Starch and Iron Absorption

Abstract

The habitual ingestion of large amounts of laundry starch is a common practice among Negro females in certain geographic areas of the United States. The amount ingested may exceed 2 pounds of starch daily and is frequently associated with marked Fe deficiency. The severity of "starch eaters anemia" seems greater than expected from an Fe deficient diet alone and led to the postulate that starch interfered with Fe absorption. The present investigation was performed to study this hypothesis and reports the acute and chronic effects of starch ingestion upon Fe absorption in rats. Decreased Fe absorption was observed in rats fed protein deficient starch and sucrose diets. This was not caused by a direct intraluminal effect of starch or sucrose upon Fe absorption. The abnormality was attributed to both a retarded rate of growth and a relative deficiency of protein for hemoglobin synthesis. "Starch eaters anemia" may be caused by a lack of dietary Fe and may be complicated by a decreased capability to absorb Fe because of protein deprivation and decreased erythropoiesis.