e.g. gastric bypass)
- Hiatal Hernia
- Celiac Disease
- Inadequate Gastric Acid (improves iron absorption by converting ferric iron to ferrous form)
- Aging
- Antacid use (reduces absorption of iron, zinc, etc.)
- Coffee/Caffeine (causes loss of B-vitamins, Vitamin C, calcium, iron and zinc)
- Inadequate Vitamin C (improves iron absorption by converting ferric iron to ferrous form)
- Inadequate sugar (glucose, fructore), amino acids, succinates (these bind to iron and facillitate binding to intestinal mucosa, which absorbs the iron).
- Excess pancreatic alkaline secretions (convert ferrous iron to inasorbable ferric form)
- Dietary phosphates in cereals bind to iron and prevent absorption
- Phytates (inositol hexaphosphate salts) are in grains, seeds, nuts, vegetables, roots (e.g. potatoes), and fruits
- High phytate content: bran, whole-wheat flour, oats.
- Coffee, Tea, Cocoa contain Polyphenols (such as tannin), which bind to iron, preventing absorption
- Calcium competes with iron for absorption. Maximal inhibition of iron is 60% by 300-600 mg of calcium in a meal.
- Fermented vegetables – enhance iron absorption
- Red wine (most) contain phenolic compounds which bind iron and inhibit absorption
- Certain medications impair iron absorption (e.g. Tetracycline)
BLOOD LOSS
- Gastrointestinal bleed (more than 50 causes)
- Aspirin, Ibuprofen and other NSAIDS)
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Gastric Ulcer
- Hook Worm
- Colon Cancer
- Hemorrhoids
- Hereditary Hemorrhagic telangiectasia (Osler’s disease)
- Renal loss (hematuria,
- Menstruation
- Fibroids
- Endometriosis
- Post-partum hemorrhage
- Dialysis
- Hemolysis
- Malaria
- G6PD deficiency
IUD Use
- Intense Exercse (e.g. marathon running).
- Exercise decreases intestinal blood flow by 20-50%,
- Decreased blood flow increases the risk of ischemic damage to the stomach and intestin.
- Exercise also decreases lower esophageal sphincter pressure, increasing the risk of erosive esophagitis.
- Running may traumatize gastrointestinal organs and increase the risk of bleeding from hemorroids.
PHYSIOLOGIC LOSS OF IRON
- Menstruation
- Sweat
- Urine
- Bile
- Loss of skin cells
- Loss of cells from mucosal membrane, stomach, and intestines.
INCREASED IRON REQUIREMENTS
- Growth (expansion of the total body iron body)
- Pregnancy and lactation
I am not sure why my Iron levels are low they have been low for the last 27 yrs but until I had my Ferritin test Dr.’s missed this. When I first got sick some 27 yrs. ago I was told I suffer from Anemia and was put on some strong Iron pills sent to see a blood Dr. But this Dr. did not speak good English and I could not under stand him. Any way he did more labs and told my I am fine. I later found out you will show high levels of Iron taking Iron pills and one needs to come off the Iron pills about a week before doing labs. So I think I have had this problem for yrs.
We did a lot of tests trying to find out way I am low and one that showed below normal was an RBC on Folic Acid and B-12. And at the time I was taking a Folic Acid supplement my Dr. told me it’s low because it’s not getting converted after I take it so he said to try taking this.
http://www.thorne.com/Folacal.wss
With B-12 well we will not know if this works because I am just getting over heart by pass sugary and I had 5 surgery’s one thing went bad after the other and I lost a lot of blood. So my body will need the rest of this yr. to rebuild my blood so I am still on Iron pills taking this Feosol Carbonyl Iron Supplement 3 x’s a day.
Great information sharing..Sources where you can get iron include many cereals such as wheat and oats, and lentils, beans, soybeans, green leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli, mustard and dried fruits. Iron can be found in red meat also…
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