NUTRITIONAL IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN LACTOOVO-VEGETARIANS

Although it was postulated that pure nutritional iron deficiency anemia does not exist in advanced countries two children and one adult with iron deficiency anemia due to iron malnutrition were observed within a year. All three subjects were living on a lactoovo-vegetarian diet for several years. Food iron malabsorption was excluded by the demonstrated increased59Fe-absorption. Normal whole body59Fe-elimination rates were measured over 173 to 259 days and excluded latent minor gastrointestinal or urogenital blood losses as a cause of iron deficiency anemia. The discrimination between iron malnutrition, maldigestion or malabsorption, gastrointestinal or urogenital blood losses and a higher iron requirement in pregnancy or infancy is based on the quantitative estimation of59Fe-absorption from59Fe-labeled ferrous iron and meat iron as well as the precise measurement of the whole body59Fe-elimination rate. Daily iron deficits of 0.5 and 1.2 mg Fe were calculated for males and menstruating females respectively if the subjects are wanted to live with normal iron stores on a lactoovo-vegetarian diet. The deficit is reduced to 0.66 mg Fe/d if depleted iron stores are acceptable in females with average menstrual blood losses. The dietary iron deficits can be easily compensated by giving 50 mg Fe2+/day for 51, 126 and 28 days/year respectively, in the form of an oral ferrous iron preparation of well known bioavailability. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.