However, increasing iron intake will not be successful in eliminating iron-deficiency anaemia unless the diet is also low in iron-absorption inhibitors or contains enhancers of iron absorption and utilisation. The major inhibitor, phytic acid, can be readily degraded in cereal and legume foods by the addition of exogenous phytases either during food processing or during digestion , increasing iron absorption dramatically. In the same way, muscle tissue, through the action of the cysteine-containing peptides formed on digestion, improves iron absorption from cereal-based meals.