Clinical Study of Iron-Fortified Drink Intake by Women with Lower-Limit Normal Hemoglobin Levels or Mild Anemia

摘要

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia worldwide, with premenopausal women at particular risk. Methods: Women with hemoglobin values at the lower normal limit or mild anemia ingested either a test beverage containing iron, zinc, folic acid, and calcium or a placebo beverage for 4 weeks. Effectiveness and safety were evaluated before and after beverage intake. For each beverage, a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study was performed with an intake washout period of 2 weeks. Results: Hemoglobin values increased significantly after intake of the test beverage, which was the primary endpoint. There was no change in hemoglobin values in the placebo beverage group. The secondary endpoints, including red blood cell, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, ferritin, serum calcium, and folic acid were increased in the test beverage group. No adverse events were caused by intake of the beverages during the study period. Conclusion: Our results imply the possibility that the test beverage additives may improve the minimum state of iron-deficiency anemia in premenopausal women.