Jane Brody on health and aging. Jane Brody on health and aging.
Now baby foods, infant formula and many other child-friendly
foods, like breakfast cereals, breads, rice and pasta, are
fortified with iron. Today iron deficiency is more likely in
infants who are exclusively breast-fed, young children who
consume too much milk, menstruating and pregnant women, vegans
and strict vegetarians, and people who take medications that
cause internal bleeding or interfere with iron absorption. These
days, more attention is being paid to the opposite problem: iron
overload, which studies indicate can damage internal organs and
may increase the risk of diabetes, heart attack and cancer,
particularly in older people. In examining more than 1,000 white
Americans ages 67 to 96 participating in the Framingham Heart
Study, researchers found that only about 3 percent had deficient
levels of iron in their blood or stored in their bodies, but 13
percent had levels considered too high. The authors concluded
that “the likely liabili