IRON ABSORPTION: THE EFFECT OF AN IRON-DEFICIENT DIET.

A diet deficient in iron causes a rapid, marked increase in iron absorption in rats. The increased absorption occurs in the absence of a significant change in iron stores as judged by the effect of an equivalent change in stores produced by phlebotomy, and in the absence of increased erythropoietic activity as judged by the rate of removal of iron-59 from the plasma.