An alarming report came out earlier this year highlighting a big increase in hospitalisations due to iron deficiency anaemia over the past decade. Photo / Getty Images
An alarming report came out earlier this year highlighting a big increase in hospitalisations due to iron deficiency anaemia over the past decade. Photo / Getty Images
How can you cut down on meat and maintain iron levels? Niki Bezzant explains.
A friend and I were chatting the other day, when she mentioned that her teenage daughter has been found to be really low in iron. This is a typical, high-achieving 17-year-old: busy school schedule; exams; lotsof extra-curricular and social activities.
For a long time she and her mother both thought she was getting super-tired because she simply had so much on the go. But there's tired and tired; in this case, an iron deficiency was the reason behind that exhaustion.
This is not an uncommon scenario for young women in New Zealand. Based on the most recent data (which is more than 10 years old, so the situation could be even worse) over a third of teenage girls aged 15-18 are not getting enough iron. And one in 14 adult women over 15 has an iron deficiency.
An alarming report came out earlier this year highlighting a big increase in hospitalisations due to iron deficiency anaemia over the past decade. This suggests the issue of iron might be worse than the data tells us – and experts say there are probably lots more people out there with a deficiency that hasn't been diagnosed.
This is a worry. We can't live without iron; it's in every cell of our bodies and is vital for making haemoglobin, which carries oxygen around our bodies; hence why when we don't get enough, we're easily exhausted.
There's a suggestion the increase in iron deficiency could be due to a decline in red meat consumption. That's certainly possible. Red meat is a very efficient way of getting iron into our diet; it's a really great source of iron that's easily absorbed by the body.
Having a couple of meat-containing meals a week is a good way of keeping our iron intake on track. Photo / Getty Images
Having a couple of meat-containing meals a week is a good way of keeping our iron intake on track. But many of us have been cutting back or cutting out the meat in light of health and environmental concerns. For young people in particular, this might be a risky move if it's not handled well.
It's absolutely possible to get the iron we need from a meat-free diet. But that diet needs to be well-planned.
The iron in plant foods – and it's in lots of plant foods, from nuts and whole grains to legumes – is less easily absorbed than the haem iron found in red meat.
That means if you're eating a vegetarian or vegan diet, you'll need to make sure to get lots and a wide variety of iron-containing foods.
People who've been eating meat-free diets for a while are usually pretty on to this; they know what they need and how to get it. But a risk for teenagers – who've long been experimenting with giving up animals – is that just cutting out animal foods and not replacing them with other highly nutritious, nutrient-dense foods, is a recipe for potential disaster.
You can't just cut out the meat. Science tells us a well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet can be a super-healthy way to eat, but it also tells us it's equally possible to eat a very unhealthy vegetarian or vegan diet, too.
Teenage girls carry the extra risk – as do all women – of menstruation; we lose iron every month, so our needs are higher.
Whether we eat meat or not, we can boost our chances of absorbing maximum iron by eating foods containing vitamin C along with our iron-rich foods; so having a colourful salad with a steak, or some fruit after a tofu stir-fry.
Skip the cuppa with your iron-rich meal; the tannins in tea can stop iron being absorbed, so it's best to wait half an hour or so before that cup of tea.
And there are some foods which are fortified with iron, such as cereals, which can be a useful way to get an iron boost.
Iron supplements which are often prescribed can wreak havoc with digestion. Photo / Getty Images
Iron supplements – while often prescribed and necessary when people are low in iron – can wreak havoc with digestion; they're notorious for causing constipation.
So if you think you might be low in iron, don't self-diagnose; you don't want to take this particular supplement unnecessarily. It's best to get checked out by your doctor and discuss the options.
Those of us who aren't low in iron and want to avoid issues in the future would do well to follow a wholefood, plant-based diet and make sure that diet includes iron-rich foods: ideally small but regular amounts of meat, and if not, plenty of iron-rich plant foods.
* Niki Bezzant is a food and nutrition writer and speaker, and editor-at-large for Healthy Food Guide. Follow her on Facebook or Instagram @nikibezzant
