I am about to emback on a rechearch topic titled determination of bio availability of iron in diet of pregnant women. What are the possible methods that can be used for the determination.
use of vitamin C, i.e. citrus fruits and fresh vegetables as welll as sprouts after each iron rich meal increases bioavailability of iron. iron rich foods are garden cress seeds, green leafy vegetables like cow pea leaves, bengal gram leaves, cauliflower leaves, rice flakes etc.
A European Project EURRECA just finished a big review on this topic....here are some relevant references.. calcium is a major factor to keep in mind with iron availability that affects both heme and non heme sources.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/91/5/1461S.full.pdf+html
In the next link the article by Gibson
http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/food/FNBv28n1_Suppl1_final.pdf#page=77
All the best
Joy Ngo
Dear Mary,
Good luck with this broad, challenging topic that is so important for public health. Another method not yet mentioned involved the use of iron isotopes. This paper contains a method used: Ullmann U, Haller J, Bakker GC, Brink EJ, Weber P. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) (TEAVIGO) does not impair nonhaem-iron absorption in man. Phytomedicine. 2005 Jun;12(6-7):410-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16008116
I would also like to draw your attention to a book Nutritional Anemia, edited by Klaus Kraemer. It is a handbook for implementing iron-targeted and other micronutrient interventions. While many chapters may contain relevant information for you, chapter 7 discusses how different fortification and dietary iron sources are ranked according to bioavailability. The original publications that this review chapter are based on will contain the methods used to determine iron bioavailability. The book can be downloaded as a pdf here: http://www.sightandlife.org/index.php?id=122
Regards,
Julia
We estimated 'in vitro' iron bioavailability/dialysability by using iron isotope and FLAIR protocol wherein gastrointestinal conditions are simulated. In vivo we have assessed in iliostomic patients. Details you can find in following references:
1. Agte V.V., Tarwadi K.V. and Chiplonkar S.A The influence of various food ingredients and their combinations on in vitro availability of iron and zinc in cereal-based vegetarian meals. In: Trace Elements in Man and Animals 10, 2000, Plenum Publishers, New York, 261-266.
2. Agte V, Jahagirdar M and Chiplonkar S Apparent absorption of eight micronutrients and phytic acid from vegetarian meals in ileostomised human volunteers Nutrition, 2005 Jun;21(6):678-85.
3. S.A. Chiplonkar and V.V. Agte Statistical model for predicting non-heme iron bioavailability from vegetarian meals. Int J Food Sc Nutr, 2006, vol 57, Number 7-8, 434-450
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Medicine
- Nutrition and Dietetics