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Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway

Although plant-based diets provide well-established physical and environmental health benefits, omitting meat or meat products has also been associated with a risk of being deficient in specific nutrients, such as iron. As data on the iron status among Norwegian vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians...

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Autores principales: Henjum, Sigrun, Groufh-Jacobsen, Synne, Stea, Tonje Holte, Tonheim, Live Edvardsen, Almendingen, Kari
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8003004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33803700
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom11030454
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author Henjum, Sigrun
Groufh-Jacobsen, Synne
Stea, Tonje Holte
Tonheim, Live Edvardsen
Almendingen, Kari
author_facet Henjum, Sigrun
Groufh-Jacobsen, Synne
Stea, Tonje Holte
Tonheim, Live Edvardsen
Almendingen, Kari
author_sort Henjum, Sigrun
collection PubMed
description Although plant-based diets provide well-established physical and environmental health benefits, omitting meat or meat products has also been associated with a risk of being deficient in specific nutrients, such as iron. As data on the iron status among Norwegian vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians are lacking, the present study aimed to assess iron status in these groups of healthy adults. Blood markers for iron status were measured in 191 participants (18–60 years old) comprising 106 vegans, 54 vegetarians and 31 pescatarians: serum-ferritin (S-Fe), serum-iron (S-Iron) and serum-total iron binding capacity (S-TIBC). Serum-transferrin-saturation (S-TSAT) was estimated (S-Iron/S-TIBC × 100). The median concentration of blood markers for iron status were within the normal range with no difference between the different dietary practices. In total, 9% reported iron supplement use the last 24 h. S-Fe concentrations below reference (<15 μg/L) were found in 8% of the participating women, of which one participant reported iron supplement use. In multiple regression analysis, duration of adherence to dietary practices and the female gender were found to be the strongest predictors for decreased S-Fe concentration. In conclusion, although the participants were eating a plant-based diet, the majority had sufficient iron status. Female vegans and vegetarians of reproductive age are at risk of low iron status and should have their iron status monitored.
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spelling pubmed-80030042021-03-28 Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway Henjum, Sigrun Groufh-Jacobsen, Synne Stea, Tonje Holte Tonheim, Live Edvardsen Almendingen, Kari Biomolecules Article Although plant-based diets provide well-established physical and environmental health benefits, omitting meat or meat products has also been associated with a risk of being deficient in specific nutrients, such as iron. As data on the iron status among Norwegian vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians are lacking, the present study aimed to assess iron status in these groups of healthy adults. Blood markers for iron status were measured in 191 participants (18–60 years old) comprising 106 vegans, 54 vegetarians and 31 pescatarians: serum-ferritin (S-Fe), serum-iron (S-Iron) and serum-total iron binding capacity (S-TIBC). Serum-transferrin-saturation (S-TSAT) was estimated (S-Iron/S-TIBC × 100). The median concentration of blood markers for iron status were within the normal range with no difference between the different dietary practices. In total, 9% reported iron supplement use the last 24 h. S-Fe concentrations below reference (<15 μg/L) were found in 8% of the participating women, of which one participant reported iron supplement use. In multiple regression analysis, duration of adherence to dietary practices and the female gender were found to be the strongest predictors for decreased S-Fe concentration. In conclusion, although the participants were eating a plant-based diet, the majority had sufficient iron status. Female vegans and vegetarians of reproductive age are at risk of low iron status and should have their iron status monitored. MDPI 2021-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC8003004/ /pubmed/33803700 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom11030454 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle Article
Henjum, Sigrun
Groufh-Jacobsen, Synne
Stea, Tonje Holte
Tonheim, Live Edvardsen
Almendingen, Kari
Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title_full Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title_fullStr Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title_full_unstemmed Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title_short Iron Status of Vegans, Vegetarians and Pescatarians in Norway
title_sort iron status of vegans, vegetarians and pescatarians in norway
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8003004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33803700
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom11030454
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