No abstract

The effects of simulated Finnish diets with and without iron and copper supplementations were studied on four groups of growing male rats. Although otherwise in good health, the rats on the basal human diet (27 mg Fe/kg and 2.2 mg Cu/kg dry weight) became slightly anemic. The rats on the iron-supplemented diet (56 mg Fe as FeCl₃/kg) had a normal hematological picture, and significantly higher iron stores and lower radioiron absorption percentages than the rats of the basal group. The rats receiving the basal diet plus copper (6.0 mg Cu/kg) consumed more food but had a low food efficiency. The administration of copper to both the basal and iron-supplemented diets resulted in a slight, although statistically nonsignificant trend towards higher hematological values and better utilization of iron. In conclusion, judged from the responses obtained by supplementations, the simulated Finnish diet turned out to be short of iron and marginal in copper for the growing male rat. The significance of these observations in human nutrition is difficult to evaluate at present.