Iron deficiency remains a significant public health concern globally with zinc deficiency known to co-exist in populations with zinc deficiency1. Our previous research has identified that concomitant iron and zinc deficiency can impair iron absorption from supplemental ferric EDTA, but not ferrous sulphate with ascorbic acid. The purpose of this study was to (i) understand how dual iron and zinc deficiency impacts iron absorption from various foods compared to both healthy and iron deficient cells and (ii) how creatine supplementation impacts iron absorption from foods. Iron absorption from red lentil (p = 0.001) and Nutrigrain (p = 0.004) was significantly lower in dual iron and zinc deficient cells compared to iron deficient cells. In contrast, iron absorption in dual iron and zinc deficient cells was significantly higher from spinach (p = 0.031) and beef (p = 0.039) than only iron deficient cells. The variability in the effect of dual iron and zinc deficiency compared to only iron deficiency on iron absorption from foods precludes broad recommendations for dietary changes but indicates further research is required to understand how dual iron and zinc deficiency impacts iron absorption from whole diets. Creatine supplementation significantly increases iron absorption from red lentils for both iron deficient (p = 0.031) and dual iron and zinc deficient (p = 0.000) cells, with no effect on healthy control (p = 0.986) or zinc deficient cells (p = 0.920). Combined use of creatine supplementation and ascorbic acid resulted in significant increases in iron absorption compared to no treatment for red lentil (all cell types), spinach (healthy control cells), and Nutrigrain (iron deficient cells). These findings indicate creatine supplementation may be useful in increasing iron absorption under deficient conditions, particularly from red lentils. As there is little data on the effect of creatine supplementation on micronutrient absorption further research is required to understand the conditions under which creatine has an enhancing effect.
Reference
1 Ergul, A. B., Turanoglu, C., Karakukcu, C., et al. (2018). Increased iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in children with zinc deficiency. Eurasian J Med, 50(1), 34.