People of East Asian ancestry are more likely to have elevated iron stores compared to those from Northern Europe, new evidence has claimed.
Researchers from Cornell University have found that East Asian people are at greater risk of developing cancer, heart disease, liver disease and type 2 diabetes due to them being more likely to have an iron overload.
According to the findings, detecting genetic influences on nutritional requirements can help improve dietary recommendations for population subgroups.
- Iron in meat substitutes absorbed by the body at extremely low rates
- Moderate drinking linked to higher iron levels in the brain which can cause cognitive decline, latest study shows
First author Professor Kimberly O’Brien said: “There’s a lot of focus on preventing anaemia. But at the other extreme of this, if you don’t limit how much iron you’re absorbing, it starts to collect in the liver, heart and pancreas.
“Humans have evolved this interesting way of regulating iron. Our bodies have to tightly control how much iron we absorb from our diet, because once it’s in you, you can’t excrete it, so we don’t want to let too much in.”
People can either consume heme iron from animal products, or non-heme iron from plant-based foods.
Those with iron stores that exceed physiological needs are more likely to develop chronic conditions compared to people with normal iron stores.
Professor O’Brien noted: “This is a precision nutrition email. We need to move away from saying there is one dietary guideline for everyone. In this case, if you are East Asian you may have an increased risk of over-accumulating iron.”
Men from East Asian populations are more likely to have elevated iron stores compared to women of East Asian ancestry.
- Type 2 diabetes risk not lowered by high-dose vitamin D supplements
- Vitamin D associated with good type 2 diabetes management
Professor O’Brien explained: “We hypothesise that the reason why East Asians have this enhanced ability to store iron is that they evolved on a plant-based, low-iron diet. But now we have (fast food) on every corner.
“Since a study first found Asian individuals to have elevated body iron stores 20 years ago, no one has explored how and why this is occurring.”
Read the study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
