First Endurance and nutrition
Iron is one of the most abundant minerals on earth and is essential to normal human physiology. About 2/3 of the body’s iron is found in hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to cells. An adequate supply of iron is necessary for the body to produce hemoglobin and red blood cells (RBC). If too little iron is available, fewer and/or smaller RBC’s are produced, leading to decreased oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. This is called iron deficiency anemia and can cause fatigue, poor work capacity, and decreased immunity. It is important to understand there are different levels of iron deficiency. The least severe is when someone has low iron stores (low serum ferritin levels), the next is depleted iron stores (using cut-off values), while the most severe category is iron deficiency anemia.
