Towards an understanding of the interaction between exercise and dietary iron absorption: Refining treatment strategies for iron deficient athletes

This thesis explores the interaction between exercise-induced inflammation, iron regulatory hormone activity (hepcidin), and iron absorption. This work sought to improve the effectiveness of iron supplementation in athletes with sub-optimal iron status. The collective findings of this research established a contemporary strategy of oral iron therapy for athletes, entailing morning iron supplementation, ideally consumed within 30 minutes of exercise. Furthermore, this work showed that alternate day iron supplementation had comparable effectiveness to daily iron supplementation, and may alleviate the frequently reported gastro-intestinal side-effects in athletes. Overall, this work provides practical guidelines for practitioners to improve athlete iron stores.