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Background: Basic training for military recruits is a physically demanding course that is generally a sudden change from an individual’s habitual lifestyle. Female recruits have physiological disadvantages in comparison to males, which contribute to lower aerobic fitness and higher risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Nutrition related health, including iron and vitamin D status, dietary intake and body composition is essential to support the health and physical fitness of female recruits. However, little is known about how these nutrition related health factors change during completion of basic training, their determinants or associations with measures of physical fitness in female recruits in the New Zealand Army. Objectives: The objectives of this research in females undertaking 16-weeks of basic training in the New Zealand Army were to 1) characterise iron status in female recruits during basic training and investigate associations with physical fitness; 2) investigate associations between iron stores, dietary patterns and non-dietary determinants of iron stores in female recruits at the commencement of basic training; 3) characterise vitamin D status in female recruits during basic training and investigate potential determinants at the commencement of basic training; and 4) characterise body composition, physical fitness and dietary intake during basic training and investigate associations between these three factors in female recruits. Methods: Data were collected at weeks 1 and 16 of basic training from female recruits who enlisted in the New Zealand Army between February 2014 and March 2016. Demographic, lifestyle and medical history information were self-reported via an online questionnaire at week 1. Dietary intake data from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) administered online and body composition measurements were collected at weeks 1 and 16. Body composition was determined by the InBody230 bioelectrical impedance analyser and included body mass (BM), sk

Iron deficiency is a global problem among women of reproductive age, particularly in developing countries. A recent survey from the Solomon Islands reported that 44% of women of reproductive aged were anaemic. Currently nothing is known about the iron status of women from the Solomon Islands living in New Zealand (NZ). Aim: This study aims to assess and compare iron status and factors influencing iron status of Solomon Islands with Caucasian women living in and around Auckland, NZ. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study comparing 40 Solomon Islands women with 80 age-matched Caucasian women living in and around Auckland. Serum ferritin (SF), C-reactive protein (CRP) and haemoglobin (Hb) were analyzed. Iron status was defined as: iron replete (SF > 20 µg/L + Hb > 120 g/L), iron deficiency (ID) (SF < 20 µg/L + Hb > 120 g/L) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) (SF < 20 µg/L + Hb < 120 g/L). Participants with CRP >10 mg/L were excluded from this study. Dietary assessment was conducted using a computerised iron food frequency questionnaire including questions on dietary habits, purposely to assess foods affecting iron status. In addition, a 24-hour dietary recall was used to assess the average daily nutrient intake of Solomon Islands women. Demographic and body composition data were also collected together with data on other factors affecting iron status such as blood loss and general health history. Results: No significant difference in the prevalence of low iron stores + IDA was found in Solomon Islands and Caucasian women (17 vs. 23%, p=0.478). The frequency of red meat, prepared meat and offal, and all white meat consumption did not differ between the two groups (p=0.187). There was a significant difference in fish/seafood consumption (p=0.001), Solomon Islands women consumed fish/seafood more frequently than Caucasian women. Solomon Islands women also consumed medium-high vitamin C fruits more frequently (p=0.002) and dairy products less frequently (p=0.001) than Ca

Iron deficiency is a global problem for which determinants and solutions need to be investigated. The first part of this study assessed the iron status and dietary intakes of 85 non vegetarian women aged 18-40 years living in the Manawatu region. Exclusion criteria included pregnancy or breastfeeding in the past 12 months, smoking, excess alcohol consumption and recent blood donation. Dietary intakes were estimated using a 24 hour recall and a non validated food frequency questionnaire. Serum ferritin (SF), haemoglobin (Hb), C-reactive protein, height, weight and supplement use were measured. Two women (2.4%) had iron deficiency anaemia (SF<12µg/L and Hb< 120g/L) and 9 women (10.6%) had depleted iron stores (SF<20µg/L). All other women had normal iron stores (SF>20µg/L). The daily mean and median iron intakes were 12.7±6.2mg and 10.8mg. 71 women (83.5%) consumed less than the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) of 18mg iron per day and 21.2% consumed less than the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) of 8mg iron per day. Serum ferritin was positively associated with age and total dietary iron intake. No statistically significant relationship was found between serum ferritin and Body Mass Index or exercise, or daily intakes of energy, protein, haem iron, red meat, total meat, vitamin C, vitamin A, total tea, coffee, alcohol, fibre or calcium (p>.05). Eighteen women who had low iron stores (SF<30µg/L) were selected to take part in a second study to investigate the effect of a meat extract (<0.5kDa sarcoplasmic fraction) on non haem iron absorption. Each subject consumed a sodium caseinate meal, a meat meal or a sodium caseinate meal containing the meat extract. Each meal was labeled with 8.5mg 57 Fe and each subject received 0.5mg 58 Fe administered by intravenous infusion. Fourteen days later iron absorption from these meals was determined using ratios of stable isotopes of iron incorporated into the red blood cells. Iron status was significantly inversely related to iro

The bioavailability of iron in New Zealand beef either alone or as part of a 'typical' New Zealand meal was investigated. The solubility of iron and its in vitro absorption by mouse intestinal tissue were used to evaluate iron bioavailability. The solubility of haem and/or non-haem iron in meat (beef longissimus muscle), vegetables and meat-plus-vegetables was investigated. Samples were cooked and then subjected to in vitro gastrointestinal digestion with pepsin followed by a combination of pancreatic enzymes and bile. Cooking at 65°C for 90 minutes reduced the soluble iron concentration in meat by 81% and reduced the haem iron concentration by 27%, which coincided with a 175% increase in non-haem iron concentrations. However, gastrointestinal digestion increased the solubility of iron in cooked meat (333%), vegetables (367%) and meat-plus-vegetables (167%). A proportion (35%) of the haem iron in the meat was broken down by the action of pancreatic enzymes leading to a 46% increase in non-haem iron concentrations, although this was not the case for the meat-plus-vegetables. Validation studies showed that mouse intestinal segments mounted in Ussing chambers maintained integrity and viability, and were responsive to glucose, theophylline and carbachol. Intestinal tissue from iron deficient mice was then used in the Ussing chambers to investigate the absorption of iron from ferrous gluconate and the soluble fractions of meat, vegetables and meat-plus-vegetables after gastrointestinal digestion. Results indicated a trend towards a higher absorption of iron from meat and ferrous gluconate, compared to vegetables and meat-plus-vegetables. However, iron absorption results were difficult to interpret due to the wide variation in the data. This variation was possibly due to errors associated with the sample processing and the analysis of iron, which was by inductively coupled-mass spectroscopy. Overall, the present study showed that before estimations can be made on the bioa

Iron deficiency is a major nutritional problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 3.7 billion people in the world with iron deficiency (WHO, 2000). Red meat is known to enhance iron absorption due in part to the presence of a meat factor. Domestic pigs (Sus domesticus) have been utilised as models for humans in many medical and nutritional studies. The first experiment reported here used 20 4-week-old piglets to compare the bioavailability of iron in diets containing meat (ME), a water-soluble extract of meat (SA), a water-insoluble fraction of meat (SR), and a meat-free control diet (CO). Bioavailability of iron was assessed on the basis of changes in iron-related blood parameters over a 4-week feeding trial. Iron retention in haemoglobin, red blood cell counts (RBC), haemoglobin levels (HGB), haematocrit (HCT), and mean corpuscular volumes (MCV) for ME, SR, and SA was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than for CO indicating that all meat fractions enhanced the bioavailability of iron. For some blood parameters the iron status of group SA was significantly lower (p<0.05) than for groups ME or SR. It is concluded that the meat-factor is primarily present in the water-insoluble fraction of beef. In the second experiment nine four weeks old of age female pigs were allocated into three groups of diet treatments, i.e. E200, which contained 48 g/kg live weight0.75 of meat extrinsically labelled with Fe57; 1200 and 1300 , which contained 48 g/kg liveweight0.75 and 69 g/kg liveweight0.75 of meat intrinsically labelled with Fe57 The isotope labelled diets were fed only on day 0. Afterwards all pigs received the same weaner diet. The pigs were also injected by 58Fe via intra venous. E200, 1 200, and 1 300 were not significantly different (p > 0.05) in growth parameters (i.e. average daily gain and average daily feed intake) and in the blood parameters (i.e. white blood cells and RBC, HGB, HCT, MCV, the mean corpuscular hemoglobin and the

Worldwide, iron deficiency affects more than 1 billion people. People with iron deficiency have symptoms of fatigue, intolerance to the cold and poor behaviour and psychomotor development problems. This is partly because the amount of iron present in food is not the amount that is available to the body. The bioavailability of iron is a key component in understanding the complexities of iron deficiency. Using an animal model involving 4-week old anaemic piglets, this study investigated several aspects of iron bioavailability. These were: The relationship between iron status and iron absorption, the difference in bioavailability of meat iron and non-haem iron and whether supplementary vitamin C can aid in the absorption of dietary iron, and the effect of temperature and cooking of meat on iron bioavailability. Dietary iron bioavailability was measured both in iron deficient and non-iron deficient piglets, by measuring changes to the composition of the red cell mass, serum iron concentrations and the binding capacity of iron transport proteins over a period of 28-days. Experiment 1 showed that meat iron was more bioavailable than the inorganic iron in a vegetable based diet. Also, in the anaemic piglet, 500 ppm of vitamin C in the diet was able to enhance the availability of the non-haem iron from a diet consisting of food choices from a typical human diet. Experiment 2 showed that a diet containing meat iron was able to return iron deficient piglets to haematologic normality more readily than a diet consisting of milk protein and inorganic iron. Also, cooking meat in a steam-heated circulating water bath was beneficial in increasing the digestibility of the diet and also increasing the availability of the meat iron. The findings of this study reflect the conclusions drawn from similar human studies, thereby providing further evidence of the suitability of the piglet as a model for the human in future studies of iron bioavailability.

Sixty-two female athletes at Virginia Tech participated in an investigation to compare iron status among those whose primary source of dietary protein was red meat (M), lacto-ovovegetarian (V), or poultry and fish (PF). Subjects' blood was collected three times over the six-month study period and analyzed for hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum iron, transferrin saturation, total iron~binding capacity, serum ferritin, free erythrocyte protoporphyrin, mean corpuscular volume, and red blood cell count. Means for all dietary groups were within normal limits for all blood variables. There were no significant differences among the dietary groups for any of the hematological parameters. Six of the sixty-two subjects were found to be in stage 1 iron deficiency; two from Group M, one from Group V, and three from Group PF. None of the subjects was in stage 2 or 3 iron deficiency. Subjects completed two 3-day dietary recalls which were analyzed for nutrient content. Group M consumed a significantly greater percent of kcals from protein than Group V and significantly more grams of protein than both Groups V and PF. There were no significant differences among the groups for intake of iron; however, only Group H consumed the current RDA for iron for adult women. Three subjects from each dietary group were interviewed to identify factors considered most important in the adoption of their dietary patterns. Primary factors identified were: Group H; habit, taste preference, and health; Group Vi athletic performance and ethical treatment of animals, and Group PF; taste preference and health. Iron status in this population does not appear to be affected by source of dietary protein.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise and dietary iron on various components of iron metabolism in 13 month old female rats. Fifty-six 13 month old female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of five groups of treatment: baseline (BL); 40ppm iron, exercise (40 E); 9ppm iron, exercise (9 E); 40ppm iron, non- exercise (40 NE); 9ppm iron, non-exercise (9 NE). The exercise protocol involved swimming the exercise groups for a period of six weeks, starting with 10 minutes/day until the rats were swimming for 1 hour/day, 5 days/ week, at the sixth week. Results indicated no significant differences in food intake and body weight among the groups. Hematocrit values were similar among groups and did not show significant effects of diet, activity or interaction. Hemoglobin values demonstrated significant effects of activity with values being elevated in the exercise groups (p ≤0.05). No significant effects of diet and interaction on hemoglobin concentrations were observed. Serum iron levels were significantly affected by dietary intake of iron, with levels being lower in the groups consuming the moderately-deficient diet (p≤0.05). Serum iron levels were not significantly affected by activity or interaction of diet and activity. TIBC levels did not demonstrate significant effects of diet, activity or interaction (p<0.05). Tissue weights of liver, spleen, heart, soleus and gastrocnemius muscles were similar among groups. Iron concentrations in the liver and spleen showed significant effects of diet, activity and interaction (p≤0.05). Iron levels were lower in the groups consuming moderately-deficient intakes of dietary iron and were also lower in the exercised animals. Concentrations were significantly lower in the 9 E group than in the 40 E group. Iron concentrations in the gastrocnemius muscle were significantly affected by diet, activity and interaction of diet and activity, and were significantly lower in the exercised animals as c

Discusses the importance of iron in the diet and lists several foods that are excellent sources of iron.