Abstract
We measured the effect of alfa-tocoferol VitE), taurine (Tau) and ascorbic acid (AA) on iron bioavailability when added to whole powdered cow's milk fortified with 10mg Fe/L as FeSO4. It was compared with an iron fortified infant formula. Three iron absorption studies were done using a double isotope technique. The preparations were labelled extrinsically with 55Fe and 59Fe. Subjects were 45 voluntary women (age = 35-45 y old). A reference dose of ferrous ascorbate was given to every subject to allow comparisons among groups. Iron absoption was measured in blood according to Eakins and Brown. Geometric mean of iron absorption from fortified cow's milk was 4,9%; no changes were found when VitE (20mg/L) or Tau (50mm/L) were added (5,4% and 5,5%, respectively). However, the addition of AA increased iron absorption up to 9,4% (p < 0.01). This value was not modified when mixtures of AA + VitE and AA + VitE + Tau were tested (10,6% and 9,3%, respectively). Iron absorption from the infant formula was 18.1%. Ascorbic acid improves the absorption of iron added to milk. VitE and Tau do not explain the high iron bioavailability of modified infant formula used as control.
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Pizarro, F., Olivares, M. & Cañas, P. ROLE OF NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS OR BIOAVILABILITY OF IRON FORTIFICATION ADDED TO MILK. Pediatr Res 28, 558 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199011000-00042
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199011000-00042