IRON AND IRON OVERLOAD
by Dr. Lawrence Wilson
© October 2022, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.
The Roles Of Iron In The Body
Iron toxicity is common
Iron toxicity is serious
A metabolic or a hereditary disorder?
Deliberate Iron Poisoning
The Development Program Can Help
Food and Diet
Other Sources
Difficulty Eliminating Iron
III. PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY AND SYMPTOMS OF IRON TOXICITY
Biounavailable Iron
How Toxic Iron Damages The Body
Organ And Tissue Effects Of Toxic Iron
Symptoms
Blood Tests And Liver Biopsy
Hair Mineral Analysis Indicators Of Iron Imbalance
Nutritional Balancing
Dietary Restriction
Phlebotomy or Giving Blood
Chelation
The Roles Of Iron In The body
Iron Deficiency
Prevention
Iron Imbalances On Blood Tests
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The roles of iron. Iron is an essential mineral required to transport oxygen in the body, for energy production in the electron transport system, and for the catalase enzyme system and perhaps others.
One can read about the need for iron in many places. However, too much iron is very harmful and this is the focus of this article.
THE PROBLEM OF IRON TOXICITY
Easy to overload. Iron toxicity is not as simple as it may appear. Toxic forms of iron are found in many foods today.
Iron toxicity is serious. Conditions in which iron can be a factor include diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, other inflammatory conditions, oxidant damage, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Others include chronic infections, hair loss, hypothyroidism, hyperactive behavior, violence, attentions deficit disorder, and other health conditions.
Hard to detect. Iron overload is not easy to detect with blood and other tests. A liver biopsy is a good test, but this test is invasive, somewhat costly, and not performed often.
Misinformed physicians. Traditionally, iron toxicity was considered mainly a hereditary condition. However, recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine and elsewhere indicate that a person may have iron overload without having either the hemochromatosis gene or other obvious reasons for the problem such as multiple blood transfusions or other obvious exposure.
In a study of heart disease, 13% of those screened had indicators of iron overload. This cannot be explained by heredity. It also correlates with findings in our clients and that of other researchers and physicians using development science.
Difficult to eliminate. Getting rid of this toxic iron in your diet and from your body is not easy.
Reality. Based upon clinical practice, we have come to assume that most all adults have some toxic iron in their bodies. The problem tends to worsen with age.
The development program. This is one of the few ways to eliminate all toxic iron. For a short case history, see the Testimonials Page on this website. For more details, read Hemochromatosis.
DELIBERATE IRON POISONING
We are learning that an important cause of iron toxicity is that the alien group we call the Rogues want to poison the people of earth with certain forms of iron. Here is how they do it:
- Iron in foods. The rogues spray toxic forms of iron on many fields, streams and in the ocean. It finds its way into our vegetables, fruit and dairy products. It is one reason we only recommend goat dairy products – they are lower in iron.
In addition, the governments of many nations require that iron be added to white flour. More recently, we found that some restaurants are adding iron to their food, particularly fast food chain restaurants.
Eating too much red meat or too many eggs also gives one too much iron. One should only eat a four-to-five ounce portion of red meat (beef, lamb or goat) twice a week. Some people can eat a little more if one is in late pregnancy or if a woman has very heavy menstrual periods.
We find that women can eat only up to 6 eggs per week and men can eat only up to 8 eggs per week. Otherwise, they accumulate an iron-containing toxin in their livers.
- Medical iron pills and shots. Most people who are anemic do not need iron. They have a copper imbalance. They need a corrective development program to heal the anemia. However, physicians often recommend iron, which just poisons the person more. For details, read Copper Toxicity Syndrome and Anemia.
- Vaccines. Newer vaccines contain iron. The covid-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide. This is a fancy word for a form of iron. Some authorities say all they contain is iron. It is quite toxic and contributes to the disability and death that the vaccines are causing.
- Iron in vitamins. This is a common source of excessive and often poor quality iron. Among the worst are prenatal vitamins.
- Black or dark colors of everything. This includes black or dark colored clothing, appliances, machines, packaging, and more. Iron is in the black pigment and dyes. Some rubs off on your hands when you touch anything that is dark in color. Do not wear dark colored clothing and do not buy things that are dark in color.
- Tatoo ink. Iron is in the ink, especially dark-colored tatoo and other ink.
- Blood used in rapes and beatings. When women experience rapes and beatings, rogue men at times pour blood on them. They tell the women it is their own blood, but it is not. It is blood meal sold as plant food. The men buy it and mix it with water. The blood is that of cows or pigs. It is very high in iron, which the women absorb through their skin.
- Slowing or stopping of menstrual bleeding. Menstruation helps protect young women from iron poisoning. The rogues are able to reduce or stop some women's menstrual periods with drugs. This puts the women in more danger of iron toxicity.
Iron toxicity can result from:
1. Too much iron in the diet.
2. Other sources, such as iron in supplements, iron in the water, or occupational exposure.
3. Excessive absorption of iron from the diet.
4. Inability to eliminate enough iron from the body. This can be due to physical factors, or mental factors, as described below.
Iron toxicity can also be due to a combination of these factors. Let us discuss these causes in more detail.
IRON IN FOODS
Some say that the average American diet includes excess iron for men, but perhaps not enough for menstruating women. I firmly disagree with this because many women today have iron toxicity, as revealed on hair mineral analyses.
Oddly, these same women can have anemia and require supplementary iron in a bioavailable form. These are usually women who have heavy menstrual periods.
Foods high in iron. These fall into two main groups:
1. Those that contain heme iron.
2. Those that contain other forms of iron, including iron added to some foods. This is important because heme iron is better absorbed than other forms of iron.
Heme iron foods. These include organ meats such as liver and kidneys, and all red meats. Dark meat chicken and dark meat turkey also contain some heme iron. Products from the sea may also contain some, such as tunafish, clams, oysters and perhaps other shellfish.
Nutritional balancing programs strictly limit these foods, as explained later in this article.
Non-heme iron foods. These include egg yolk, kelp, blackstrap molasses, brewer’s and torula yeast, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, dark green vegetables, and soybeans.
White Flour Products. An important source of excess iron can be refined wheat flour products. (The product is labeled as wheat flour, but it means refined white flour. Only whole wheat flour really is the genuine article.)
In the 1920s, it was found that animals fed a diet of white flour developed serious neurological diseases and then died. Instead of banning this product, the US Food and Drug Administration declared that most white flour products must be “enriched” with iron and a few vitamins to “correct” the problem.
However, the “enrichment” makes for an even worse situation, in many cases, that contributes to diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The reasons are:
1. “Enrichment” enhances the iron content far more than was originally in the whole wheat flour. This can increase iron in the diet too much.
2. The form of enrichment is either iron sulfate, iron fumarate, or NaFeEDTA. These can easily change into a toxic form of iron such as an oxide.
3. The body requires minerals and will absorb whatever is available. White flour is mainly stripped of its trace elements, creating a nutritionally deficient food. The iron is plentiful. Thus the body absorbs more of it than it would if there were a natural balance of minerals in the flour. This also unbalances the body.
4. Iron is selectively absorbed by the body, to begin with. This is a survival mechanism because of the great importance of iron for oxygen transport in the blood.
This combination can easily contribute to iron toxicity.
I hope this explains the serious problems with bleached, refined white flour, labeled as “wheat flour” or “enriched flour”.
Iron in water supplies. In certain areas of America and around the world, the ground water is very high in iron. This occurs because the water passes through rocks containing iron, or it could be due to industrial contamination, in a few cases. Wells should always be tested for iron contamination.
OTHER SOURCES OF IRON
1. Vitamin Supplements And Tonics With Iron. Doctors and some health food advocates recommend iron and iron-containing potions, even when they are not indicated medically. Some prescription and a number of over-the-counter drugs also contain iron.
Prenatal vitamins may contain lots of iron, and many women are told to just stay on their prenatal vitamin after the birth of a child. This is not good advice.
2. Alcohol intake of any amount tends to worsen iron toxicity because alcohol depletes zinc, an important iron antagonist.
3. Occupational Exposure. Welders, electrical workers who use solder, iron and pipe workers, steel fabricators and other occupations may expose one to enormous quantities of toxic iron.
4. Congenital Iron Toxicity (excessive iron present at birth). Most children today are born with some excess iron. They may still be anemic because their iron is not all bioavailable (see the section on biounavailability).
Large amounts of white flour, red meats and vitamins with iron consumed by young women can contaminate their bodies with iron. Some is passed on through the placenta to their children, causing chronic infections, developmental delays and behavior and learning disorders among other children’s conditions.
5. Iron cookware. Iron cookware is a potential source of toxic iron if used to cook tomatoes or other acidic foods. Rarely is this a major problem, however, if the other sources are not in the picture.
6. Emotional Iron Sources. Holding on to one’s anger or rage appears to keep iron in the body. While this is not a source of iron toxicity, it still has an extremely damaging effect.
While some anger is normal and even healthy at times, dwelling on one’s anger when it is time to let it go has this effect on our bodies.
7. Hemochromatosis and hemosiderosis are genetic causes for iron overload. They are fairly rare diseases.
DIFFICULTY ELIMINATING IRON
The other cause of iron toxicity, besides taking in too much iron, is difficulty eliminating iron. Everyone has some difficulty eliminating iron.
However, some people have much more difficulty than others. An indicator of this difficulty is found on hair mineral tests as a poor eliminator pattern. This topic is discussed later in this article under the heading of Hair Mineral Tests And Iron.
III. PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY AND SYMPTOMS OF IRON TOXICITY
BIOUNAVAILABLE IRON
In all cases of iron toxicity, iron that accumulates is in a biounavailable form. This is very important to know.
Biounavailable means that iron is present, but cannot be utilized properly. The biounavailable compound of form of iron is iron oxide. Reasons why this occurs are:
1. Iron may be absorbed in an oxide form from food or other sources, such as drinking water.
2. Iron is converted to the oxide form because it is needed as a support for the adrenal glands or other glands in the body.
Biounavailability and testing for iron. Biounavailability may cause the iron levels on hair tissue mineral tests and even blood tests to appear low when they are really normal or even high. Please recall this well.
Biounavailable Iron Effects On The Adrenal Glands or the Nervous System. Biounavailable iron appears to irritate the adrenal glands or perhaps other parts of the nervous system. This appears to have the effect of pushing up the sodium readings on hair tissue mineral analyses when the test is performed without washing the hair at the laboratory.
This seems to be an adaptive mechanism to help boost adrenal activity and maintain the sodium level in the tissues, which is very important. However, it is a toxic mechanism that does not produce health. Manganese, aluminum and perhaps other minerals, especially in a biounavailable and toxic form such as oxides, appear to do the same thing.
These are called the ‘friends’ or ‘amigos’ for this reason, and are often found together in the bodies of slow oxidizers, in particular. Slow oxidizers have exhausted adrenals and are the ones most needing a boost, perhaps. This topic is discussed in more detail in the article entitled Iron, Manganese and Aluminum.
HOW IRON DAMAGES THE BODY
1. Iron Replaces Other Vital Minerals Causing Enzyme Dysfunction. Understanding this requires knowledge of the concept of preferred minerals. It basically states that all enzymes in the body have ideally a certain mineral in each binding site that allows the enzyme to function most efficiently.
If, however, the preferred mineral is not available, the enzyme will accept a less preferred mineral in its place to allow the enzyme to function at all.
Iron replaces other vital minerals such as zinc, copper manganese, and many others in hundreds or even thousands of enzyme binding sites. This cause the enzymes to malfunction and leads to many physical and emotional symptoms.
The problem of mineral replacement is made worse by the fact that all minerals compete for absorption. Iron enjoys a selective advantage. That is, it is selectively absorbed because of its essential role in oxygen transfer. This mechanism of iron absorption definitely works against a person who is eating white flour, lots of red meat, and perhaps smokes or drinks a little alcohol, for example. Adding orange juice at breakfast makes it worse, because vitamin C enhances iron absorption greatly.
The person becomes greatly saturated with iron at the expense of other trace elements that are already deficient in the food supply.
2. Inflammation. When iron replaces other elements in the body, in addition to enzyme malfunction, the next most important problem it causes is inflammation.
This occurs because iron attracts oxygen directly to it. Then, when it contacts delicate body tissues, the singlet oxygen molecules, termed free radicals, detach and destroy body tissues. This mechanism is called oxidant damage or free radical damage, a potent cause of inflammation.
Oxidant damage contributes to many other problems as well. These include insufficient repair of the organs and tissues to meet the needs of the body. This, in turn, can cause every disorder imaginable from heart disease to cancer to hyperactive behavior.
Aging is though to be caused by oxidant damage and it may be a direct effect of iron toxicity. This is rarely diagnosed, however, unless one happens to undergo special blood tests or a liver biopsy for iron.
3. Toxic Iron Oxide. Iron oxide is formed when iron combines with several atoms of oxygen at once. It is biologically useless and quite toxic as well
4. Bacterial Growth Stimulant. Due to its properties as an excellent oxygen transporter, iron tends to stimulate the growth of common bacteria. This is a significant cause for chronic infections in our population.
5. Cellular Poison (Cancer). Imbalances related to iron reduce the output of cellular energy in the body. This leads directly to cancer, which is basically a parasite on the human body. It uses an inferior energy generating system based on direct conversion of sugar to energy without the many intermediary steps associated with the Krebs and glycolysis cycles.
Iron Synergists. Certain substances and situations favor iron accumulation and absorption. These invariably make iron poisoning worse.
For example, vitamin C and other acidic substances like tomatoes can increase iron absorption. Copper can be an iron synergist as well, although it is also an iron antagonist in the intestinal tract. This means it competes with iron for absorption in the intestines.
Copper can build up in the body to mask the presence of iron. This often occurs and is revealed on some hair tissue mineral analyses.
Other iron synergists would include white flour products for a variety of reasons other than their iron content. For example, any mineral-deficient food will enhance absorption of iron if iron is present in the diet, as it often is.
Other iron synergists are stress, anger, frustration, resentment, hostility, fear and other such negative emotions. The mechanisms for this are more complex and beyond the scope of this article. See the section on iron in the hair tissue analyses for some elaboration of this topic.
ORGAN AND TISSUE EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE OR BIOUNAVAILABLE IRON
We have discussed the major types of damage caused by iron excess. Each of these mechanisms affects all the organs and tissues of the body. Thus the damage done by iron and other toxic metals with similar properties is very complex and comprehensive. However, some organs and tissues are damaged more extensively than others by iron.
For example, all organs and tissues are affected by generalized inflammation. The manifestation will vary, however, depending on the function or functions of the particular organ or tissue and upon its resonance or its generalized response to the presence of excessive iron.
Organs that may be most affected by iron are the pancreas, liver, kidneys, brain, heart, arteries, and joints. This is not so much because the mineral deposits there. In fact, more iron is in the liver than elsewhere, but so are many other minerals deposited there. It is more about the resonance or response of the organ to the energy or structure, more properly, of the iron molecule or combinations that iron forms with oxygen and other elements.
The liver and iron. The liver can be saturated with iron, and in Chinese medicine the liver is the seat of iron. It is associated with an attitude of anger and rage. Iron also accumulates in the amygdala, a part of the brain associated with anger and rage.
However, it can accumulate everywhere in the brain and is certainly one cause of dementia related to aging, since iron accumulates with age, as a general rule. As it does so, it replaces other vital minerals such as chromium, molybdenum, selenium, germanium and others in vital organs, glands and tissues.
SYMPTOMS AND CONDITIONS OF IRON TOXICITY
Physical Ailments Associated With Iron Poisoning.
1) Diabetes. This is known in the medical literature and is sometimes referred to as bronze diabetes. However, we feel that researchers will learn that more than this is due to iron overload, in subtle ways. Iron replaces many minerals that can give rise to symptoms of diabetes.
2. Cancer. Many cases of cancer are indirectly caused by or related to iron toxicity from non-hereditary causes.
3. Nervous System Diseases. These may include Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and behavioral abnormalities, including violence, anti-social behavior, ADHD, autistic characteristics and other. A bad temper is often related to iron toxicity, as mentioned earlier. People with multiple sclerosis also often have elevated iron in their brains.
4. Hypertension And All Cardiac Conditions. Iron has an ability to enhance the hardness of the arteries, as does cadmium. So the blood pressure rises, without any obvious cause. Arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, cardiac stenosis, cardiomyopathy and others are included in the list of cardiac difficulties that are known to occur with hemosiderosis and hemochromatosis and can occur with acquired iron overload as well.
5. Kidney Problems of Many Types. Iron can accumulate here, causing hypertension, renal failure and other difficulties.
6. Inflammatory Symptoms. These include a wide range of disorders and syndromes, ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Sjogren’s syndrome to lupus, myelination diseases such as multiple sclerosis and others.
7. Milder forms of inflammation such as random aches and pains, premenstrual syndrome, headache syndromes and so many other inflammatory conditions that may occur in children and adults.
BLOOD TESTS AND LIVER BIOPSY
Blood tests are not reliable with early cases. The indicators include:
- Iron greater than 350 mcg/dl
- Glucose greater than 150 mg/dl
- White blood cells greater than 15,000
- Elevated liver enzymes
- Ferritin greater than 1000 mcg/dl
- A low ferritin can mean low iron. However, it can also mean there is too much biounavailable iron. The body may keep ferritin low to attempt to keep toxic iron out of circulation.
A liver biopsy is a better test, but is not done often because it is somewhat invasive and somewhat dangerous.
HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS AND IRON
Hair tissue mineral analysis is helpful to identify an iron imbalance in most cases, but one must not just use the hair iron level. Here are the main indicators:
1. HAIR TISSUE IRON GREATER THAN ABOUT 2 MG%. This indicator applies mainly to an initial hair mineral test, though not necessarily. On a retest, during a nutritional balancing program, the hair iron often elevates as the body eliminates excess iron through the hair, so the indicator is less reliable on retests.
2. IRON IN THE POOR ELIMINATOR RANGE. This is a hair tissue iron level of less than 1.2 mg%. Hair must not be washed at the laboratory for accurate readings.
A poor eliminator pattern indicates the body is having difficulty eliminating iron. For more on this critically important mineral analysis pattern, read Poor Eliminator Pattern on this website.
3. OTHER ELEVATED ‘AMIGOS’, SUCH AS MANGANESE OR ALUMINUM, IN MOST CASES. When aluminum is above about 0.4 mg% or manganese is greater than about 0.04 mg% in the hair tissue, iron toxicity with biounavailable iron is almost always present.
This is why iron, manganese and aluminum are called the “amigos”. They are found together, like friends. For more details, read Iron, Manganese And Aluminum.
4. OTHER ‘AMIGOS’ IN THE POOR ELIMINATOR RANGE. This means that aluminum or manganese, usually, are very low in the hair. The poor eliminator range for aluminum is when it is less than 0.2 mg% and for manganese when it is less than about 0.015 mg%.
Ideal Hair Iron Levels. The ideal iron level in the hair is about 1.9-2 mg% or 20 parts per million in an unwashed hair sample. This fact is important because, at this time (2022), the ideal level on a hair mineral chart from Analytical Research Labs is much too high at 3.5 mg%. The ideal value varies from lab to lab.
Often doctors just read the level as low, high or normal. It is important to actually review the level, not just whether it seems low, normal or high.
Iron is difficult for the human body to eliminate. This may be because iron is such an essential mineral. The body conserves iron carefully, rather than risk excreting too much. Humans often had to survive on low-iron diets for months, so iron conservation was essential.
Today we have the opposite situation in many parts of the world. White flour in enormous amounts, along with red meat, eggs and iron-rich vegetables are eaten in abundance in most developed nations. Also, excessive iron in the air and water supplies are common. The only methods we are aware of to remove excess iron from the body are:
1. The development program.
2. Phlebotomy or bleeding (removing blood).
3. Iron chelating drugs.
4. Restricting iron intake.
Let us discuss each of these methods:
THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
I am surprised how easily and how consistently iron removal occurs with the development program. This life path combines over 20 methods to eliminate iron at the same time.
Iron is removed gently, quickly in most cases, and very safely. Here are the basic components of this program:
1) Diet. Iron toxicity can be caused by dietary imbalances. The development diet rules include the following to limit iron intake:
1. No organ meats.
2. No shellfish and no tunafish. The only fish allowed are 3-4 cans of sardines per week for adults, and less for children.
3. No white flour products.
4. Animal protein may only be eaten twice daily. This includes all meats, poultry, fish, seafood and eggs.
5. Portion size for adults is no more than 4-5 ounces of animal protein food per serving.
2) More Rest, Emotional Adjustment, if needed, And A Healthful, Low-Stress Lifestyle. Rest, stress reduction and releasing negative emotions are essential for the best results.
Emotions such as anger, rage and resentment greatly increases iron retention in some individuals. The body seeks to maintain adequate adrenal activity by retaining iron and manganese, among other minerals. These, in fact, can irritate weak adrenal glands, which keeps the adrenals pumping out hormones when they would prefer rest.
3) Reduce The Activity Of The Sympathetic Nervous System. The sympathetic nervous system inhibits proper digestion, proper elimination and many other vital body functions. It is a fight-or-flight response that millions of people are caught in.
To help reduce sympathetic nervous activity, sauna therapy and the use of foods and nutrients that relax the nervous system are most helpful. This includes the avoidance of all stimulants and refined sugars (including most fruit and juices). Fruit should be limited as most of it contains excessive sugars and often pesticide residues. Also, excitotoxins are dangerous for the person with iron toxicity. These include chemicals that stimulate the sympathetic system such as caffeine, MSG and aspartame (also called Equal or Nutrasweet).
Supplements such as calcium/magnesium, zinc, copper, ox bile and pancreatin have a parasympathetic effect.
Other methods to reduce sympathetic nervous activity include meditation, relaxation, rest with daily naps, and other lifestyle modifications designed to relax a person.
4) Balance the oxidation rate, as revealed on a properly performed hair tissue mineral analysis. This is most important because this balancing, done with foods, nutrients, lifestyle changes and some basic detoxification procedures, will increase the efficiency of energy production. Increased cellular or adaptive energy can assist every healing process. This balancing process is unique to this program. The other components can be used without the balancing, but the program will not be as effective.
5) Assist the Eliminative Organs. Any method that assists the liver, kidneys, bowels and skin will help remove iron, as well as all other toxic substances in the body.
Many methods are available to do this. Nutritional balancing uses near infrared saunas, coffee enemas, and, at times, herbs such as milk thistle, black radish, dandelion or uva ursi to assist the activity of the colon, kidneys and liver, primarily.
Relaxation methods, foot reflexology, acupressure, acupuncture or others could also be helpful, if needed, which they are usually not.
The skin is another important route through which the body appears to be able to remove iron. Nutritional balancing encourages the use of near or far infrared sauna therapy for everyone. Details of how to improve skin elimination is the subject of Sauna Therapy, a book by this author. Also see the Sauna Therapy article on www.drlwilson.com.
6. Support The Sodium Level. This is vital, in fact, for iron removal. Supporting the sodium level with a proper diet and the optimum nutritional supplements and other methods is required to remove iron.
This is because a toxic and biounvailable form of iron appears to be used by the body to support the tissue sodium level. To remove the iron adaptation, one might call it, one must support the sodium in other ways.
Otherwise, all the other methods will not work well. This particular aspect of development science is the trickiest and one of the most important, as well. It permits the body to excrete much more iron quickly.
It involves giving the right amount of other supportive minerals such as manganese, chromium, selenium and zinc, along with the appropriate vitamins, glandular products and digestive aids. Dr. Paul Eck figured out some these doses and we have improved upon them.
7) Iron Antagonists. These have been discussed above and include minerals such as zinc, selenium, sulfur, manganese and other nutrients. Hair analysis, when interpreted according to the method of Dr. Paul Eck, can carefully guide us in giving antagonists that do not worsen the balance of the body chemistry. This is a very important consideration when giving iron antagonists or any supplements to help remove iron.
8) Chelators. The development program does not use chelators such as EDTA, deferoxamine or IP-6. They are not needed and have many problems that are discussed below. Small amounts of vitamin C and, at times, the sulfur-bearing compound L-taurine, are used judiciously.
Once again, all supplements must be given in a way that does not unbalance the oxidation rate, as this will slow or even stop progress rather than enhancing it.
9) Digestive Assistance. While this may increase iron absorption somewhat, this problem is more than offset by assisting one to better absorb other competing minerals that are needed to help remove excess iron from the body.
The digestive aid we like best contains pancreatin, ox bile and Russian black radish. A brand is called GB-3 from Endomet Labs. It has many other benefits discussed in a separate article entitled GB-3.
For example, it has a parasympathetic effect, which is very beneficial. It may also protect somewhat against the development of cancer, which is one of the results of iron toxicity. The pancreatin helps digest the coating on cancer cells, rendering them susceptible to removal by white blood cells.
Pancreatin also digests foreign proteins in the intestines, including some parasites, yeasts and other harmful organisms. These are very common in iron-toxic people. Pancreatic enzymes can also be helpful to assist the body to produce plenty of bile to help eliminate iron.
For many more details about how to remove iron, read Toxic Metals.
MEDICAL METHODS FOR REMOVING IRON
1. Bloodletting. Phlebotomy (removing blood by intravenous needle) is the major method used to reduce iron levels, especially in chronic cases. The advantages of this method are it is very fast (too fast) and it is relatively easy for the patient.
Adverse effects of bloodletting include:
1) Fatigue and weakness temporarily, at least.
2) Depletion of many other nutrients besides iron. This is potentially a very devastating side effect in some cases of iron excess that can even worsen the iron condition.
3) Masking of the real problem, since bloodletting does not address deeper causes of iron toxicity. In other words, this method does not restore true health.
4) Subtle defects in the body may show up with repeated bloodletting, as the blood carries much more than just minerals. Removing blood on a frequent basis carries other subtle risks for this reason.
5) Removal of some bioavailable iron when the real goal is just to remove biounavailable iron, ideally.
2. Chelating Drugs. Iron chelators such as deferoxamine will remove some iron. This method is not used much because deferoxiame is very toxic. Other problems with iron chelators include:
a) Other vital minerals and other substances may be removed
b) This method removes both available and biounavailable iron, which is not as good.
c) It does not address the underlying causes.
3. Natural Chelating Agents. These are sometimes used by holistic doctors. They include green tea extract. One can drink green tea, but it is not as effective as the extract that contains concentrated polyphenols and tannins. These tend to bind some iron and prevent its absorption into the body. However, it is not effective enough, and from the standpoint of development science, green tea and the extract are much too yin.
Another natural chelator is vitamin C. However, vitamin C enhances iron absorption, so it won’t work orally, and it is not good enough when given intravenously.
Another natural chelator is phytic acid found in some grains or in preparations such as IP-6. This inhibits iron absorption from the intestine. It does not remove stored iron, however.
Disadvantages of the natural iron chelators are the same as the drug chelators. They can and do remove other essential minerals, which seriously and sometimes gravely imbalances the body chemistry.
Also, chelation does not address the cause of the problem. This usually results in a re-accumulation of iron and a need for repeated treatments.
Phytic acid products such as IP-6 are particularly dangerous as they remove a lot of calcium, magnesium and zinc which are all vital nutrients and already deficient in most people today. Vitamin C can lower copper significantly, causing very severe problems in some people if used repeatedly.
OTHER WAYS THE BODY ELIMINATES SOME IRON
Menstruation removes a lot of toxic iron in young women. As a result, menstruating women are usually protected from the ravages of iron toxicity. This is an important reason women may live longer than men.
Cysts and tumors. On occasion, a tumor forms that contains either solid iron particles or liquid that contains iron. This will appear as pathology to a medical doctor, but may, in fact, be a healing process. Removal may be best if the body is unable to drain and eliminate the tumor by itself.
NUTRITIONAL APPROACHES TO AVOID OR USE WITH CARE IN CASES OF IRON TOXICITY
1. Diets with a lot of meat.
2. Too many supplements. These are yin, in almost all cases, no matter what other benefits they offer.
3. Too much vitamin C. As mentioned above, be careful with vitamin C, which tends to increase iron absorption.
PREVENTION OF IRON OVERLOAD
The way to prevent iron overload is:
- Eat 2-3 cups of soft-cooked vegetables with every meal. This provides the alkaline reserve minerals that compete with iron and help the body get rid of excess iron. The most important are the roots and the cruciferous vegetables. Greens are higher in iron, so these are not as helpful. Do not substitute other foods for this, such as fruit or grains.
- Eat red meat only twice per week, and the portion size should be only 4-5 ounces each time.
- Avoid alcohol and avoid all white flour products.
- Do not take iron pills on a chronic basis unless you are pregnant.
THE ROLES OF IRON
Iron has several roles in the body:
1. It is required to transport oxygen to the cells from the lungs. Hemoglobin is the main iron-bearing substance in the body. It carries oxygen to all the body cells. Any problems in this system and a person becomes very tired and will die if it is not corrected. This is the single most critical function of iron in our bodies.
2. Iron is needed for energy production in every cell. Energy production requires the conversion of sugars, fats and proteins into adenosine triphosphate or ATP, the form that the body uses for all its activities and healing as well. Iron, as well as copper, are required for energy production. Low energy will result in cancer eventually in every person with iron problems.
3. Catalase Production. Catalase is an enzyme that travels around the body and picks up free oxygen atoms called free radicals. This protects the body from free radical damage, a very important function.
4. Other Roles. Iron is also involved in the sense of direction. Human beings and the animals, especially birds, use the magnetic properties of iron, manganese and other magnetic elements to navigate the globe with amazing accuracy. Small deposits of these ferrous metals in the brain are used like compasses to direct the creature on its way.
IRON DEFICIENCY
Iron deficiency is a severe problem in certain parts of the world, especially Africa, where malaria and other parasitic diseases cause blood destruction and other problems. It is also a problem where people cannot obtain meat as food.
In America, it is found most often in poor children, those with chronic illnesses or bleeding that can deplete iron rapidly, in some menstruating women and in strict vegetarians.
Copper imbalance. As explained earlier in this article, many cases of so-called iron deficiency anemia are really copper toxicity. This is a most confusing aspect of “iron deficient anemia”. Most physicians are not aware of this confusing fact.
We hope that this article will bring to the attention of physicians the need to be more careful before prescribing iron pills to their patients, including those who appear to have an iron-deficiency anemia.
MORE ABOUT IRON IMBALANCES ON BLOOD TESTS
Serum Iron deficiency. Most of the time when a blood test reveals iron deficiency, the cause is a copper imbalance. Copper is required to convert the ferric to the ferrous form of iron and it is required for the incorporation of iron into hemoglobin.
Other common causes of a low serum iron are eating a vegetarian diet, heavy menstrual periods, (also often related to following a vegetarian or near-vegetarian diet) and possibly other malnutrition.
Elevated serum ferritin. This occurs, commonly when a person follows a nutritional balancing program. The reason is that the body is eliminating excess iron and requires more ferritin to transport the toxic excess iron through the bloodstream.
This serum imbalance during a development program is of no concern and can be ignored. In fact, it is a sign of healing. So far, in all cases, elevated serum ferritin imbalance corrects itself when the iron elimination is over.
References
1. N Eng J Med, 1999, Hereditary Hemochromatosis in Adults without Pathogenic Mutations in the Hemochromatosis Gene, Pietrangelo, A. et al., 341:725, September 2.
2. Neurology, 2003, Parkinson's disease risks associated with dietary iron, manganese, and other nutrient intakes, Powers, KM et al., Jun 10;60(11):1761-6.
3. Amer J Clin Nut, 1998, 68:3-4 (calcium used to inhibit iron absorption)
4. Life Extension Foundation, 2000, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Third Ed., pp.317-321.
5. Casdorph, H.R. and Walker, M., Toxic Metal Syndrome, Avery Publishing, 1995.
6. Kutsky, R., Handbook of Vitamins, Minerals and Hormones, 2nd ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
7. www.mercola.com/2002/dec/18/iron_diagnosis.htm
8. www.irondisorders.org/Disorders/Acquired.asp
9. J Royal Soc Med. 1988, “Iron added to flour: Is it nutritionally beneficial? Discussion paper”, M J Hall, May; 81(5): 280–283.
10. http://ironoverloadtreatment.com/ (the new instrument to measure iron overload)
11. www.irondisorders.org/News
12. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070830122255.htm
13. www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemochromatosis/DS00455/DSECTION=7
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