Iron Lack May Cause the Blues
If your teenage daughter seems to be having more than her fair share of adolescent sulks, the reason may not be hormonal surges alone. John Beard, professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, suspects that a lack of iron in the diet may also be playing a role. His studies have found a “very high relationship” between inadequate iron intake and depression in young girls.
In these cases, the lack of iron intake isn’t necessarily low enough to cause full-blown iron-deficiency anemia, a condition marked by extreme fatigue, headaches and even hair loss. This condition occurs when most of the iron stored in the body has been depleted and virtually no iron is being consumed.
Doctors use a blood test to diagnose iron-deficiency anemia, which is marked by a reduction in the size of red blood cells and low levels of the iron-containing red hemoglobin pigment responsible for carrying oxygen to the body’s cells.
While some girls may not be anemic, their iron intake is low enough that it can prevent the brain from functioning at its best. It is this fuzzy area between diagnosable anemia and a relative lack of iron in the brain that Beard believes is the cause of depression among young women in his study group.
But low moods may not be all that is at stake from long-term iron deficiency. Researchers around the world have found that iron intake may also play a role in the classroom by impairing one’s ability to learn. Dr. Michael Nelson, a lecturer in nutrition at King’s College, London University, believes, for example, that improving iron intake might improve students’ IQs.
What, then, are the chances of a young girl in the United States consuming inadequate amounts of this vital mineral? The average iron intake of adolescent girls is believed to be as little as 10 milligrams a day--or 5 milligrams less than the recommended daily amount, or RDA.
So the odds that a girl is not consuming enough iron are relatively high. Consider that young girls may be consuming just two-thirds of the RDA of this vital mineral at a time when they need extra iron to support growth spurts, while also experiencing a loss of iron during menstruation.
Moreover, Beard notes that the extra demands for iron occur at an age when many girls are highly self-conscious of their body image and are “dieting” to keep off the weight. Also, some girls at this age also choose to pursue a vegetarian diet, which can reduce iron intake further.
If pregnancy is added to the equation--a condition that can double one’s recommended iron intake to 30 milligrams per day--a young woman may easily become fully anemic and require treatment through iron supplements.
For most girls, however, eating iron-rich foods daily is sufficient to build and maintain adequate stores of iron. Iron is most easily absorbed by the body from animal sources, including meat, oily fish (such as tuna and clams) and dark poultry meat. Dried figs, prunes, apricots, sesame seeds, baked beans and dark green leafy vegetables are good sources of iron, as are breakfast cereals, breakfast bars and pasta enriched with iron. Other iron-rich foods include soy beans, lentils, pinto beans and chickpeas.
If the researchers are correct, eating such foods regularly might help with schoolwork and ease those teenage blues.
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Amanda Ursell, a dietitian and nutritionist, is a London-based freelance journalist. Her column appears twice a month. She can be reached at amanda@ursell.com.
