WHAT IS IN BLOOD?

We know well that the main function of the red blood cell is to carry oxygen to the tissues and return carbon dioxide to the lungs. This process of gaseous exchange is achieved by the specialized protein in the red blood cell, hemoglobin. Each red blood cell then contains approximately 640 million hemoglobin molecules. Hemoglobin is an oxygen-binding protein that is mainly found in erythrocytes that aids in transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. The hemoglobins have a molecular weight of about 68,000 and compromises almost one third of the weight of a red blood cell. Each hemoglobin molecule is a tetramer made of four polypeptide globin chains. A heme moiety made up of an organic protoporphyrin ring and a central iron ion in the ferrous state(Fe2+) is found in each globin subunit. Each heme moiety contains an iron molecule that is able to bind and unbind oxygen, enabling the organism to transport oxygen. The most common type of hemoglobin in the adult is HbA, which c...

According to studies t he proteins that provide your red blood cells the ability to deliver oxygen from your lungs to your cells, haemoglobin and myoglobin, require iron as a necessary component. This means that iron can affect your VO2 max, anaerobic energy, and overall daily active performance!! On a daily basis, your body needs around 10 - 20MG per day but how much does it actually absorb? ONLY 1-2MG per day!!   Dietary iron comes in two forms heme iron (meat and seafood products ) and NON-HEME IRON (plant and dairy products).  According to , Heme is known to make up more than 95%  of functional iron in our body which categorized heme as one of the most essential nutrient needed for our body. Hrmm.. You might be wondering, what the heck is heme? Where does it come from? To put it short, it is one of the vital components in our red blood cells. Ever heard of the word hemoglobin? Look at the first few letters in that word. HEM which derives from the word heme...