Of iron and women of steel
Ain’t no mountain high enough for these ladies who were the first Pinays and — take double note — the first Southeast Asian women to reach the summit of the world’s highest peak, the 29,029-foot-high Mt. Everest on May 16, 2007. For Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayondon, and Janet Berlarmino-Sardena, it was a towering feat, indeed. They achieved the pinnacle of fame when they became the first women to cross the mighty Everest from the north route in Tibet to the south route in Nepal.
It was a breathtaking experience — quite literally and figuratively — for Noelle who got there first. An exhilarated Carina was a mere gasp away — just 10 minutes behind Noelle. Janet, who gave birth to her baby Himalaya three months before the headline-making climb, clocked in three hours behind Noelle and Carina.
For these women of steel, it took a lot of iron will. Of course, only in their late 20s when they conquered Everest, they went through the most Spartan discipline with expedition leader Art Valdez. Primed for the climb, it helped, too, that they were pumped up with iron (but more on this later) as they pressed on to reach the “roof of the world.”
Iron was what kept everybody’s energy level at its peak at the recent press conference sponsored by Abbott International’s Iberet Active to learn more about how to combat the anemic epidemic for an active and productive life. Starting with the many yummy iron-rich dishes served during lunch at the Japan Room of Ascott Makati, plus the requisite hemoglobin test, we knew it was going to be one lively afternoon.
“Did you know that in the Philippines, anemia affects two out of five women of reproductive age? That’s 43.9 percent of pregnant women and 42.2 percent of lactating women,” Dr. Baby Rochelle de Vega-Casino, internal medicine specialist, kicks off the day’s animated discussion on anemia.
Are you short of breath? Are you dizzy or light-headed? Do you have cold hands and feet? If it’s not love, it could be anemia.
Emceeing the affair was the vivacious mother-daughter team of Carmita Francisco and Romina Urra Gonzalez who can very well identify with anemia. Carmita was always worried sick because as a young girl, Romina was always dizzy. The OC (as in overly concerned) mom would check if her little girl was anemic by pulling her lower eyelid down to see if it was pale. Today, Romina, who’s expecting a baby, leads a hectic lifestyle juggling the demands of motherhood and career.
A serious public health concern, half of the anemic cases is due to iron deficiency that is why iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and anemia are often used interchangeably.
In IDA, there is a reduction in the number or volume of red blood cells, or in the total amount of hemoglobin, a substance in the red blood cells whose job is to transport oxygen to the different parts of the body.
So, that’s how important hemoglobin is! We digest every morsel of information shared by Dr. Baby Casino: “So, if one is iron-deficient, the oxygen-carrying capacity (of hemoglobin) is decreased, causing symptoms like dizziness, weakness or fatigue, or even complications like heart problems since the heart will now have to pump more blood to compensate for the lack of oxygen. Severe iron deficiency in pregnant women is linked to premature birth and low birth weight in babies. Untreated iron deficiency can also cause physical and mental delays in infants and children, especially in walking and talking.”
There was certainly a lot of talking at this press lunch where the women outnumbered the men — and proved they could outpower the male species, too. Aside from the iron ladies of Everest, there was Team David’s Salon, the country’s first all-female multi-sport team who had one thing in common: their unflinching dedication to sports and all-consuming passion for health and wellness.
“The sport of cycling binds us together,” says Joyette Jopson, “but we also participate in triathlons, duathlons, and fun runs.”
The nine-strong team hopes to inspire women to live an active lifestyle. Like instead of just stretching your imagination or wagging your tongue, why not go take up a sport?
How do these women of strength keep their adrenaline running high?
It takes more than an iron will. Says Dr. Casino, “We should eat iron-rich foods like meat and poultry products, including eggs, and green leafy vegetables and seafoods such as shrimps, scallops, and oysters. But iron in vegetables is not as easily absorbed by the body as that found in meat so their choice of diet puts vegetarians at a risk of developing IDA.”
Dr. Aileen Dualan, Abbott International medical manager and a walking advertisement of Iberet Active, zeroed in on the iron supplement brand that’s designed for active women who are always on the go and need an energy boost.
Coupled with their steely determination, Iberet Active kept Team Pinay Everest going. The thinning oxygen as the altitudes rose robbed them of their bodies’ iron supply. At the summit, you only breathe a third of the oxygen in the air.
The good news is Iberet Active contains the optimal amount of iron not found in everyday multivitamins plus vitamin C for better iron absorption and immune protection, and vitamin B complexes for healthy nerve cells and enhanced metabolism. It’s also got the gradumet technology to ensure a more efficient release and absorption of iron, as well as decreased gastric irritation so you don’t end up with an upset stomach, a common fear associated with iron supplements.
Time to take your iron, or pump iron, or perhaps iron out the kinks in your life.
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