Interaction between vitamin C and iron

Iron and vitamin C are two very important sources of nutrients for the human body. In some cases, the doctor will prescribe the patient to use both vitamin C and iron at the same time. So how does the interaction between vitamin C and iron happen?

The adult body has from 3 to 4g of iron, of which two-thirds are in hemoglobin, the pigment of red blood cells, the rest is in organs and tissues such as liver, kidney, spleen. Although the percentage of iron needed in the body is not much, iron is one of the most important nutritional components, having fundamental importance for life. In addition, iron also participates in oxygen transport and plays an important role in cellular respiration. When iron deficiency, the body not only changes blood formation, but also changes the function of many important enzymes, thereby causing many disorders in the body and causing many diseases. Iron deficiency anemia is a nutritional disease that, although rarely fatal, has a significant impact on health and reduces quality of life.
In fact, children's poor school performance can be partly attributed to anemia, which causes drowsiness and poor concentration. For adults, anemia can reduce working capacity due to physical decline, having to take a long break. Besides, anemia during pregnancy can seriously affect the health of the mother and the development of the fetus.
Therefore, when you see that the body has pale skin, fatigue, dizziness, headache, insomnia, poor concentration, you should go to a general health examination for examination, advice and treatment. tests to check, supplement iron reasonably, avoid arbitrarily supplementing iron leaving unwanted side effects.
SEE ALSO: Causes, symptoms and nutritional principles for anemia patients

Vitamin C plays a very important role in the metabolic activities of the body, specifically as follows:
Participates in the creation of collagen and some components that make up connective tissues. produce energy and use fat in the body Participate in the synthesis of certain substances such as catecholamines or adrenocortical hormones Helps increase interferon production thereby reducing the body's sensitivity to histamine Has anti-inflammatory properties Relieve stress should help increase the body's resistance Combining vitamin C with vitamin A and some other vitamins will help neutralize free radicals produced by metabolic reactions, thereby protecting the integrity of cell membranes and prevent oxidation. With that important role, a deficiency of vitamin C will increase the risk of medical conditions as follows:
Vitamin C deficiency can cause patients to bleed when brushing their teeth, hemorrhage, bruise easily , increasing the risk of infections, especially influenza and respiratory infections. Vitamin C deficiency also makes bones unstable, can be crooked, leading to musculoskeletal diseases. In addition, a lack of vitamin C also makes people weak, lack of energy, poor digestion, wounds and incisions take a long time to heal, and teeth are easily damaged.
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Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, mainly found in plants, but little in animals. Currently, humans have succeeded in synthesizing vitamin C and are prepared in the form of pills, suspension, injections... Vitamin C is absorbed through the mucosa of the small intestine very well before being distributed to other organs. tissues in the body such as the pituitary gland, adrenal glands, and brain. However, vitamin C does not accumulate in the body, but will be eliminated mainly in the urine in a modified form. In particular, vitamin C plays a very important role in the absorption and supplementation of iron in the body. The iron in the tablet exists in compound form and has divalent, but only trivalent iron can be absorbed when reaching the duodenum. Therefore, a process is required to convert divalent iron to trivalent iron before the iron is absorbed into the body for use. This transformation process occurs in the small intestine and requires the catalysis of vitamin C.
Therefore, a deficiency of vitamin C in the body will limit the absorption of iron and cause the risk of deficiency. blood due to iron deficiency. Since then, the reason why doctors often advise patients to take iron tablets with vitamin C is to ensure optimal absorption of iron by the user's body.

References: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, webmd.com, medlineplus.gov, drhoffman.com, drugs.com