Sugar is a natural product, mainly made from cane plants or beets. It has earned a well-deserved reputation as the poster child of empty calories in the human diet. Scientific research has not shown that sugar intake causes iron depletion, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adults and children limit sugar intake, particularly sugar added to food. Although sugar does not directly cause iron depletion, empty calories, such as those from sugar, decrease your daily intake of essential nutrients including iron. When poor dietary choices result in an iron deficit, your body will have to draw from its iron stores to provide your body with enough for its functions.
Iron Daily Requirements
Iron intake is essential for the creation of blood cells that carry oxygen to every part of your body. The amount of iron that you need daily depends on your age and gender. The Institute of Medicine recommends an intake of 7 milligrams daily for children from age 1 through 3, and 10 milligrams for ages 4 through 8. Due to rapid growth, at age 14 the daily requirement for males increases to 11 milligrams. Adult males need 8 milligrams daily from age 19 to the end of life. Females between 14 and 18 need 15 milligrams, then 18 milligrams until age 50. During pregnancy, women need 27 milligrams daily.
Iron Absorption
Your body cannot absorb all of the iron in your food, and the rate of iron absorption depends on the type of food you eat. The absorption rate for heme iron from animal sources is two to three times higher than for non-heme iron from plant sources, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eating heme iron foods with non-heme iron foods improves absorption of non-heme iron. Increasing your vitamin C intake also boosts non-heme iron uptake. While coffee and tea interfere with uptake of non-heme iron, calcium consumption decreases your absorption of both types of iron.
Iron Depletion
Your body has an efficient mechanism for processing and storing extra iron. It releases these stores only when your food iron intake is inadequate. Growing infants and teens, pregnant women and athletes are most likely to deplete iron stores and develop anemia. Iron-deficiency anemia frequently results from bleeding from conditions such as hernias and colon cancer, stomach irritation from aspirin and similar analgesics, gastric bypass surgeries and normal blood loss from menstruation.
Iron Supplementation
In the U.S., iron supplementation options include increasing consumption of red meat, poultry and fish, consuming iron-fortified cereals and taking iron supplements orally. In developing countries, all of these options might be out of reach. Promising research in Brazil used iron-fortified sugar as a method of iron supplementation for school-aged children. The improved iron status of the study participants indicated that adding iron to sugar is convenient and cost effective. This use of sugar gives it the potential to increase iron stores instead of contributing to a nutritional deficit.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, Chapter 3-Foods and Food Components to Reduce
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes-Elements
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Iron and Iron Deficiency
- University of Virginia School of Medicine: Iron Deficiency Anemia
- Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutricion: The Use of Sugar Fortified With Iron Tris-Glycinate Chelate in the Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Preschool Children
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