Factors influencing the absorption of iron in diet
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Many people have had such bad experiences with traditional supplements they have been put off and often try dietary measures such as ‘eating leafy greens’ which simply don’t work.”
However a breakthrough by scientists at Trinity College in Dublin could provide the answer. They have developed a new way of delivering iron which doubles absorption and is free from the unpleasant side effects which are common to existing iron supplements.
Three out of four women who take traditional iron tablets experience problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, diarrhoea and heartburn and two out of five women who have been advised to take oral iron supplements regularly skip doses because of side effects.
Unlike conventional iron supplements, which begin to break down in the stomach, where they cause oxidative stress and inflammation and trigger unpleasant gastric side effects, the new formulation, which has just been launched under the name Active Iron, packages iron into whey protein microspheres which pass through the stomach.
This ensures the iron in Active Iron is not released until it reaches the small intestine, where absorption takes place via a protein known as DMT-1 – divalent metal transporter 1 – which binds to the mineral and carries it through the gut wall and into the bloodstream.
However a breakthrough by scientists at Trinity College in Dublin could provide the answer. They have developed a new way of delivering iron which doubles absorption and is free from the unpleasant side effects which are common to existing iron supplements.
Three out of four women who take traditional iron tablets experience problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, diarrhoea and heartburn and two out of five women who have been advised to take oral iron supplements regularly skip doses because of side effects.
Unlike conventional iron supplements, which begin to break down in the stomach, where they cause oxidative stress and inflammation and trigger unpleasant gastric side effects, the new formulation, which has just been launched under the name Active Iron, packages iron into whey protein microspheres which pass through the stomach.
This ensures the iron in Active Iron is not released until it reaches the small intestine, where absorption takes place via a protein known as DMT-1 – divalent metal transporter 1 – which binds to the mineral and carries it through the gut wall and into the bloodstream.
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