16 December 2015 in Healthy, Nutrition, Nutrition tips

IRON AND LACTOFERRIN

I would like to tell you more about how lactoferrin (multifunctional protein of the transferrin family) works when you’re suffering from iron deficiency. But firstly, let me tell you a few things about iron deficiency, abosrption disorders and anemia.

Anemia

Anemia is a disease that shouldn’t be underestimated. It often gets mixed up with just fatigue and overwork. Weakness, sleepiness, inability to work out, fainting and paleness are just a few of its symptoms.

There are various causes, but the most common is deficiency of a mineral that builds red blood cells (whether it’s iron or vitamin B12, B6 or folic acid).

80-90 % of all anemia cases are iron-deficiency anemia caused by wrong diet.

Iron is one of the most essential elements. It’s vital for normal growth and functioning.

Research shows that even mild lack of iron can be harmful. However, statistics show that about 10 % of population actually have mild iron deficiency. The reasons for that may be either wrong diet or absorption disorders.

Direct causes:

wrong diet
heavy menstrual bleeding
excessive sweating (especially in high temperatures)
iron loss caused by intestinal bleeding

Iron deficiency happens mostly to (due to absorption disorder):

infants and little kids
teenagers
women of childbearing potential
pregnant women
elderly people

Women are at increased risk of anemia.

But also vegetarians. It can’t be denied that a vegetarian diet is richer in iron than a regular one. But it’s probable that it’s mostly rich in the kind of iron that is weakly absorbed – non-haem iron. Its absorption depends on many different factors, such as the amount of vitamin C. In addition, vegeterian diet is also rich in ingredients that impede iron absorption such as phitynians and oxalates.

Lactoferrin

When you’re suffering from iron deficiency, not only is your hemoglobin synthesis disrupted, but also the synthesis of other enzymes that take part in metabolic and energetic changes. Lactoferrin is an important element of iron absorption process. It is a major iron-binding protein. It is also responsible for its transport and release in cells.

Lactoferrin is almost 300 times more related to iron than transferrin. It prevents the organism from iron deficiency, anemia, weakness, low immunity and it also helps to make up for the deficiency.

Reserach shows that iron along with lactoferrin is much more effective in treating anemia than ferric and ferrous salts.

Lactoferrin can also be used as an antibacterial and antiviral drug.

It prevents infectious bacteria from growing:

as it binds iron it deprives bacteria of any chance to live, because they need iron to grow
it directly bends cell membrane, changing its permeability which leads to its death

Research shows that lactoferrin also reduces the frequency of intestinal infections. It also makes it harder for a virus to bend human cells.

Medical indications: