Pale skin, along with fatigue for no noticeable reason, is one of the classic symptoms of Anemia, which results from the lack of enough iron in the human body. People who are required to bring out maximum output from their bodies are athletes, and fatigue is the last thing an athlete can afford.
Iron deficiency can occur due to various reasons, but only a couple of them are avoidable. Bad eating habits with not enough iron in your diet, chronic blood loss, pregnancy, and vigorous exercise are chief reasons behind iron deficiency.
In the case of athletes, they have to work out for multiple hours with way more intensity than laymen. This causes them to go through lots of sweating; also, the profession they are pursuing is likely to cause them injuries and gastrointestinal bleeding also, in a few cases. This can add up and result in iron deficiency as strenuous exercise, excessive sweating, and gastrointestinal bleeding are to blame for possible iron deficiency.
Iron deficiency is not uncommon among sports personas, female athletes especially get targeted by iron deficiency. Endurance athletes, owing to factors such as sweating because of exercise, hematuria, and gastrointestinal bleeding are also vulnerable to iron deficiency. These factors contribute to increased iron loss. Physical activity triggers hematological adaptations to fulfill the heightened oxygen transport demands and induces inflammation, which can hinder iron absorption after exercise.
What Iron Deficiency can do to Athletes?
Lack of iron in the body is likely to result in fatigue, decreased performance, struggle in recovery, with a higher risk of infections, causing panic overall. Iron absorption is carefully regulated to prevent toxicity, with hepcidin playing a crucial role. Elevated hepcidin levels, affected by exercise-related inflammation and circadian rhythms, can significantly disturb iron uptake. Athletes who are especially restricted by a vegan diet to a vegetarian diet are at even higher risk as nonvegetarian food options are rich in iron.
Screening Process
In order to diagnose iron deficiency and/or anemia, one needs to go through blood tests, especially the Complete Blood Count (CBC) test. To further confirm iron deficiency and anemia, levels of serum ferritin, iron, total iron-binding capacity, and/or transferrin and hemoglobin are measured.
One can have iron deficiency but without anemia, if ferritin levels are low (<30 mg/L) but hemoglobin levels are normal (>130/120 g/L in men/women); on the other hand, low ferritin levels along with low hemoglobin levels are known to identify iron deficiency and also anemia.
Low iron in an athlete’s body can wreak havoc, especially if he or she is supposed to have a competition or performance in the near future. Low iron triggers chronic fatigue and lack of cognitive functions too, and both are essential for sports activities.
Lifestyle and food habits are the first couple of things to pay attention to once you get diagnosed with Iron Deficiency. Supplements are usually advised to be taken for better iron absorption in the body. Apart from oral supplementation, athletes can consider intravenously/intramuscularly supplementation too.
For athletes, it is advantageous to include fish, whole grains, meat, and green vegetables in their diet along with food rich in vitamin C. Usually, a dose between 40–60 mg of elementary iron daily is given to athletes with iron deficiency.
Solutions
Very often, the nutritionist or doctor will suggest you consume a glass of orange juice or lemonade after taking the iron supplement since iron gets the best absorption results in combination with Vitamin C. Additionally, one should avoid caffeine if iron deficiency is something you fight with. Some of the supplements cause upset stomach, nausea, and abdominal pain.
Iron deficiency is becoming pretty common among sportsmen due to their lifestyle. However, anyone can face such a deficiency. Lack of enough Iron in the body stops you from functioning in your day-to-day life. Regular iron screening can help athletes keep an eye on their iron levels and prevent performance declines.
Iron deficiency can deteriorate an athlete’s strength, ability, and overall performance. Routine tests will allow early detection, thus enabling timely intervention and appropriate management.
By following scheduled iron screenings and taking supplements according to a doctor’s advice, an athlete can enhance his or her performance tenfold. With that, a combination of healthy food habits and the ability to tackle stress will do wonders for an athlete’s performance.
