Why are young runners prone to low iron stores today? More than half are testing low in ferritin. What is it about? To medical professionals, it's often an indicator for iron supplementation. How does the human body utilize iron and what depletes it? Coaches most likely understand half of this equation. Why do iron supplements work for some runners and not for others? This has been a mystery until now.
Are there broad factors affecting millions of young adults who are not somehow properly assimilating iron nor other valuable minerals from their diets? Scott Webb says yes -- this is cultural in nature, only recently highlighted by young athletes.
This book assesses the current paradigm that something has gone wrong with the individual athlete, while ignoring the epidemic aspects of this condition. Are young adults really plagued by a "medical problem" or is there some aspect of current culture, in general, which has recently changed? Why is low ferritin suddenly affecting an entire generation of otherwise healthy kids?
While filming the 2013 Brentwood High (Tennessee) Cross Country team's season, Scott Webb learned that some runners on the team were challenged by low iron stores as indicated by low ferritin test results. In reading through the current discussions on the topic, he was shocked to discover almost no mention of "impairments" to iron assimilation in the running media. He made suggestions for the Brentwood team based on his own understanding of digestion, assimilation, and elimination with noteworthy success.
Now he has compiled his perspective for runners, coaches, and parents to better understand the critical variables at play. Scott Webb identifies "low ferritin" as one falling Domino in a line of other previous internal failures in the connections between the small intestine, the liver, the thyroid, and their interactions with the microflora, which have been responsible for the success and survival of humans for thousands of years without issue.
But something has changed within recent years which is impairing humanity's vitality as a whole. What is it? Read this book and learn all about it. To some it might be fiction. To others, it could provide a huge leap forward. By understanding our past and by taking a simple stroll through the micro-processes occurring within the human body, this may provide the key to unlocking the mystery of widespread low ferritin in student runners -- and others.
It will merely require an open mind and about one hour of your time to get it done.
