Athletes and Iron: A Big Issue

Athletes who engage in regular intense exercise such as running, cycling, swimming, skiing and other intense activities often fall short on iron in their blood.
Why this happens?
Possible explanations include increased gastrointestinal blood loss after running and a greater turnover of red blood cells.
Also, there are research that showed that red blood cells break while exercising, such as those in the foot when running.
Three groups of athletes have the greatest risk of iron deficiency: female athletes, long distance runners, and vegetarian athletes.
It is particularly important for members of these groups to consume recommended amounts of iron and to pay attention to dietary factors that enhance iron absorption.




Female Athletes

Women who engaged in regular exercise, and especially those with demanding training (such as dancer) and competition schedules, have quite unique nutritional needs compared to men.
Needs change as a female enters her pubertal years, during her reproductive years, during pregnancy, and finally at the stage that marks the end of reproduction cycle (i.e., menopause). Distruption in a female’s normal menstrual functioning (e.g. amenorrhoea) may create increased requirements in macro and micronutrients such as calcium, magnesium, vitamin K, protein and essential fatty acids.
For this reason all female athletes must pay attention to energy, calcium and iron intakes. Vitamin K supplementation has been shown to improve markers of bone metabolism in a small group of amenorrhoeic female elite athletes. Vitamin K functions in the synthesis of calcium-binding proteins.
On the other hand the two main nutrients that require most attention are the minerals iron and calcium.

Some suggestion on enhancing iron and calcium absorption follow.
Try to eat more fish such as salmon, sardines, pilchards. Add vitamin-C rich foods to your diet to enhance the absorption of iron. Low-fat dairy foods such as skimmed milk and natural yogurt should be consumed daily.
Also, adding 100g of tofu and sunflower seeds to stir-frys and salads is a good solution, same as
adding almonds, dried figs and seeds to breakfast cereals or blanched spinach to scrambled or poached eggs. Use Tahini (sesame seed spread) on bread and crackers or add it to yogurt.
Finally, avoid drinking tea and coffee with food (the caffeine prevents calcium and iron absorption). 

Endurance athletes

The goal of treatment for a distance runner is to increase the amount of oxygen that your blood can carry, that mean to have more “fuel”. This is done by raising the red blood cell count and hemoglobin level. Do you remember? Hemoglobin is the iron-rich protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the body.
For this reason it’s important for athletes have a good diet and ask to the doctor some specific advice.

As I explained in the last article I posted on iron; such component is found in food in two forms, heme and non-heme iron. Heme iron, found in meat products, is well absorbed while non-heme is not.
Foods containing heme iron are the best sources for increasing or maintaining healthy iron levels and for this reason athletes should eat a lot of animal protein. In their diet they should include beef, pork, poultry, fish, clams, and oysters.
Non-heme iron, often found in plants (fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts) is not as easily absorbed as heme iron. Eggs, dairy products, and iron-containing vegetables have only the non-heme form. Such vegetable products include dried beans and peas, iron-fortified cereals, bread, pasta products, dark green leafy vegetables (chard, spinach, mustard greens, kale), dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Spinach has often been regarded as a good source of iron. Even in cartoons, Popeye the Sailor Man could become abnormally strong after eating a can of spinach. Spinach has just as much iron as other leafy vegetables. In addition, spinach also contains high levels of oxalate, which stops your body from being able to absorb iron effectively. While it may not be the best source of iron, spinach is still an excellent source of several vitamins, beta-carotene and antioxidants.

Vegetarian athletes

Do you know that there are and have been many successful vegetarian athletes? Some example?
Dave Scott who won six times training for the Hawaii Ironman Competition (1980, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87);  Edwin Corley Moses who won gold medals in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics; Martina Navratilova, she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam women's doubles titles (an all-time record), and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. And many others such as Carl Lewis (track and field athlete), Scott Jurek (ultramarathoner), Andreas Cahling (body building), Billie Jean (tennis), Murray Rose (swimmer) and so on..

Be "vegetarian" has nothing to do with consuming vast amounts of vegetables and zero protein. Although vegetables do play a large role in the vegetarian diet, the word itself actually comes from the Latin word "vegetus" meaning full of vitality, vigorous and cheerful. The reasons why people switch to a vegetarian diet are different (as the people themselves I might add) and include issues relating to ecology, economy, religion, ethics, emotions and of course health.
Unfortunately some people assume that the simple act of eliminating meat from their diet will automatically make them healthier. Many have tried this approach to vegetarianism unsuccessfully and returned to their old ways blaming the diet for leaving them feeling run down, sick and tired.
The main concept to understand is that simply taking meat off your plate is not enough to guarantee health.

In fact, proteins are crucial for everyone specially for athletes. Proteins are necessary to sustain life, repair body tissues and promote cell renewal, to manufacture hormones, enzymes and blood cells. It is one of the most plentiful substances in the body second only to water, totaling approximately one fifth of a person body weight. Lack of protein in the diet could result in fatigue, weakness and increased susceptibility to colds, flu's and infections.
Many people think that vegetable sourced protein are inferior to animal based proteins, but it’s not completely true. In fact plant foods (sources of protein) also contain micronutrients, phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber that you will not find in meat and they are also lower in saturated fat.
The only big problem is the inadequate quantity and quality of iron. This because in plant foods we cannot find heme iron, the most absorbed by our body, but only the non-heme form.
That’s the problem! But how to go over it? Many famous athletes did it!!  There are some iron food friends that vegetarian athletes need!

Iron in grains

Grains are an important source of iron in a plant-based diet. The bran of the grain is high in iron.
Generally any “whole grain” that has not been processed nor had the bran removed (as is the case with “white flour” products), will be fairly high in iron and will provide an opportunity for you to increase the iron content of your diet.
Here some example of high iron in grain : Amaranth, Barley, Buckwheat, Bulgur, Millet, Kamut, Oats, Sorghum, Spelt, Teff, Triticale, Brown rice.

Quinoa (which is a seed and not a grain but can be “treated” as a grain) contains 1.4 milligrams of iron per 100 grams and 1 cup equals 185 grams: wanna know more? You should read the article we posted last week on quinoa.
Do you know that recently they made pasta from quinoa? Quinoa pasta offers a number of advantages over traditional pasta. Quinoa pasta has a great deal of iron, magnesium and phosphorus. For one thing this pasta has a very high amount of protein in it, at around 15% of its total volume.

Iron in vegetables

The top ten vegetables with iron are: morel mushrooms, lemon grass, potatoes, parsley, jute, horseradish leafy tips, winged bean leaves, chrysanthemum, spinach, and immature soybeans.

Iron in nuts and seeds

Nuts and seeds have a high iron content: sesame seeds top the list and are followed by various squash seeds. Sunflower seeds, cashews, flaxseed, pine nuts, and hazelnuts make the list as well.

Watch out for iron and needless to say it you’ll be one step closer to TheIronYou!

by Margherita Bisoglio