Iron deficiency implications for high-intensity training in athletes -
Your skin might look pale. You might be short of breath. Does that sound like you? Admitting you have a problem is the first step. How should you modify your fitness routine? Original source: here.
But first, gather round, put your thinking cap on, and let me explain what iron does in your body. Hemoglobin is a component of your red blood cells that gives you energy and endurance, because it carries oxygen in the blood.
So your first step is to solve your anemia. If you do, take some specific measures to resolve it. According to the Mayo Clinic , it means low red blood cell count, or low hemoglobin.
According to one study and others , yes, working depletes iron. This happens for 3 reasons:. You can get it here. Also, keep in mind that whether or not working out depletes iron depends on the amount of training. In most research that shows that it does, the researchers are studying female athletes.
This may not be the case for both recreational exercisers, and males. Female athletes are usually exercising for over 5 hours per week. If you work out recreationally, consider doing interval training, since it allows you to catch your breath easier.
In my opinion, yes, exercise can help with anemia, if you do it right. During this time that you have anemia, resistance training, using high repetitions over 15 with large muscle groups is a great idea. Because endurance comes from two sources:. I write more about strength training here.
I also write more about the biochemical differences between men and women. Cardio is a two-edged sword: on the one hand, heavy cardio, especially running can deplete your iron even further.
By far, the most common way of dealing with iron deficiency is to take iron supplements. The most common supplement is ferrous sulfate. And if you want to use the iron-boosting power of vitamin C, eat your steak with some salad.
The only sure way to diagnose a deficiency is a blood test to determine iron status. If you experience any of the symptoms above, and you are in one of the higher risk categories, you should visit your healthcare provider for lab work.
If your healthcare provider confirms iron deficiency , she will recommend an increase in your dietary iron intake. If your deficiency is severe, you may need supplements.
Never use iron supplements unless under the supervision of your healthcare provider, as too much iron can cause irreversible damage and a higher risk of cancer and heart disease. The RDA for women and teenagers is 15 milligrams per day. Men should consume 10 mg.
Endurance athletes may need slightly more. You can get iron in both animal and plant foods, but the iron in animal sources has an absorption rate of about 20 to 30 percent, while it reaches up to 10 percent for plants. You can also increase the amount of iron in foods you eat by cooking with a cast iron skillet especially if cooking acidic foods.
Iron absorption from any foods, whether plant or animal, is decreased if they are accompanied at meals by caffeine. However, adding fruit citrus fruit in particular , to meals enhances iron absorption. The best sources of iron in the diet include: Lean red meat, iron-fortified breakfast cereal, nuts, and legumes, combined these with foods high in vitamin C.
Smolin L, Grosvenor M. Nutrition: Science and Applications 4th Edition. Alaunyte I, Stojceska V, Plunkett A. Iron and the female athlete: a review of dietary treatment methods for improving iron status and exercise performance.
J Int Soc Sports Nutr. Ottomano C, Franchini M. Sports anaemia: facts or fiction? Blood Transfus. Anemia Healthy Lifestyle Changes. National Institutes of Health. US Department of Health and Human Services.
Iron-Deficiency Anemia. American Society of Hematology. Kotze MJ, Van velden DP, Van rensburg SJ, Erasmus R. Pathogenic Mechanisms Underlying Iron Deficiency and Iron Overload: New Insights for Clinical Application.
Beck KL, Conlon CA, Kruger R, Coad J. Dietary determinants of and possible solutions to iron deficiency for young women living in industrialized countries: a review. Are anti-nutrients harmful? Harvard School of Public Health. By Elizabeth Quinn Elizabeth Quinn is an exercise physiologist, sports medicine writer, and fitness consultant for corporate wellness and rehabilitation clinics.
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High-nitensity deficiency is frequent among athletes. All Chia seed ice cream of Herbal weight loss routines deficiency may ceficiency physical performance and should be treated. The main mechanisms by which sport leads to iron jmplications are increased iron demand, elevated iron loss and blockage of iron absorption due to hepcidin bursts. As a baseline set of blood tests, haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean cellular volume, mean cellular haemoglobin and serum ferritin levels help monitor iron deficiency. Treatment of iron deficiency consists of nutritional counselling, oral iron supplementation or, in specific cases, by intravenous injection. Athletes with repeatedly low ferritin values benefit from intermittent oral substitution. What is Enhance blood circulation deficiency? how common is it? who is at risk? implicatiosn how can you measure it? These are the questions we will deal with in this blog and the next blog will discuss the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency.
Iron deficiency implications for high-intensity training in athletes -
August 29, by Jennifer Gaudiani. Iron deficiency is common in athletes. Nearly half of females who exercise may experience iron deficiency. The International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on periodic health evaluation of elite athletes even recommended routine screening for iron deficiency.
This article is also focused on adult athletes and the information discussed may not apply to children. Iron is a mineral that has several important roles in the body including energy metabolism, oxygen transport, and acid-base balance.
Red blood cells transport oxygen throughout the body and are filled with proteins called hemoglobin. Each hemoglobin molecule contains iron. Oxygen picked up in the lungs binds to the iron inside hemoglobin and then is carried all over the body to supply oxygen to organs and tissues.
Iron comes from our diet. Dietary iron can be classified into heme iron and non-heme iron. Heme iron is found in meat, poultry, and fish. Red meat contains about three times as much iron as both poultry and fish making it one of the richest sources of dietary iron.
Heme iron is absorbed by the digestive tract about twice as well as non-heme iron. Sources of non-heme iron includes fruits, vegetables, and iron fortified foods.
Vitamin C assists with the absorption of non-heme iron in the digestive tract so mixing foods rich in vitamin C with non-heme iron containing foods can increase the amount of iron the body absorbs. Athletes need more iron than the general population.
Iron is lost through sweat, skin, urine, the gastrointestinal GI tract, and menstruation. Athletes lose more iron due to heavy sweating as well as increased blood loss in the urine and GI tract. The mechanical force of a footstrike during endurance running, for example, can increase the destruction of red blood cells in the feet, leading to a shorter red blood cell life span.
Female athletes are at even higher risk for iron deficiency as compared to males due to monthly blood loss associated with menstruation.
Athletes may also be at risk for iron deficiency due to insufficient dietary iron intake. Remember, the body is not very effective at absorbing dietary iron. Those following a strict vegetarian or vegan diet can be at even higher risk for iron deficiency due to the decreased absorption of non-heme iron found in plants and fortified foods.
Because iron is necessary for oxygen transport and energy metabolism, both of which are critical for fueling aerobic exercise, endurance athletes can experience a decline in exercise capacity and VO2 max, the maximal amount of oxygen the body can use, with iron deficiency.
As iron deficiency becomes more severe, the body cannot make a sufficient number of red blood cells and anemia, meaning low red blood cells, develops. Athletes with iron deficiency anemia will generally have more pronounced symptoms than those with iron deficiency alone.
A craving for ice chips is actually pretty specific to iron deficiency, so any athletes out there who find themselves wanting to eat a lot of ice should definitely have their iron levels checked. Iron deficiency is diagnosed through blood tests. The most useful of the typical iron study panel is ferritin, which is a marker of iron stores.
In the sports nutrition community, there is no clear ferritin goal for athletes. There is also potentially increased iron loss from exercise due to hemolysis the destruction of red blood cells , sweating and gastrointestinal bleeding.
There are particular sub-groups of athletes which are more susceptible to suffering from an iron deficiency, including:. Female athletes, in particular those who regularly menstruate because blood losses are higher.
Athletes who follow a plant-based diet. Athletes with low energy intake because iron intake is more likely to be insufficient to support the demands of the body.
Adolescent athletes because this time period is associated with increased iron requirements. Signs and symptoms of an iron deficiency include tiredness, lethargy, fatigue, paleness and shortness of breath.
In athletes, these are even more indicative of a deficiency if these symptoms are experienced when training load if constant i. not progressing , or during a recovery phase.
During the early stages of an iron deficiency when stores are reduced, but not depleted, the impacts on exercise performance are debated. However, as iron stores become severely depleted, there is evidence to show that this negatively impacts physical performance 3,4.
Sub-optimal iron stores are likely to have a greater impact on performance in aerobic based sports due the effect of an iron deficiency on the transport and delivery of oxygen.
Athletes should have their iron status assessed by an experienced sports physician. A blood sample is required to test for an iron deficiency. Considerations should be given to 2 :.
The time of day — morning is preferable. Hydration — athletes should be well hydrated. Prior exercise — hours rest from exercise prior to the blood sample is preferable.
If exercise is necessary, then only low to moderate intensity exercise should be completed in the 24 hours prior. Muscle-damaging e. eccentric exercise should not be completed in the days prior because this increases inflammation. Therefore, the measurement may reflect the stress or inflammation and not an iron deficiency.
Illness — the athlete should be showing no signs of illness or infection. There are different stages of iron deficiency. The most severe state is iron deficiency anemia IDA which results in a host of symptoms, including weakness and fatigue.
Two earlier stages can be identified that are precursors to IDA. These are collectively referred to as iron deficiency nonanemia IDNA. The first and least severe stage of iron deficiency is marked by a fall in serum ferritin resulting from a reduction of total body iron stores, but other iron indices such as haemoglobin remain normal This stage is called nonanemia.
The second stage, also non-anemia, is marked by low serum ferritin but also low serum iron or decreased transferrin saturation and increased total iron binding capacity TIBC. Once iron stores and transport iron have been sufficiently depleted, the body can no longer keep up with the demands of hemoglobin synthesis, and the third and final stage IDA results.
Peeling et al. These are:. The most common supplement is ferrous sulfate. And if you want to use the iron-boosting power of vitamin C, eat your steak with some salad. Or have fruits for dessert. Why are athletes at higher risk? One reason is that iron is lost in sweat.
You sweat more, you lose more iron. Another reason, as mentioned earlier is mechanical destruction of red blood cells. Every time you take a step, you crush some red blood cells, which contain iron.
So maybe the issue is not intake. Maybe the issue is absorption. Why might you have poor absorption? Just bring ask your doctor for the appropriate tests. Igor Klibanov is an accomplished personal trainer who was selected as one of the top 5 personal trainers in Toronto by the Metro News newspaper in Igor has an extensive background in martial arts and a passion for learning about movement and the human body.
He has worked with a wide variety of clients including TV personalities and CEOs of well-known organizations. He has also delivered fitness education seminars at a number of companies, including Investors Group, Sunlife and Soberman LLC.
Igor strongly believes in continued education, and has the following qualifications: B. Specialized Honours Kinesiology and Health Science York University Ontario Kinesiology Association OKA Certified Kinesiologist CK Biosignature Practitioner Certified Trigenics Trainer CTT Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology CSEP Certified Personal Trainer CPT Can-Fit-Pro Personal Trainer Specialist PTS.
The present implicstions was defficiency to evaluate the effect high-inetnsity an intensive physical training program involving Iplications isometric and isotonic Herbal weight loss routines on the Metabolic health awareness iron status of 8 females and 11 males age 20± 1 ddficiency. The training was carried out over a 7 week period and included 8 h of varying physical activities each day. Venous blood samples were obtained from the subjects prior to the beginning of the training, on day 2 and in weeks 2, 4, 6 and 7 of the program. Blood samples were analyzed for iron, ferritin and hemoglobin Hb concentrations, total iron binding capacity TIBC and red blood cell count RBC. In two of the women anemia occurred after 4 weeks of training.
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