Iron Status of Menstruating Women

Abstract

Dietary aliquots were taken for 7 days by 13 University women who were maintaining their normal eating habits. Iron content was both calculated from food composition tables and determined chemically. High correlation was observed between the two methods of estimation. No significant increase of iron appeared to occur during food processing and preparation. The daily iron intake in these subjects averaged 9.2 mg, when chemically analyzed, and 9.9 mg when calculated. This level is approximately two-thirds of current recommended iron allowance of 15 mg. In evaluating iron status of 12 of these young women, none of whom exhibited iron-deficiency anemia, four were considered to be normal (two of these were supplementing their diets with iron-enriched food or medicinal iron); three exhibited increased iron absorption; five exhibited iron deficiency as reflected by no iron stores, increased iron absorption, and a decreased level of saturation of transferrin.