Pengelly et al. 2024, iron deficiency & performance in female athletes

Systematic review (Journal of Sport and Health Science) of 23 studies involving 669 female athletes across 16 sports, focused on iron deficiency, supplementation, and performance. Finds that up to 60% of female athletes experience iron deficiency, that deficiency reduces endurance performance by approximately 3–4%, and that oral supplementation of around 100 mg elemental iron daily for up to 56 days returns 2–20% endurance improvement; maximal aerobic capacity improved by 6–15% across trials using 16–100 mg/day for 36–126 days. Moderate evidence (most studies had small samples).