Monday, 4 August 2014

High iron? You might be Rusting on the Inside!



High iron, Rusting on the inside! 


Too much iron can have potentially damaging effects. 

It’s an accelerant to vascular disease, increases infections, deregulates the immune, deposits in the adrenals and pituitary, leads to liver disease, can effect brain in terms of mood disorders, increases coronary artery disease,  can make joints wear away quicker as a promoter to tissue damage.  

It can build up dramatically over time and the effects are very subtle. 

Currently they are looking at Alzheimer’s and dementia and seeing the effects of extra iron deposits in the brain. 


For the majority of nutrients the body has a very good capacity to get rid of what it doesn’t want but from an evolutionary point the body has evolved to hold onto iron and does not have very good excretory pathways for it. Males are more at risk with a RDI of 7mg daily compared with the average male that consumes 17mg daily.  

A subset of those with chronic fatigue, have elevated iron as a contributing factor. 

This is concerning because I see so many products and supplements with added iron.   

We should only ever be giving or consuming iron at safe levels so you’re not delivering iron to tissues that will be associated with oxidative stress.

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