Exercise and Anemia

Continued...

Each woman seems to have a unique normal value for her red blood cells. If she falls below it, her athletic performance may suffer. Your optimal RBC level, however, may be difficult to discover and will require more specific blood tests than those mentioned above.

Some researchers have found that, on average, women participating in aerobic training (swimming, bicycling, running) have lower blood values than nonathletic women. The reason is not a strange athlete's anemia, but a beneficial adaptation to exercise.

With training, the body expands the fluid compartment of its blood volume. This expansion of volume allows more efficient delivery of red blood cells to exercising tissues, but also results in a relative dilution of red blood cells in blood plasma, thus lowering the hemoglobin and hematocrit counts on screening tests.

How can you tell whether you have this pseudo anemia or true anemia? There are dozens of reasons for anemia, and any woman who is told that she is anemic should know the cause and the treatment.

Physicians can tell the difference between the various types of anemia by performing other blood tests to determine the total blood cell count, the size and shape of the red blood cells, the rate of the new red blood cell production (the reticulocyte count), and the amount of iron present. In some cases follow-up blood counts and analysis of the hemoglobin are necessary.

One common cause of anemia in women is the lack of iron in their diet. Women need nearly twice as much iron as men (18 milligrams/day compared with 10 mg/day) because of menstrual blood loss.

Heavy exercise may also increase iron needs by up to another 1 to 2 milligrams day. This may be caused by a combination of factors, including iron loss in sweat, blood loss from the urinary tract or gastrointestinal system and the breakdown of the red blood cells in the circulation from heavy foot striking (foot-strike hemolysis).

How can a woman get her 18 mg of iron a day?

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Table of Contents

Foreword: Billie Jean King

Comments by Barb Harris
Editor in Chief,
Shape Magazine

General Health
Nutrition
Exercise
Common Medical Problems
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