Iron supplementation may help reduce fatigue during strenuous exercise, even if the person is not iron deficient, suggests research recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In an interesting study, women taking iron supplements showed a significant increase in muscle performance compared to a placebo group that showed no improvement after the same amount of leg exercise.
Twenty non-anemic women received either an iron supplement (10mg) or placebo twice daily for six weeks in a randomized, double-blind trial. The researchers from Cornell University and the State University of New York assessed the rates of quadriceps muscle fatigue seen during knee extension exercises.
There were no significant differences between the groups in baseline iron status. However, after treatment, blood iron and transferrin saturation (the protein that carries iron in the bloodstream) increased significantly in the iron group.
The group taking the iron supplement showed a 27% decrease in fatigue in the muscle performance tests, unlike the placebo group. The researchers concluded that iron supplementation was associated with greater work capacity and less muscle fatigability.
The bottom line is that supplementation with iron may boost performance even if the athlete appears to possess adequate iron levels. However, don’t mega dose with iron, in high doses this mineral can be toxic.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 77;2:441-448, 2003.
