Daily iron supplementation significantly improves maximal and submaximal exercise performance in WRA , providing a rationale to prevent and treat iron deficiency in this group .
Animal and human observational studies suggest that iron deficiency impairs physical exercise performance , but findings from r and omized trials on the effects of iron are equivocal .
Iron deficiency and anemia are especially common in women of reproductive age ( WRA ) .
Clear evidence of benefit from iron supplementation would inform clinical and public health guidelines .
Therefore , we performed a systematic review and meta- analysis to determine the effect of iron supplementation compared with control on exercise performance in WRA .
Effect of iron supplementation on endurance capacity in iron-depleted female runners.
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of oral iron supplementation on endurance performance in initially iron-depleted , nonanemic female distance runners . Eighteen iron-depleted ( serum ferritin less than 20 ng.ml-1 , hemoglobin greater than or equal to 12 g.dl-1 ) women ( 22 - 39 yr ) performed a VO2max test and an endurance run to exhaustion . Subjects were pair-matched on the basis of endurance time and then r and omly assigned to an iron supplement or a placebo group . Following supplementation , the iron group had a significantly higher ( P = 0.03 ) mean serum ferritin concentration ( 23.4 vs 15.7 ng.ml-1 ) and lower ( P = 0.04 ) mean total iron-binding capacity than the placebo group . Both groups increased their time to exhaustion ( 25.5 % and 22.2 % for the iron and placebo groups , respectively ) but were not significantly different ( P = 0.72 ) from each other . There were also no differences ( P greater than 0.05 ) between the groups with respect to lactate concentrations and physiological measures taken during the two exercise tests . The results of this study suggest that 8 wk of oral iron supplementation improves iron status in iron-depleted female distance runners , but does not enhance endurance capacity
Daily iron supplementation significantly improves maximal and submaximal exercise performance in WRA , providing a rationale to prevent and treat iron deficiency in this group .
Animal and human observational studies suggest that iron deficiency impairs physical exercise performance , but findings from r and omized trials on the effects of iron are equivocal .
Iron deficiency and anemia are especially common in women of reproductive age ( WRA ) .
Clear evidence of benefit from iron supplementation would inform clinical and public health guidelines .
Therefore , we performed a systematic review and meta- analysis to determine the effect of iron supplementation compared with control on exercise performance in WRA .