Importance of Iron in Human Body

Iron plays an important role in the healthy functioning of various organs of the human body. The most important role is that it enables hemoglobin to carry oxygen through the blood in your whole body. 

• A question rises here!

How Oxygen travels in the body?

This process occurs when you inhale oxygen from the surroundings, it combines with the hemoglobin to form oxyhemoglobin. This oxyhemoglobin travels in the red blood cells and traverses through the whole body. In this way, an ample amount of oxygen is delivered to every organ of your body. 

• Therefore, you can get the idea of the importance of iron in the human body!

What if someone falls short of Iron?

The importance of Iron in the human body has already been discussed above.

A person is said to be Iron deficient if he/she falls short of iron in the body. It may have adverse effects on the human body. Now let’s find out the effects of iron deficiency on the human body.

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Anemia

In medical science, the deficiency of iron in the human body is known as Anemia. It is a condition in which you lack sufficient red blood cells to carry oxygen to your body’s tissues and various organs. 

How to know if you are suffering from Anemia?

Various symptoms imply you are suffering from Anemia. Some of the most common symptoms of Anemia are as follows:

• • Weakness: lower energy levels, tiredness.
  • Pale skin: skin color turns pale yellow.

• Dizziness: feeling faint, woozy, weak, or unsteady.

• Shortness of breath: can’t hold the breath for longer periods, difficulty in inhaling, breathing

• Headaches: severe pain in the head.

• Sore tongue: pain at a particular area/point on the tongue.

• Cold hands and feet: hands and feet would not get warm.

• Audible heartbeats/irregular heartbeats: disturbance in the pattern of heartbeats, loud beats.

• Pain in various body parts like chest, belly, joints, etc.

• Bear in mind that:

The symptoms of Anemia – iron deficiency are not limited to these, yet these are the most common among patients in 2020.

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What are the causes of Iron Deficiency?

Iron deficiency may occur due to various reasons. Perhaps the most common reason for Iron deficiency is insufficient consumption of Iron from food. While there are other reasons as well that may cause Iron deficiency in the Human body.

Enlisted here are the most common reasons for Iron deficiency in the Human Body.

• Blood Loss:

Anemia or Iron deficiency can be caused by blood loss. If a considerable quantity of blood is lost then it is very much possible that the body becomes iron deficient which has further devastating effects on the Human body.

• Red blood cell Destruction

The red blood cells in the Human body have a lifespan of 120 days. While it is very much possible that the body destroys it earlier. While there are no or fewer RBCs, the oxyhemoglobin would not be able to travel through the blood, hence causing an iron deficiency in the body.

• Low consumption of Iron

The most common cause of iron deficiency in the Human body is the low consumption of Iron. Most of the food items including fruits and vegetables are rich in iron. But the modern diet trends have made it difficult to consume an ample quantity of iron from healthy foods.

The junk foods that have become a sign of the status quo these days have a lot of adverse health effects. These junk foods are also deficient in iron, hence keeping the Human bodies from getting enough quantity of iron intake daily.

Note: Some important points to be noticed here are:

• When your child stops breastfeeding or switches to solid foods, they are at the brink of getting iron deficient if they are not getting enough iron-rich food items.
• Pregnant women can get easily iron-deficient if they are not getting supplements to cover iron intakes daily.

How to cover iron deficiency?

Although the best way to consume a sufficient quantity of iron daily is through healthy food like fruits and vegetables. But in some cases, it might be possible that your body does not get a sufficient amount of iron from these healthy food items. 

• In this regard, the dietitians suggest the use of supplements. 

Supplementation

Supplementation is the proven method of keeping health bars higher for very long. Supplements also come in various categories. It is suggested to use whole food supplements made up of natural ingredients so that they do not have any side effects on your body. There are a lot of supplements available in the market, but it is always recommended to get advice from a dietitian before opting for a particular supplement. 

Final words

Anemia – Iron deficiency occurs when the number of red blood cells traveling through the blood in the body is not enough. In this way, the oxygen is not delivered to several organs of the body resulting in various adverse effects such as weakness, headaches, skin paleness, inappropriate heart beating, etc.

Anemia is believed to occur in more than 400 forms. The most common causes of anemia are blood loss, reduced or weak RBCs, and destruction of RBCs.

Doctors use a CBC blood test to detect anemia. The reason may vary from person to person for developing anemia in their bodies. Perhaps, a healthy diet is the most common method to get rid of this devastating disease.

Eat healthy food and stay healthy..!