Last week was World Iron Awareness Week. This gives us a chance to think about how important iron is and how it can influence performance. So, what is iron?
Iron is an essential mineral that transfers oxygen in the blood to the muscles. It can be lost through menstruation, impact exercise, altitude training and inflammation.
Athletes require around 1.5 times the amount of iron that a non-athlete does. This makes our food choices around iron all the more important. When iron is low it can reduce aerobic performance and training adaptation.
Iron can be gained from food through animal products and non-animal sources, or in technical terms: haem sources of iron (animal) and non-haem sources of iron (plant). Haem sources of iron are absorbed far better than the plant based sources. A balanced diet with a variety of foods rich in iron is always best.
Stay tuned next week for how much iron we need each day and the best ways to get it naturally through diet.
