Nutrition in Wound Healing
Resource to help raise awareness of the role of nutrition in wound healing
Nutrients - Iron
Iron is a common metallic element (Anderson, Keith, Novak and Elliot, 2002)
What foods do you think iron is found in? Read on to find out.
Foods high in Iron
Foods that are high in iron include:
- Red meat.
- Eggs.
- Fortified cereal.
- Green vegetables.
(Kemp, 2001)
Iron's Role in the body
Iron has a number of roles within the body. Perhaps the most important of these are:
- It is required for the creation of red blood cells and is an integral part of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin allows oxygen to be transported around the body.
- It is involved in collagen formation (which provides structure for new tissues).
(Hallberg, Sandstrom and Agett, 1993, Todorovic, 2003)
Due to the pivotal role that haemoglobin plays in the transportation of nutrients, iron deficiency should be addressed to optimise wound healing. If iron deficiency is apparent, vitamin C supplementation should be considered as vitamin C is required for iron absorption (Ripley, 2006).
Signs of Iron deficiency / overdose
| Signs of iron deficiency include: | Signs of iron overdose are rare but include: |
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(Hallberg, Sandstrom, and Aggett, 1993, Todorovic, 2003)
