Biomaterial Database

Food iron absorption. I. Use of semisynthetic diet to study absorption of nonheme iron. 1975

J D Cook, and E R Monsen

Recent studies have established the validity of employing an extrinsic radioiron tag to measure the absorption of nonheme iron from a complex meal. In the present study, extrinsic tagging was used to measure absorption of nonheme iron from a standard meal chosen as representative of a typical American meal, and from a semisynthetic meal having the same total chemical composition. The latter was designed so that the major dietary components could be systematically altered to determine their separate effects on food iron absorption. Absorption from the standard meal in 32 healthy women averaged 10.0% as compared with a mean absorption of 1.8% from semisynthetic meal. Most but not all of this fivefold difference in absorption could be explained by the enhancing effect of meat in the standard meal. The low availability of iron from the semisynthetic meal will be of particular value in studying factors which enhance food iron absorption, whereas the standard meal is suitable for studying factors which reduce availability of food iron.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007501	Iron	A metallic element with atomic symbol Fe, atomic number 26, and atomic weight 55.85. It is an essential constituent of HEMOGLOBINS; CYTOCHROMES; and IRON-BINDING PROTEINS. It plays a role in cellular redox reactions and in the transport of OXYGEN.	Iron-56,Iron 56
D008460	Meat	The edible portions of any animal used for food including cattle, swine, goats/sheep, poultry, fish, shellfish, and game.	Meats
D010758	Phosphorus	A non-metal element that has the atomic symbol P, atomic number 15, and atomic weight 31. It is an essential element that takes part in a broad variety of biochemical reactions.	Black Phosphorus,Phosphorus-31,Red Phosphorus,White Phosphorus,Yellow Phosphorus,Phosphorus 31,Phosphorus, Black,Phosphorus, Red,Phosphorus, White,Phosphorus, Yellow
D002136	Calcium, Dietary	Calcium compounds in DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS or in food that supply the body with calcium.	Dietary Calcium
D004032	Diet	Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.	Diets
D004040	Dietary Carbohydrates	Carbohydrates present in food comprising digestible sugars and starches and indigestible cellulose and other dietary fibers. The former are the major source of energy. The sugars are in beet and cane sugar, fruits, honey, sweet corn, corn syrup, milk and milk products, etc.; the starches are in cereal grains, legumes (FABACEAE), tubers, etc. (From Claudio & Lagua, Nutrition and Diet Therapy Dictionary, 3d ed, p32, p277)	Carbohydrates, Dietary,Carbohydrate, Dietary,Dietary Carbohydrate
D004041	Dietary Fats	Fats present in food, especially in animal products such as meat, meat products, butter, ghee. They are present in lower amounts in nuts, seeds, and avocados.	Fats, Dietary,Dietary Fat,Fat, Dietary
D004044	Dietary Proteins	Proteins obtained from foods. They are the main source of the ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS.	Proteins, Dietary,Dietary Protein,Protein, Dietary
D004734	Energy Metabolism	The chemical reactions involved in the production and utilization of various forms of energy in cells.	Bioenergetics,Energy Expenditure,Bioenergetic,Energy Expenditures,Energy Metabolisms,Expenditure, Energy,Expenditures, Energy,Metabolism, Energy,Metabolisms, Energy
D005260	Female		Females