Iron Status in Omnivorous and Vegetarian Adults

Iron status was assessed in 66 vegetarian men and 73 vegetarian women by the determination of packed cell volume (PCV), free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP), and serum ferritin. All of them had consumed vegetarian diets for more than one year and 84% were vegans. The results were compared with the respective sex of 36 omnivorous men and 66 omnivorous women. Vegetarians had significantly lower PCV and serum ferritin than omnivores. This indicates that the iron store in vegetarians was lower than that in omnivores. However, the degree of iron depletion was not severe enough to cause a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of iron depletion (serum ferritin, 100μg/dl RBC) as well as in the mean FEP levels between the two groups. This is consistent with the dietary assessment which revealed that both vegetarians and omnivores had adequate intakes of iron and ascorbic acid and their diets were categorized as having high iron availability. Based on PCV, vegetarians were more anemic than omnivores. Thus in addition to iron, these vegetarians may also be deficient in other nutrients required for hemoglobin synthesis.