Iron absorption from Southeast Asian rice-based meals.

Non-heme iron absorption from three Burmese meals was measured using the method of adding extrinsic radioiron tracer to label the non-heme iron in the whole meals. Thirty-one healthy Burmese subjects were divided into three groups, each of which was given one type of meal. The absorption of reference ferrous ascorbate was also measured in all subjects and used to calibrate the observed absorption values when comparing different groups. Non-heme iron absorption from the basal meal of rice, vegetables, and spices containing 7.6 mg of total iron was 1.4%. Addition of 40 g of fish to the basal meal increased absorption to 6.4% in men and 11.9% in women. Relative absorption from the third type of meal, consisting of different proportions of rice and vegetables and less fish, was also higher than from the basal meal. Non-heme iron absorption from a Southeast Asian diet similar to the Burmese rice and vegetable diet would be insufficient to maintain iron balance. But it is improbable that such a diet is eaten all the time.