Iron

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Iron By Ben Kim, D.C. Iron is an essential component of hundreds of enzymes and proteins in your body. As it is with other trace minerals, a little iron goes a long way. More specifically, your body needs about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of iron at any given time to carry out its everyday metabolic activities. Without this 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of iron in your body on a consistent basis, you could experience significant health challenges. What Does Iron Do In Your Body? As a part of the compound heme, iron is needed to carry oxygen to your cells and

carbon dioxide away from your cells Also as a part of the compound heme, iron contributes to the structure of a protein called myoglobin, which is needed to store and transport oxygen in your muscle cells Helps to produce ATP (energy) Acts as an antioxidant via specific enzymes (catalase and peroxidases) Promotes optimal growth, reproduction, healing, and immune function of all of your cells via an enzyme called ribonucleotide reductase Put another way, being deficient in iron can cause the following symptoms: Fatigue Rapid heart rate and/or palpitations Unusually rapid breathing upon physical exertion Spoon-shaped and/or brittle nails Inability to stay warm in cold weather Impaired mental and motor development in children Cravings for non-food items, the most common of which are clay, dirt, cornstarch, and paint chips Frequent colds and infections The following groups of people have a higher-than-average risk of being iron deficient: Rapidly growing infants and children, typically between 6 months and 5 years of age. Teenagers going through a growth spurt. Teenage

girls who experience relatively heavy blood loss during menstruation. Pregnant women. People who are experiencing significant blood loss, acute or chronic. Vegans and vegetarians, especially those who eat a lot of whole grains and legumes without soaking them prior to preparing them to eat. People who have gastric bypass surgery. People with malabsorption syndromes, such as Celiac or Crohn's disease. People who engage in intense exercise on a frequent basis. There are two different types of iron that you can obtain from food sources: heme iron and nonheme iron. Heme iron can be obtained mainly from protein found in red meats, white meats, and fish. Nonheme iron can be obtained from meat, dairy products, plant foods, and iron salts that are sometimes added to various foods. The following factors can enhance and inhibit the absorption of nonheme iron into your blood: Factors That Can Enhance Absorption of Nonheme Iron: Regular intake of vitamin C Intake of red meat, white meat, and fish, which means that these animal foods provide

readily absorbed heme iron and enhance the absorption of nonheme iron from various foods into your blood Factors That Can Inhibit Absorption of Nonheme Iron: Regular intake of legumes and grains that contain significant levels of phytic acid (phytic acid can be neutralized by soaking legumes and grains in water for several hours prior to preparing them to eat) Soy protein, which can inhibit the absorption of iron through a mechanism that doesn't involve phytic acid Polyphenols found in coffee, tea, wine, and some fruits, vegetables, and spices, which can inhibit the absorption of iron (this effect can be mitigated by regular intake of vitamin C) Which healthy foods are reliable sources of iron? Whole Food Sources Serving Iron (mg) Beef Liver 3 ounces 6.17 Spinach 3 ounces 3.57 Lima beans 3 ounces 3.57 Lentils 1/2 cup 3.30 Potato, with skin 1 medium 2.75 Navy beans 3 ounces 2.36 Organic beef 3 ounces 2.31 Organic chicken 3 ounces 1.13 California avocado 1 whole 0.61 Excess intake of iron has been associated with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, liver cancer, and an increased risk for cornary artery disease. It is therefore best to get your

iron from healthy food sources rather than from synthetic supplements. Here are the US government's recommended daily allowances for iron: Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for Iron Life Stage Age Males (mg/day) Females (mg/d) Infants 0-6 months 0.27 (Adequate Intake) 0.27 (Adequate Intake) Infants 7-12 months 11 11 Children 1-3 years 7 7 Children 4-8 years 10 10 Children 9-13 years 8 8 Adolescents 14-18 years 11 15 Adults 19-50 years 8 18 Adults 51 years and older 8 8 Pregnancy all

ages - 27 Breastfeeding 18 years and younger - 10 Breastfeeding 19 years and older - 9 If you suspect that you might be deficient in iron, here are some guidelines on how to address your situation: Visit your health care provider to rule out blood loss as a potential cause. If your doctor finds that blood loss is not a significant factor for you, she or he may recommend a series of blood tests that can tell you if have iron deficiency anemia. These blood tests include: a complete blood count (CBC), an iron test, a ferritin level test, and a reticulocyte count. Adopt good eating habits. Consider and address any emotional stressors in your life that may be contributing to an unhealthy digestive tract. Regularly eat iron-rich foods. Suzi What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. health/ http://suziesgoats.wholefoodfarmacy.com/ http://360./suziesgoats

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This is great, Suzi. I'm forwarding it to my work email, and will make

copies of it for the break room.

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my nap.

-- Bob Hope

--- In health , Suzanne <suziesgoats@...>

wrote:

>

> Iron

[Guest guest]

i too am taking iron supplements. slow fe is good but I prefer vitron c. one of the biggest advice i can give is to buffer the pill with food. by that i mean take it in the middle of the meal. maybe this will help.

-keda

On Nov 13, 2007 9:49 AM, gj95993 <judyb331@...> wrote:

My lab tests indicate that my iron is very low. My Dr was suggested Itake Slow FE. In the past I have trouble tolerated it. (cramping thendiarrhea)Does anyone have any suggestions? Also I need B12.Thanks..Judy

[Guest guest]

while we often hear the benefit of eating red meat

and/or liver for iron, because it contains the more

absorbable type (heme), this may not be a good thing,

and maybe not just for men.

We are probably better off getting our iron from plant

sources.

Regards

Jeff

Diabetes Care 30:101-106, 2007

DOI: 10.2337/dc06-1686

Heme Iron From Diet as a Risk Factor for Coronary

Heart Disease in Women With Type 2 Diabetes

Lu Qi, MD, PHD1,2, Rob M. van Dam, PHD1,

Rexrode, MD, MPH3 and B. Hu, MD, PHD1,2,4

OBJECTIVE—Diabetes-related metabolic abnormality may

aggravate the adverse effects of iron overload on

cardiovascular health. However, little is known about

whether iron consumption affects coronary heart

disease (CHD) risk in diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We prospectively assessed

the associations of long-term intakes of dietary iron

and red meat with CHD risk among 6,161 women who

reported a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

RESULTS—During 54,455 person-years of follow-up from

1980 through 2000, we documented 550 incident cases of

CHD. After adjustment for age and BMI, high intakes of

both heme iron and red meat were associated with a

significantly increased risk of fatal CHD (P for trend

= 0.003 and 0.018), coronary revascularization (P for

trend = 0.02 and 0.06), and total CHD (P for trend =

0.0009 and 0.007). Women with the highest intake of

heme iron had 50% (6–94%) increased risk of total CHD

compared with those with the lowest intake. Further

adjustment for other lifestyle and dietary factors did

not appreciably change the associations. The positive

association between heme iron and red meat intakes and

CHD was more evident among postmenopausal women

compared with premenopausal women.

CONCLUSIONS—Our data indicate that higher consumption

of heme iron and red meat may increase CHD risk among

women with type 2 diabetes.

[Guest guest]

Judy,

As others have suggested, you can get your iron from liver, red meat,

or vegetables like spinach and raisins.

Without more information about your health and your diet it is not

possible to address your problem. There are many reasons for low iron

including bleeding (e.g., menstrual period), anemia caused by poor

diet, intestinal parasite infestations, etc. Iron deficiency can also

occur from inadequate vegan or ovo-lacto vegetarian diets.

It would be useful to know what types of tests you have had and how

you track your nutrition. If you are not tracking your nutrition with

software like CRON-o-Meter, you could be undernourishing yourself.

Using the software you will find out that 30 grams of spinach have 0.8

mg of iron, 30 grams of raisins have 0.6 mg of iron, and 30 grams of

liver have 1.9 mg of iron. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of

iron is 18 mg per day, but you probably need to go higher to fix your

deficiency because not everything you consume gets absorbed.

Tony

http://scientificpsychic.com/health/vitamins.html

>

> My lab tests indicate that my iron is very low. My Dr was suggested I

> take Slow FE. In the past I have trouble tolerated it. (cramping then

> diarrhea)Does anyone have any suggestions? Also I need B12.

> Thanks..Judy

>

[Guest guest]

>

> while we often hear the benefit of eating red meat

> and/or liver for iron, because it contains the more

> absorbable type (heme), this may not be a good thing,

> and maybe not just for men.

I don't eat red meat, but for over three years I've eaten liver twice

a week. There are certainly two sides to the eat-liver-for-iron

issue. Meanwhile, my latest lab test results were:

58 HDL

77 LDL

5 VLDL

27 Triglycerides

<0.2 CRP

Very good results by mainstream standards, and acceptable results by

CR standards.

Bruce