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Iron – it’s not: “are you getting enough?”, it’s: “are you getting too much?”
Iron is one of the most important nutrients in the diet, mostly all health experts agree. But experts disagree widely on the amount of iron a person is supposed to ingest to maintain health. For example, according to the WHO and the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, iron deficiency is endemic even in developed countries, with an estimated half the population of the world deficient in iron (20% of maternal deaths worldwide are attributable directly or indirectly by anaemia, states the WHO). According to THIS article in the New York Times: “Today iron deficiency is more likely in infants who are exclusively breast-fed, young children who consume too much milk, menstruating and pregnant women, vegans and strict vegetarians…“ ) and, tipping the see-saw on the anaemic vegetarian debate in the other direction, are the Vegetarian Resource Group, who state that: “Vegetarians do not have a higher incidence of iron deficiency than do meat eaters.“ and the World’s Healthiest Foods website HERE, which states that vegetarians are less likely to be anaemic.
Basically, what we all want to know is whether supplementation is necessary – no, says the NHS online: “You should be able to get all the iron you need from your daily diet.”
Looking at the nuts and bolts of this topic, what are iron’s functions?
l Critical for blood formation, especially red blood generation in the bones
l Helps to deliver oxygen to body tissues
l Supports energy production
l Production of immune cells, and the ability of the immune cells to kill viruses, bacteria & fungi
l Cell division is possible because iron is present
l Iron is a coenzyme (enzyme helper)
What are the symptoms of iron deficiency?
Lack of iron brings on anemia, even slightly low levels brings on weakness, listlessness, fatigue. People are pale, tired and incapable of doing normal work. Very low levels lead to heat failure, poor immunity & increased cancer risks. Pregnant women with low iron levels are at risk from pregnancy complications and poor pregnancy outcomes. Other at risk groups are people who do a lot of exercise and people long-term gastro-intestinal problems, where iron is not properly absorbed in digestion.
What shocked me when I was researching this topic is Dr. Russell Blaylock’s provocative podcast (Iron – the double-edged sword), where he explains that high levels of iron can be even more harmful than depressed levels, especially in neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease and heart failure, joint pain, liver failure and rapid ageing, diabetes (especially type 1).
Dr. Blaylock explains that, because iron is so toxic at high levels, the body has to store the iron in “secret places” so as to remove it from tissues where it would cause oxidative damage, and the body needs special proteins to escort the iron to the sites where it is needed.
The absorption of iron is tightly controlled. We only absorb 2 ml out of the 20 ml that is ingested typically every day. To prevent too much iron from escaping into the blood system once it enters the blood stream, it is bound to transferrin, which carries it to the cells. Normally 20 – 30% of transferrin is saturated, so that more iron can be absorbed, if need be; for example if oxygen levels are low we can absorb more iron. Once this bound iron gets to the liver, it is transferred to
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Iron is one of the most important nutrients in the diet, mostly all health experts agree. But experts disagree widely on the amount of iron a person is supposed to ingest to maintain health. For example, according to the WHO and the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, iron deficiency is endemic even in developed countries, with an estimated half the population of the world deficient in iron (20% of maternal deaths worldwide are attributable directly or indirectly by anaemia, states the WHO). According to THIS article in the New York Times: “Today iron deficiency is more likely in infants who are exclusively breast-fed, young children who consume too much milk, menstruating and pregnant women, vegans and strict vegetarians…“ ) and, tipping the see-saw on the anaemic vegetarian debate in the other direction, are the Vegetarian Resource Group, who state that: “Vegetarians do not have a higher incidence of iron deficiency than do meat eaters.“ and the World’s Healthiest Foods website HERE, which states that vegetarians are less likely to be anaemic.
Basically, what we all want to know is whether supplementation is necessary – no, says the NHS online: “You should be able to get all the iron you need from your daily diet.”
Looking at the nuts and bolts of this topic, what are iron’s functions?
l Critical for blood formation, especially red blood generation in the bones
l Helps to deliver oxygen to body tissues
l Supports energy production
l Production of immune cells, and the ability of the immune cells to kill viruses, bacteria & fungi
l Cell division is possible because iron is present
l Iron is a coenzyme (enzyme helper)
What are the symptoms of iron deficiency?
Lack of iron brings on anemia, even slightly low levels brings on weakness, listlessness, fatigue. People are pale, tired and incapable of doing normal work. Very low levels lead to heat failure, poor immunity & increased cancer risks. Pregnant women with low iron levels are at risk from pregnancy complications and poor pregnancy outcomes. Other at risk groups are people who do a lot of exercise and people long-term gastro-intestinal problems, where iron is not properly absorbed in digestion.
What shocked me when I was researching this topic is Dr. Russell Blaylock’s provocative podcast (Iron – the double-edged sword), where he explains that high levels of iron can be even more harmful than depressed levels, especially in neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease and heart failure, joint pain, liver failure and rapid ageing, diabetes (especially type 1).
Dr. Blaylock explains that, because iron is so toxic at high levels, the body has to store the iron in “secret places” so as to remove it from tissues where it would cause oxidative damage, and the body needs special proteins to escort the iron to the sites where it is needed.
The absorption of iron is tightly controlled. We only absorb 2 ml out of the 20 ml that is ingested typically every day. To prevent too much iron from escaping into the blood system once it enters the blood stream, it is bound to transferrin, which carries it to the cells. Normally 20 – 30% of transferrin is saturated, so that more iron can be absorbed, if need be; for example if oxygen levels are low we can absorb more iron. Once this bound iron gets to the liver, it is transferred to