It Turns Out Intensive Exercise May Actually Cause Anaemia
Last year, I tried to get back into running – and while changes to my joints put me off the sport for a while, I’m now starting again, right from ground zero.
Things will be different this time, I reckon. First of all, I’ll start slower (more Jeffing, perhaps).
And secondly, I’ll keep an eye on my iron intake. Years ago, while training for a marathon, a blood test showed I was anaemic: facts I thought were unrelated.
But it turns out they might not have been. Some research suggests that endurance athletes, especially women, might experience something called “exercise-induced anaemia”.
“In female marathon runners, the prevalence is as high as 28% (compared to 11% in the general female population),” the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) said.
Why does “exercise-induced anaemia” happen?
Experts think it could be down to a range of factors. One of them is haemolysis, or the destruction of red blood cells through high-impact sports (like pounding your feet on the ground through running).
Another is blood loss through tiny tears in your gastrointestinal and urinary tract, which the BJGP said could happen because of the decrease in blood in the area when you’re really pushing yourself.
Even the inflammatory response brought on by intense exercise could affect how much iron your body absorbs.
Then, there’s the fact that in general, women are more likely than men to experience iron deficiency anaemia. That’s mostly thanks to menstruation.
But working with iron supplement brand Active Iron, Andy Shepherd, performance nutrition lead at Loughborough University, found 75% of women say that they had no idea that high training volume can leave you with inadequate iron.
What are the signs of exercise-induced anaemia?
This has all the signs of iron-deficiency anaemia, which can include:
- tiredness
- heart palpitations
- headaches
- being paler than usual
- shortness of breath.
Shepherd said that people with anaemia “usually have some challenges with staying well too, so they might pick up sniffles and coughs and colds much more often.”
And runners with iron deficiency anaemia, exercise-induced or not, can struggle to improve in their sport, he added.
“With moderately low iron, you might be able to train, you might not know you’re low, you might feel fine and not sleepy-tired, but you might not ever be able to push your body to a point where you can adapt and get better.”
The only definite way to diagnose iron deficiency anaemia, however, is with a blood test. This can be done through your GP.
“Our advice is always that you should speak to a doctor or Sports and Exercise Nutrition Register (SENR) qualified nutritionist or dietician if you are concerned,” Shepherd said.