Oral iron impairs zinc absorption

Question
Hallo,i was taking feric hydroxide polymaltose iron+Folic acid at age of 13 because i had iron deficiency.I took one chewing tablet everyday for six months.Each chewable tablet contained 357,00 mg ferric hydroxide polymaltose complex corresponds to 100,00mg Iron (III) and 0,350 mg folic acid.Do you believe tha this iron supplement INHIBIT ABSORPTION OF Zinc from my daily foods??  i read some study,which presents that iron supplments can interefere with Zinc BUT IN SOLUTIONS WHAT WHAT HAPPEN WITH ZINCS FROM FOOD????.I was scared because i read the consequences of zinc deficiency to a teen boy even if it is mild or light.   Thank you very much for your time.   I will wait for your answer.   Dimitris

Answer
Hi Dimitris,

Oral iron therapy may indeed impair zinc absorption and thus zinc status. Zinc absorption was significantly higher in the absence of iron than with the concomitant ingestion of 100 or 400 mg Fe, whereas zinc absorption did not differ significantly between the 100- and 400-mg Fe doses (44 compared with 26  and 23, respectively).

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2003

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