Recently, there is news that a 65-year-old man usually pay great attention to maintenance, light diet, regular work and rest, love tea and walk, but recently suddenly fainted, sent to the hospital to check out is a serious iron deficiency anemia. After inquiries found that the old man loves to drink strong tea, carry a cup of tea, often half tea and half water, the amount of tea a day in about 50 grams.
In fact, “insufficient iron intake” in the population in general, just no obvious symptoms, we will not pay attention. To the extent that the news of the elderly iron deficiency, or rare.
Can we still drink tea? In order to avoid iron deficiency, what should we pay attention to in our daily diet?
The average person drinking tea does not lead to iron deficiency Tea is a very healthy beverage, the tea polyphenols, theanine, tea saponin, etc., are beneficial to health. Caffeine, moderate intake of health benefits far outweigh the “possible harm”. Of course, theoretically speaking, if you drink a lot of tea over a long period of time, the oxalic acid, polyphenols, caffeine and other components may affect the absorption of iron, for example, tea polyphenols can form insoluble substances with iron.
So, whether it’s tea or coffee, the health advice is to drink it in moderation.
So how much is the right amount?
Caffeine intake is generally used as an indicator, with a recommendation of “no more than 400 mg of caffeine per day”. The caffeine content of tea is generally in the range of 20-40 mg/g. Caffeine dissolves at a very high rate in boiling water, and the estimation can be made by assuming that all of the caffeine is steeped into the tea.
Estimated according to this standard, if the old man in the news really can drink 50 grams (one or two) of tea every day, the caffeine intake of roughly 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams, can be said to be a “large number of”, coupled with the fact that this is his daily habits, it is a typical “long-term large intake of This is a typical “long-term high intake”, which may affect the absorption of iron.
However, the average person does not have to worry at all about drinking tea leading to iron deficiency. An ordinary tea bag has 2 to 4 grams of tea per bag. Even if you drink 5 bags a day, each tea bag to brew two or three cups of water (this amount of water has exceeded the daily recommended water intake), the total amount of tea roughly in the range of 10 to 20 grams, but also is not “a lot of”. Most people drink less than 10 grams of tea per day, so you don’t have to worry about “a lot” of problems.
Avoid iron deficiency, not just the pursuit of light iron is an essential trace element, iron deficiency will cause anemia, lethargy, easy fatigue and a series of symptoms. And the body can not produce iron, and will lose some every day, so you need to supplement from the diet.
The amount of iron that the body needs to consume each day is determined by two factors: “how much iron is lost each day” and “how efficiently iron is absorbed from the diet”. There is no precise data on how much iron the body loses every day, but it is generally estimated to be 0.9-1.0 mg/day, which is roughly equivalent to 14 micrograms/kg body weight/day.
It is important to note that “0.9 to 1.0 mg/day” is the “amount of iron that needs to be consumed”, not the “amount of iron that should be in food”. Since only a portion of the iron in food can be absorbed by us, the “rate of absorption by the body” and the “amount of iron in food” are equally important factors to be considered.
Iron in food can be categorized into heme iron, which is mainly found in meat and animal offal, and non-heme iron, which is mainly found in plant foods.
The body’s absorption of heme iron is high, up to 15% to 35%. In contrast, when non-heme iron is consumed, the rate of absorption varies greatly depending on factors such as individual constitution and the components of the diet that promote and inhibit iron absorption.
Among the factors that promote iron absorption are vitamin C (and derivatives of ascorbic acid) and meat. In one study, beef, chicken, and fish increased non-heme iron absorption from corn by two to three times. The main factors that inhibit iron absorption are phytic acid and polyphenolic compounds, in addition to calcium and certain proteins (e.g., milk, eggs, and soybeans) to some degree.
In short, iron absorption varies greatly from one diet to another. According to the WHO and the FAO, people with diets rich in meat and vitamin C can absorb up to 15% of iron, whereas people with diets based on grains and potatoes and a limited intake of meat and vitamin C can absorb only 5% of iron.
Many elderly people take “light diet” “more vegetarian less meat” as a way to maintain health, that is in the maintenance of the body. In fact, this kind of diet may affect the absorption of iron, but also inconsistent with the true health concept. As far as iron supplementation is concerned, there should be enough iron in the food as well as a reasonable diet structure in order to improve iron absorption and avoid iron deficiency.
