Iron woman – or not???

A few years ago I was honoured to be on the Consumer Liaison Committee of Food Standards Australia New Zealand and one of the issues we were asked to discuss and advise on was Iodine being added to salt to be used for breadmaking.

At the time it was identified by experts across the country that the Australian population had an iodine deficiency and it was largely due to the change in sanitiser in dairies. A sanitiser is used to kill bacteria and for many years the sanitiser of choice was iodine based. This meant that a very small amount of iodine was in all of our dairy foods and this was enough, with a good diet, to keep our national levels of iodine sufficient. However the sanitiser that is commonly used now is chlorine based, which means that the background level of iodine in our diets has significantly reduced.

So a very small amount of Iodine is now included in all baked goods so that that background levels is replaced.

So it is now interesting that Doctors across the country are now highlighting a possible iron deficiency across the country.

Most people get iron in their diets from red meat. However, many people are not eating the amounts of red meat which were eaten in the past and so there it is likely that there is an increasing iron deficiency across the country.

For the iron in the food to be absorbed, the body needs Vitamin C and so the deficiency may also be partly due to people not eating enough foods high in that essential nutrient.

Iron deficiency can be very serious and includes the following symptoms; fatigue, angina, disorders like restless leg syndrome, and memory and mental processing problems in children.

It is believed that women and pre-schoolers are the two groups most at risk, but other groups include very young, very old, and those not being careful with vegetarian and vegan diets.

To determine if someone is iron deficient, an iron study should be done to identify the level and possible reason.

Dr Jonathan Baird-Gunning  in the latest edition of the Australian Prescriber journal, said; “Iron deficiency is very common. There are lots of ways to correct iron deficiency, ranging from dietary advice—ensuring you’re eating enough iron-rich food—to taking oral iron supplements. In more severe cases iron injections or blood transfusions may be needed.”

As vegetarians and vegans do not eat red meat, they must be very carefully in ensuring that they manage their diet to be well balanced nutritionally. It should not be a diet choice taken on lightly or without good research and practice.