EFFECT OF ASCORBIC-ACID ON APPARENT IRON-ABSORPTION BY WOMEN WITH LOWIRON STORES

The effect of ascorbic acid supplementation on apparent iron absorptio n was tested in women with low iron stores. For 10 wk, 25 healthy nonp regnant women, aged 20-45 y with low serum ferritin (3.5-17.7 mu g/L), consumed either a diet with predicted poorly bioavailable iron or a t ypical Western diet, classified according to dietary meat and ascorbic acid contents. Meals were supplemented with ascorbic acid (500 mg, th ree times a day) for 5 of the 10 wk, in a double-blind, crossover desi gn. Ascorbic acid did not affect most biochemical indexes of iron stat us, the biological half-life of Fe-59, or apparent iron absorption (di et - feces) from either diet, but slightly increased serum ferritin (1 1.9 vs 10.7 mu g/L, P < 0.06) when data from both diets were combined. These results support other evidence that ascorbic acid has less effe ct on iron bioavailability than has been predicted from tests with sin gle meals.