Definition
Iron is an elementary building block in many different cells in the body. Most of the iron is found in the red blood cells, as a component of hemoglobin. It is responsible for transporting oxygen in the blood.
Iron is also contained in many enzymes that perform metabolic processes. Iron thus plays a decisive role in the regeneration and growth of cells. The iron deficiency (sideropenia) in the human body is one of the most common deficiency symptoms, from which about 25% of the world population suffer.
Adolescents and adults have a daily iron requirement of 12 to 15 mg, which must be taken in with food. Especially pregnant women have an increased need for iron of 30 mg daily. Iron is one of the most important trace elements in the body and has a key role in many enzymes. A lack of iron can therefore have far-reaching consequences for humans such as tiredness, paleness, and loss of performance and concentration.
Introduction
The term iron deficiency describes a too low concentration of iron in the human body, which can have various causes. Since iron cannot be produced by the body itself, but still has many important functions, a deficiency can lead to serious complications, depending on its severity. Every day, the body excretes about 1-2 mg of iron, which must be replenished through food.
However, this does not mean that you have to be careful to consume a certain amount of iron every day – the body has the possibility to store excess iron in the cells and release it on days when no or too little iron is supplied through food. This shows that only a long-term iron deficiency can lead to a nutritional iron deficiency. Besides malnutrition, blood loss is the second main cause of iron deficiency.
This is because there is iron in the haemoglobin molecule, the oxygen carrier of the red blood cells. Normally, these red blood cells are “taken out of circulation” at the end of their lifetime and their components – including iron – are partially recycled, making them available to the body. In case of bleeding, this recycling mechanism does not work: the red blood cells and thus also the iron are lost to the body. This makes it clear that pre-menopausal women in particular are susceptible to iron deficiency due to their monthly periods. But other diseases can also lead to a permanent tendency to bleed and thus to an iron deficiency: These include, for example, unrecognized stomach ulcers or blood clotting disorders.
All articles in this series:
