Dietary phytates lead to iron deficiency and anemia

This post includes a synopsis of a study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 2009;60(1):51-9 and a recipe for lamb and asparagus.

Study title and authors:
Influence of dietary and socio-demographic factors on the iron status of married adolescent girls from Indian urban slums.
Tupe R, Chiplonkar SA, Kapadia-Kundu N.
Agharkar Research Institute, G G Agarkar Road, Pune, India.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18608535

The study explored the influence of dietary factors of iron bioavailability in 173 married adolescent girls in India.

The prevalence of iron deficiency was 25.1%, and anemia was seen in 46.4%  of the girls.

The study found a diet high in phytates resulted in the low bioavailable iron intakes.

                                                                                                                                             Books:

High concentrations of phytates occur in the following foods:
•Most whole grain cereal foods (wheat, rye, rice, oats)

•Nuts and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower)

•Soybeans, other types of beans

•Potatoes

•Artichokes

•Blackberries

•Broccoli
•Carrots
•Figs
•Strawberries

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Recipe of the day

Lamb and Asparagus
                                                                                                                    Food Mall: Boneless Lamb

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped red onion

• 3 garlic cloves crushed

• 1/2 c of dry white wine

• 3 c of steamed sliced asparagus

• 1 1/2 lb boneless lamb chopped into small cubes

• Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Steam asparagus. Heat a large frying pan and add 1/2 of the wine. Bring to the boil and add the onion and garlic, cook until softened.

Add the lamb and cook for about 6 minutes.

Add the rest of the wine and the asparagus. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until lamb is tender.

Pepper to taste.

Eating bread leads to a deficiency in Zinc

This post includes a synopsis of a paper published in the British Medical Journal 2003;326:409-410 22 February and a recipe for golden garlic shrimp.

Study title and author:
Zinc deficiency has been known of for 40 years but ignored by global health organisations

Ananda S Prasad, distinguished professor of medicine.

Books:

Wayne State University School of Medicine, Internal Medicine, University Health Center 5-C, 4201 St Antoine, Detroit, MI 48201 USA

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7386/409

Eleven patients suffered from dwarfism, hypogonadism, hepatosplenomegaly, rough and dry skin, mental lethargy, geophagia, and iron deficiency anaemia. It was discovered they consumed a diet of NO animal protein, and they ate only unleavened bread.

It is known that phytate in cereals markedly impairs the absorption of zinc and also iron. With a well balanced animal protein diet and administration of iron, all the clinical features in the patients were corrected.

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Recipe of the day

Golden garlic shrimp

serves 4

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Deveined

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shrimp or chicken stock

How to make it:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place peeled shrimp in a baking dish.

Add oil and garlic to a food processor and pulse until garlic is in tiny bits, infused into the oil, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the shallot and red pepper flakes and pulse a few more times.

Coat the shrimp with the mixture, add stock and combine. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Bake for 10-15 minutes til all shrimp are pink throughout.

Serve along with sauce from the dish.