Low phytic acid pea supplementation as an approach to combating iron deficiency in female runners: A randomized control trial

Abstract

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency in the world and the leading cause of anemia globally. Female athletes are at a disproportionate risk for ID due to blood loss through menstruation and decreased iron absorption secondary to exercise. Field peas are a rich source of iron but, similar to iron from other plant-based sources, the iron has limited bioavailability due to high levels of phytic acid, an inherent compound that binds to cations, creating a salt (phytate), which limits absorption during digestion. Aim: The purpose of our research was to investigate the effect of a field pea variety bred to have low levels of phytic acid on plasma ferritin, exercise performance, and body composition in female runners. Methods: Twenty-eight female runners (age:34.6  ±  9.7 years; weight: 65.1  ±  8.1 kg; VO2max: 50.7  ±  8.9 ml/kg/min) underwent measures of ferritin, exercise performance, and body composition before and after being randomly assigned to consume a powder derived from regular peas, low phytic acid peas, or a non-pea control (maltodextrin), plus vitamin C for 8 weeks. Results: The regular pea and low phytic acid pea groups had a 14.4% and 5.1% increase in plasma ferritin, respectively, while the maltodextrin group had a decrease of 2.2%; however, the difference in changes between groups was not statistically significant. No differences between groups were evident in any of the other measures. Conclusion: Larger doses or longer duration of pea supplementation may be necessary to induce meaningful changes in iron status. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04872140).