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The Absorption of Iron from Beef by Women

New York State College of Home Economics and the School of Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Five young women 18 years of age, in good health, with normal serum iron, hemoglobin and red cell counts were placed on a diet containing 7 mg of iron which was judged to be the lowest intake that would be adequate. For 2 weeks minor adjustments were made in the diet and the subjects were accustomed to a 7 mg level. During the next 8 weeks the adjusted basal diet was administered. During the last 4 of the 8 weeks 2 100-gm patties of ground beef (
lean meat and
fat) containing 3.4 mg of iron were added, 1 at breakfast and 1 at lunch. During the 4-week basal period and the 4-week beef period, weekly collections of feces were made and during the entire 10 weeks, weekly composites of the foods were preserved for analysis.

When the formula:
was applied the absorptions from beef for 4 out of 5 subjects were 32, 45, 58 and 57%. This led to the conclusion that young women 18 years of age on a diet adequate in all respects absorb from about
to more than
of the iron of beef.

Another interpretation of the results is more likely the correct one: that the beef improved the absorption of the iron from the entire food mixture, rather than itself contributing all of the iron absorbed after it was added to the diet.

If the amount of iron added to the food residue as it passes through the gastrointestinal tract can be regarded as negligible, the mean absorption from the basal diet containing 7 mg of iron was 11% and was increased to 21% after the addition of beef to the 2 meals not already containing meat.