Food and iron deficiency anemia

Deficit željeza dominantan je i jedan od glavnih uzroka anemije i predstavlja veliki zdravstveni problem kako u zemljama u razvoju, tako i u razvijenim zemljama. Anemiji prethodi deficit željeza, kojemu je glavni uzrok krvarenje ili nedovoljan unos hranom. Željezo je neophodno za funkcioniranje svih stanica u tijelu a deponira se u jetri. Zdravi organizam nema mehanizam eliminacije željeza iz organizma, te se uslijed nedovoljnog unosa željeza hranom zalihe iz jetre troše. Dakle, iz deficita željeza se postupna razvija anemija. Simptomi koji ukazuju na deficit željeza su brzo umaranje prilikom napora, krhki nokti, loša koncentracija, blijedost kože, a kod anemije posebice ako je prisutna dugi period može se javiti nepravilan rad srca, kratak dah, učestale glavobolje i značajan pad imuniteta. U homeostazi željeza izuzetno je važna apsorpcija iz hrane koje ovisi o obliku u kojem je željezo prisutno u određenoj hrani. Hemsko (hrana animalnog podrijetla) se bolje apsorbira i nehemsko željezo (hrana biljnog podrijetla) koje je i glavni izvor željeza u svakodnevnoj prehrani. Količina željeza koja će se apsorbirati, tzv. bioraspoloživost ovisi o nizu nutritivnih čimbenika koji promoviraju ili inhibiraju apsorpciju željeza. Najpoznatiji promotor apsorpcije je askorbinska kiselina (Vitamin C), dok su fitati (iz žitarica), kava i čaj odgovorni za inhibiciju. Kako bi se deficit željeza izbjegao potrebno je težiti raznovrsnoj prehrani. Hrana koja je bogat izvor željeza uključuje jetricu (npr. goveđa jetra), crveno meso, krupne ribe (npr. tuna), te mahunarke, sjemenke (npr. Bučine i sesamove) i zeleno lisnato povrće. Uz to na tržištu postoji cijeli niz funkcionalnih proizvoda obogaćenih željezom koji mogu pomoći u globalnoj borbi protiv deficita željeza i vezanih zdravstvenih problema.Iron deficiency is dominant and one of the main causes of anaemia. It is one of the major public health problems in both undeveloped and well developed countries. Anaemia is preceded by iron deficiency, which is mainly caused by bleeding or inadequate dietary intake. Iron is crucial for normal functioning of all cells in the body, and the liver is its main depo. Healthy organism has no elimination mechanism for iron, therefore insufficient dietary intake leads to depletion of its storage. Gradually, anaemia develops. Symptoms indicative of iron deficiency are tiredness, brittle nails, poor concentration, pale skin, and in case of anaemia especially if it’s a longer problem irregular heartbeat, short breath, frequent headaches and significant drop in the immunity can appear. For iron homeostasis absorption from food is extremely important. Absorption depends of the form or iron in foods. Hem iron (animal foods) is absorbed better than non-heme iron (plant foods) which is the main source of iron in a daily diet. The amount of iron that will be absorbed, i.e. bioavailability depends on a number of nutritional factors that either improve or diminish its absorption. Vitamin C is the most famous promotor, while phytates (from cereals), coffee and tea diminish iron's absorption. Prevention of iron deficiency lies in diverse diet. Food that is good source of iron includes liver (e.g. beef liver), red meat, large fish (e.g. tuna), and legumes, seeds (e.g. pumpkin and sesame), and green leafy vegetables. Also, a number of functional foods enriched with iron that can help in the global fight against iron deficiency and its related health problems