By Matt Stone
Ray Peat talks about dietary iron being a significant negative nutritional factor. As you know, I think Ray’s a smart dude. In the past I’ve stated, “If you disagree with Ray Peat, you better be real sure. Because Ray has probably thought about it and researched it much more than you have.”
Anthony Colpo has also written a 500+ page behemoth about the role iron plays in heart disease–iron being perhaps the primary reason why men suffer from more heart disease than women until women stop menstruating, at which point female rates of heart disease quickly catch up with that of males.
There are other thoughts out there about iron being but a sign, an innocent bystander. Yes, this is a quote from Nora Gedgaudas (rolls eyes), but it’s an interesting view that ties into the theories brought forth by Russ Farris and Per Marin on the role of chronic infections in the causation of heart disease:
“Also, however (and this is important), it is possible to have what appears to be an excessively high level of serum iron and even elevated ferritin, while suffering actual intracellular deficiencies (D. Klinghardt). This is most common where chronic infections (viral, parasitic, etc.) are present and these should be ruled out. The body will use iron and copper as oxidizing agents against viruses and other microbial agents. The elevated serum levels reflect ‘spent’ ammunition. Addressing the infection by taking high doses of vitamin C or other reducing agents to help regenerate iron and supporting immune function can turn this situation around.”
What’s the answer? Should you be worried about?consuming too much iron??I’m sure it depends. Some people need more iron and some people need less. As a male that?ate more than a pound of red meat (very rich in iron) almost daily?for years to the point of developing chest pains on my absurd quest for the perfect?diet, I’m sure I could benefit from consuming quite a bit less.
It’s impossible to definitely know such a thing in a general sense, but I decided to write about it because it is a topic that may?deserve attention, andI have personally taken a?few actions towards reducing the iron content in my diet, and I have noticed feeling and functioning better from it.
One?is that I started drinking coffee regularly for the first time in my life. I always felt kind of emotionally erratic drinking coffee, but by bringing consistency to my coffee drinking habits, it hasn’t been a?problem.One of the primary reasons that Ray Peat recommends consuming?coffee is to limit the absorption of iron from the food you consume. Having’some?coffee with meals and sipping it throughout the day have been quite nice.
With my culinary background,?it has only taken me a few weeks to figure out?how to prepare coffee that is?vastly superior to any?I’ve had prior. Because I strain (pun intended)’so hard to be both clever and confrontational, I’m already referring to it as “Bullshitproof coffee.” I’ll reveal my methods?and sources soon. My coffee may not make your IQ rise, but it will definitely make you more awesome in general. Only known side effect is genital hyperactivity.
I’ve also been buying and using this?unenriched flour.This variety is labeled as “pasta flour,” and I do indeed?use it to make copious quantities of homemade pasta (with my pimped out Kitchen Aid pasta attachment), and I use it mixed with regular store-bought stuff 50:50 to make other things like pancakes, shortcakes, and bread. It’s awesome stuff. Even if it does nothing for you healthwise, it’s an awesome product. Because it is unenriched, it contains far less iron than typical, fortified flour and bread products that we consume everywhere else. Most of the Western world is on a high-flour diet, and many could stand to make a little switch like this, assuming their diets are otherwise nutritious.
That’s all for today folks. Would love to hear your thoughts and real-world experiences pertaining to coffee, dietary iron, and related matters.
About the Author
Matt Stone is an independent health researcher, author of more than 15 books, and founder of 180DegreeHealth. He is best known for his research on metabolic rate and its central role in many health conditions as well as his criticisms of extreme dieting. Learn more by signing up for his free Raising Metabolism eCourse HERE,?which also includes?THIS FREE BOOK.
Thanks for the article Matt. I have thought about this a bit and of course coming from a health nut background we use cast iron cookware. And love it. But there is always that “this may be way too much iron for my husband” thought. Have you had any thoughts on this subject?
It’s worth mentioning that some people have a hereditary condition (hereditary hemochromatosis) that reduces iron excretion capacity. The results can be bad news, including organ failure and death. It’s particularly common among people with European ancestry because apparently hemochromatosis is/was protective against the plague.
Apart from the coffee thing and reducing intake, for those in need of offloading significant iron, there’s also good old bloodletting, er, I mean, phlebotomy, aka donating blood. But it would be a good idea to get ferritin levels checked before donating too much blood since reportedly the iron tests they do at the donation centers aren’t a good way to determine your iron stores.
My dad has hemochromatosis. Fascinating about the connection to the plague!! I love stuff like that. I guess that’s why my family is around (because my ancestors survived the plague). Speaking of the plague, did you know that people who’s ancestors survived plague are immune to HIV? This true. There is a genetic test for this.
The subject of Iron continues to be very confusing to me, almost as confusing as “unavailable copper” and other such mineral issues.
I think that Klinghardt has a good point and it’s long been known that low iron can be the result of chronic infections. What is hard for me personally to know is when to consume iron and when not to. I tend to have low ferritin stores and borderline anemia as well as chronic infections so that connection is clearly at play in me. I’ve also always been mostly averse to red meat. Rarely do I crave steaks etc… And I find myself forcing myself to eat it now and again because I worry that I’m really not consuming adequate iron for what my needs are. But I also tend to believe that the body only craves what it needs and so if I don’t crave iron rich foods then perhaps I don’t need them.
Now my 1 year old son is anemic. I’ve been trying to give him as much iron rich food to bump it up without using iron supplements but, like me, he doesn’t like meat very much and he’s not wild about spinach either. He’s a very healthy, happy and vital little boy who is never sick and is in the 75% for height. So I wonder if it really is an issue…
It is Interesting that you are noticing marked benefit from reducing iron in your diet. I would be curious to hear more about what you’re experiencing
Oh, and kudos on Bullshitproof coffee.
Good call on “bullshitproof” coffee…Admittedly, I buy bulletproof coffee and drink it a few times a week…but not with a pound of butter and half-gallon of MCT oil. I drink it like a normal person, with a little milk or cream.
It’s definitely stronger than regular ol’ Joe, and tastes much better than Starbucks, but it’s also $25 for 12 oz. If I pay 8x what I’m used to paying for something, you can bet your buns I’m conditioned to think it tastes better.
Matt,
I always look forward to the puns you can pull out of your ass.
I took iron injections 5 years ago because I had anaemia and was unaware that I also had Lyme. The injections brought up my iron very temporarily. I also believe they made my infection worse because within a short period I could not walk or talk.
They also left a stain-like scar on my ass that I was going to cover up with an iron man tattoo, but meh!
“They also left a stain-like scar on my ass that I was going to cover up with an iron man tattoo, but meh!”
I’m not sure this counts as Irony, but I like it! (:
Coffee is goooood! I’ve been brewing coffee through a chemex the past four years… I like the areo press also. I like the chemex because it reduces the acidic ness quite a bit. I’ve been roasting my own beans in a carbon steel wok the past year, since there are no good local roasters in Vegas… And I also like super fresh beans… The shit on the grocery store shelves is stale shit. It’s fun roasting your own coffee beans, and it reduces the cost by half doing it yourself… I bought a five pound bag of Peruvian green coffee beans recently and roast it medium to a little light, and it tastes amazing.
You can try cold brewing your coffee to cut down on acidity as well
Cold brewing is an essential step in making Bullshitproof Coffee :)
When i diareah my chemex brew on to ice I immediately consume the cold brew!
Hey Half Navajo,
Where do you order these green coffee beans? I really want to try this out. I have a huge stainless steel rondeau that would be perfect for the job. I have a feeling that ordering expensive, pre-roasted bean blends is the one final morsel of bullshit in my coffee-making process that needs to be removed for full bullshitproof status.
I’ve never been able to drink coffee without filling half the cup with sugar & cream to offset the bitterness. And then I felt like a pussy because I wasn’t drinking it skr8 up black.
Enter Buzzbox coffee.
I can drink this stuff with cream only but I too get erratic and add sugar to take away the jitters.
You might try the Prairie Gold Whole Wheat Flour. You can also get the wheat grains from Montana Wheat and grind it yourself. I use the Prairie Gold Whole Wheat Flour for bread and pizza dough when I don’t have the time to grind my own flour in my wondermill Junior. It works great almost like using flour that has all the stuff added and that is bleached.
Tastes great too and the bread isn’t as crumbly as bread that is made with graham flour. You can buy it at Walmart, Amazon, or here
http://www.wheatmontana.com/retail/flourpancake-mixes/prairie-gold%C2%AE/prairie-gold-flour-1
Also supposed to be grown chemical free ingredient on the bag is whole wheat flour nothing else. Really the best whole grain flour I have bought for making bread that my husband will eat. I can even make hamburger buns with it.
A lot of the bread I made was what I referred to as “Dwarf Bread” which in Terry Prachet books is used as a weapon because it is so dense. The prairie gold flour lets me make loaves of bread that actually look and function like bread even if I grind their wheat grain at home.
goodluck!
Hey Matt, great article.
How do you make your coffee/what do you put in it?
I believe he said this is coming soon. I know this Toad is curious too! :)
I’ve started making bread at home to try to avoid the unnecessary stuff that’s added to commercial bread (and just because it’s fun and delicious), but I can’t escape the thiamin and folic acid because it is mandatory in Australia for flour manufacturers to add it. I think organic flour is officially exempt, but it seems folic acid is voluntarily added by organic flour manufacturers. I’m not sure fortification with iron is mandated here for flour, only breakfast cereal etc. if anyone is aware of a similar unenriched flour product to the one Matt is using that’s available locally, I’d appreciate the info. Thanks.
I’ve been using Jovial einkorn flour for a while now. I ordered it from Jovial in 10 pound bags. It’s unenriched
If you’re not spending 300% too much on coffee beans that claim to reduce the effects of made-up toxins, you’re doing it wrong.
I went through a Peat phase, but now I think he’s just a poor guy suffering from severe orthorexia. He’s terrified of most foods, and his list of allowed foods can be counted on one hand: Sugar, milk, strained o.j. And beef/shellfish. Yeeaaah. Maybe I’m “brainwashed by the status quo”, but that doesn’t sound healthy, mentally or physically.
Also I’ve noticed he’s full of contradictions: iron is bad but he eats a lot of beef. Methionine is evil but he guzzles gallons of milk.
As for coffee I’m against it for two reasons. 1)its inflammatory-has been shown to elevate cytokines and such, and b) it’s an appetite suppressant, so its counterproductive for people trying to get back in tune with their hunger signals. That being said I’m a typical hypocrite who drinks a cup here and there because it’s helka tasty :)
Skeptic,
I think your criticisms may be more of the caricature of Peat than the actual human or his actual writings taken as a whole. While it’s true that many in the peat-o-sphere have created and worship an ultrarestrictive orthorexic golden calf, that doesn’t mean that it’s a fair or accurate characterization of Peat’s body of work.
Also, why do you think that coffee is inflammatory? I mean, like all things, there are going to be some published papers in pubmed that will make such a claim. But there seem to be quite a few that find exactly the opposite – even claiming (in the abstracts) that coffee is anti-inflammatory. I haven’t done a detailed analysis of coffee studies to be able to make such claims. If you have, could you please publish it? I am dubious that the effects of coffee are generally negative considering that in spite of the fact that chronic coffee consumption does tend to cause a slight elevation in cortisol (and that is generally not a great thing), lifetime chronic coffee consumption is associated with a significant reduced risk of a long list of diseases. So I think that like most things, it’s probably not possible to reduce coffee to a single variable and declare it all bad. It’s complex and on the whole probably healthy for those who like it.
Perhaps it’s a caricature, but the truth is not that far off. You can’t deny that he is way off reservation at this point.
As for coffee you’re
right, I got nothing concrete I can post. Just like any other topic in the crazy world of nutrition, a casual stroll through pub med will get you plenty of papers arguing both sides. I will say this though: most papers that talk about the benefits of coffee are funded by coffee companies, and in the fine print say that the benefits mentioned only apply of you drink 8-12 cups a day. From a common sense angle at least, something that works by triggering your flight or fight center can’t be all good. Still, not enough evidence to stop drinking coffee.
Saying that Peat is an orthorexic who has gone off the reservation is very much a characterization of him and indicates a lack of understanding of the body of his work.
Peat doesn’t dictate a specific diet that everyone should follow rather he explains why certain foods will have certain effects depending on someone’s physiology.
He doesn’t demonize methionine unless it is in excess and unbalanced by similar levels of glycine. He advocates drinking milk because it is a good source of carbohydrate, protein (and fat, if your not drinking Skim) bound to minerals and vitamins making it one of the healthier foods available. There is a reason why humans can survive on nothing but milk for a long time and remain healthy. He suggests that everyone should consume a couple of tablespoons of gelatin per day to balance out the tryptophan and methionine present in milk.
There are clear reasons for all of the foods he recommends but nowhere does he say that these are the *only* foods that a person should ever eat. Understanding the context of his dietary preferences is helpful
Skeptic,
I’m not aware of the funding for “coffee has health benefits” studies coming from the coffee industry. And I don’t think they all show that one must drink 8-12 cups to benefit. A brief look at a handful of studies showing either no inflammation or anti-inflammatory effects of coffee doesn’t reveal any obvious conflicts of interest. I haven’t put much effort into this – not enough to cherry pick. But I was able to find a few studies showing non-inflammatory responses to coffee in humans and other positive benefits, including, in some cases, anti-inflammatory benefits. The results were seen with 1 or more cups of coffee per day. And there were no reported conflicts of interest. So maybe there are some studies showing positive results that are funded by industries with vested interest. But a) I didn’t see them yet and b) there are some studies not funded by coffee industry interests that show benefits.
“Way off the reservation” is somewhat accurate, but I sincerely like the way he thinks.
What I like best about Peat is the things he brings attention to, such as methionine, tryptophan, cortisol, metabolic rate, stress, fatty acids, oxidative metabolism, and inflammation–to name just a few. But there are many ways of interpreting the research about these things, and there is so much conflict (coffee for example probably has 100 beneficial properties and 100 detrimental properties) that trying to label foods as “good” and “bad” is hardly possible. All foods have a mix of beneficial and detrimental effects. Trying to research your way to definitive truths about such matters is more or less an impossibility. People getting the idea that they need to consume some quota of milk and orange juice on a daily basis can lead to a lot of trouble.
Ideally the best way to take your Peat is with an open and curious mind, a willingness to do a little self-experimentation, and an even stronger willingness to go completely against Peat principles if your body is screaming that things are headed South.
He paints awesome pictures of naked women…
It’s a sign that his sex drive is working properly Half Nav. People are always assessing health gurus on whether or not their abs are visible. I judge it based on sex drive. Peat paints naked ladies and calls penis “a warm dream.” That’s metabolism biatch!
Indeed!
And quit talking about reservations! Haha!
I switched to yerva mate and honestly cannot stand the taste of coffee anymore. I even do my occasional bulletproof version of it, but only when I have to train early in the morning and do not want a bunch of food in my belly.
Coffee always killed my appetite and made it so I wasn’t able to get more than 1200-1500 calories a day. I don’t get those signals with the Yerba Mate….it has a strong black tea flavor without all the tannins.
Worth a shot
Have you tried Pu-erh tea? That was always my favorite back in my tea drinking days. Much tastier than Yerba Mate.
Yo! What about decaffeinated coffee? Does it do the Iron trick too? I took a break from caffeine to get my sleep back and now just drink it randomly. But I tried this Swiss Water processed decaf coffee and it was Amazing. So Amazing.
I’m pretty sure it’s the tannins in coffee that have the effect. So decaf should work just as well.
Toadster, its not the caffeine that blocks Iron, its the Polyphenols so decaf will block it too.
Thanks guys!
As someone who has been playing around with “bulletproof” coffee the last month, I am looking forward to hearing more about “bullshitproof” coffee as I am probably far more in danger of bullshit than I am of bullets, and could use all the help I can get?.
Bullshit is much more prevalent and can be almost as dangerous. I’ll take a superhuman ability to withstand bullshit over withstanding bullets any day. I mean, what would you do if you were bulletproof? Go to the shooting range to give the guys a moving target? Go for leisurely strolls through war torn areas? Be a street performer? Move to Chicago? Not really interested in any of those things Sean.
C’mon Matt – tell us how you make your coffee?! Please!
He’s gonna tell us next time. Patience!!!
I have a few more tests to do to make sure it’s as good as it could be. I’m liking what I’m hearing about doing in-house roasting from Half Navajo. I don’t think the test period will be complete until I’ve tried that.
You have to do it naked to increase your third eye vibrations and move into the 5th dimension!!! Haha!
Faster Faster! I’m jonesin’ over here!
With the bulletproof coffee, I do believe the amount of butter and MT are plain silly. I’ve always put some coconut oil, raw milk and maple syrup because it tastes DELISH!! And I do find that the extra fat does help me to metabolize the effect coffee has on as the day wears on (crash and headache). But I probably just shouldn’t be drinking it at all :P I like it though, darn it!!
I believe black tea has similar effects as coffee in this regard. It’s always on lists of things that deplete iron.
I’m pretty sure that is true. Black tea is good stuff
Just to add my $99 dollars worth, I had my genetic profile done through 23 and Me. Some folks are slow metabolizers of coffee, others are not. If you are very concerned about ingesting coffee, you can find out if you have a genetic marker for this by doing some genetic testing.
I did 23 and me — which result indicates if you are a slow/fast metabolizer?
You will know if you are a slow metabolizer by drinking some coffee. If the buzz lasts linger than a few hours, your heart beats hard and fast, your intestines are cleared out, and you generally feel more weird than usual, then you are a slow metabolizer. I am one, and it sucks.
That means jack! Just because you carry a gene does not mean it it an active gene.
Just as you can carry a gene for alzheimers or lactose intolerance but never actuallt get it.
Can someone bring me up to speed on why iron is considered bad now? Obviously i’ve missed a chunk of info somewhere. Recently I started taking iron bisglycinate as my iron tested around 40 and doc said it should be around 70 for a menstruating woman. Bad idea???
Iron oxidizes and creates stress in the body in excess. In extreme cases it can cause organ failure.
But on the other hand, iron is at the core of hemoglobin. Without adequate iron, you’ll have problems with anemia. Also, oxidative stress isn’t all bad.
Like so many things, it’s all about balance. Neither too much nor too little.
Don’t get too worked up Nik. Like I said, some people probably need more iron while some need less. It’s like water. Too much is bad. Too little is bad.
…not to mention that iron bisglycinate is 73% glycine, so that helps keep inflammation down, especially if you are glycine-deficient. But fertile women do need more iron than the rest of us.
BTW, here’s a good source of iron of which few are aware: Black olives. If you read the nutritional contents on the can, it says “not a significant source of iron”. But actually, the ferrous gluconate they add as a “color preservative” (because it’s black) is a great source of natural, absorbable iron that doesn’t leave you constipated. So it’s simple–if you like black olives–to pour the liquid left in the can into broths or even drink it straight up.
High iron? Look into IP6.
I’ve been using IP6 to bring my ferritin levels down during the course of the last year and a bit. I read Anthony Colpo’s stuff on why high iron levels cause problems, and that led to more research on the topic and I decided to get tested. At the start of 2014 my ferritin levels were 271, and my other iron numbers were a bit high. I’m in my mid-30’s and I consider myself really healthy otherwise but I’ve always eaten a lot of red meat.
I tried donating blood and was fine the first time. However, I’ve tried to donate blood three times since that first time and every time I pass out. It’s just a reflex that I can’t help. Some people just have this response and can’t seem to overcome it. It’s really awful; you feel terrible for the rest of the day.
Since donating blood has become a mission, I take some IP6 first thing in the morning, before I eat. My ferritin numbers have come down from 271 to 79 in a little over a year, and my other iron numbers look much better too.
That stuff really works.
Interesting Gareth. Would love for you to write something up for the 180D blog on IP6 and why you decided to use it if you’re up for it.
Hi Matt
I really don’t feel qualified to send you a long article for your blog, but I’ll happily expand on why I decided to bring my iron levels down.
I get blood tests and fitness assessments done at the start of every year. Last year my cholesterol crept up significantly. In reading up more about cholesterol, I realized that there is much controversy about the significance of plain cholesterol levels when it comes to heart disease and longevity. I’m sure a lot of you know that and I’m not going into that here. The point is I stumbled across Anthony Colpo’s stuff where he talks about how he believed that high iron levels were indirectly causing his high cholesterol and insulin insensitivity. He brought his iron levels down and his cholesterol and insulin sensitivity returned to normal, if I remember correctly.
The more I read, the more it seemed that there is a wealth of research showing that lower iron levels (whether due to low-iron diet or phlebotomy – giving blood) always and everywhere seem to be correlated to improved markers of health, less incidence of heart disease, less incidence of diabetes, better insulin sensitivity and a host of other things.
In a nutshell, It seems that our organs (particularly the liver) do not function as well with a high iron load.
My ferritin levels are nearly where I want them to be (40-50).
I have managed to bring my iron levels down despite still eating a lot of red meat, including chicken, beef and lamb liver regularly, and ostrich, which is also packed with iron. I love that I can take this stuff and eat food I enjoy.
A few interesting points: Some research shows that having a glass of milk or a calcium supplement with meat reduces the amount of heme iron absorbed. 300mg calcium seems to be all you need. I’ve recently started taking a calcium pill when I eat liver.
Beef liver is only 13% heme iron, according to . That means tea and coffee consumption with a meal of liver ought to greatly reduce the amount of iron absorbed since there is a lot of nonheme iron in liver.
Another natural substance that seems to have some research describing it as a good chelator of iron (although it seems large doses are needed for significant chelation, so you’ll have to take supplements for significant effects) is curcumin. I cook most of my red meat and liver in spices, including tumeric but I don’t know exactly how much it affects my iron levels. Can’t hurt and makes it tastier with the right combination of spices!
Some people deny that IP6 really chelates iron to any great extent. Even Chris Kresser did a presentation on iron and dismissed IP6. Well, in 15 months or so I only managed one successful blood donation. The other three times the bags were half or less than half empty when I passed out. I tend to pass out after about a minute. The point is the blood donation wouldn’t have reduced my iron levels by much. I’ve checked my iron levels four times and as of the last time I’ve had a 70% reduction in my ferritin levels, so I know for a fact it does work. I’d say it might even work a bit too fast, so DON’T TAKE IT UNLESS YOU ARE GETTING TESTED AND KNOW WHAT YOUR IRON LEVELS ARE LIKE.
As to dosage, I take 1 – 2 pills of 800mg IP6, usually with my morning coffee or tea.
There are also other purported benefits of IP6 such as increasing the body’s natural killer cells and being able to help repair DNA with some unique mechanisms…some studies showed it seems to prevent cancers forming in certain animals…they sound interesting but honestly they are not the reason I decided to take IP6 so I never looked into them fully.
Here’s another thing I realised: The primal and paleo people think anti-nutrients like phytic acid (IP6) are poison and need to be avoided at all cost, but clearly it provides benefits to the human body. The fear of phytic acid is that it leads to bad teeth and weak bones because one’s body doesn’t absorb enough calcium if you eat too much phytic acid – containing foods. I don’t know, maybe that’s true but whether it’s true purely because of the phytic acid seems to be debatable because if memory serves a rat study showed that rats supplemented with phytic acid actually had greater bone density than the rats that weren’t on the supplements. So again, don’t be a reductionist when it comes to nutrition. There are all kinds of complex interactions between substances and nutrients that we don’t understand.
Once I get my ferritin levels down to around 40 I’ll stop taking IP6 so regularly. I have read that others who have brought their iron levels down experience a rebound effect, where it seems stored iron comes out from hiding places and your iron levels jump back up a bit, so I’ll keep a close eye on things. And then hopefully my cholesterol will be normal and that will be that, but we will have to wait and see.
Here’s a great with various studies comparing various health outcomes of people with high iron and people with lower iron.
HI Matt
I’m an idiot with hyperlinks. I hope you can please edit my last comment and fix them. OOPS!
Thanks so much Gareth. That’s exactly what I wanted to know. Very well-written and insightful.
I just saw a recipe for coffee that used ice cream sandwiches
That’s getting closer to Bullshitproof Coffee right there Mary!
I love coffee ice cream!
My coffee is pretty close to ice cream, only sweeter, lol. The problem with ice cream though is that it takes too long to ingest, haha.
Really Matt? Never thought you of being an ice cream noob slayer. Brain freeze is for amateurs HA!
I use Einkorn flour which is an ancient grain that has beta carotene lutein in it and compared to modern wheat varieties, einkorn has higher levels of protein, crude fat, phosphorous, and potassium. You can buy it on Amazon, Tropical Traditions or at Jovial Foods (they produce it).
My organic chemistry professor always starts the first lecture with crushed up Wheaties and a very strong magnet to prove that fortification doesn’t always lead to absorption.
Do any of those companies that sell unenriched flour also sell unenriched Pasta noodles?
None of the Jovial Foods are enriched and they have gluten free egg pasta which is really good.
Is this what you’re talking about Nehi? http://amzn.to/1OEguGz
i think it’s really dumb to go apeshit and start avoiding (and blocking) iron without any true ubderlying reason. If doing such a thing, AT LEAST take regular blood tests to track your pFe, TIBC, fS-iron satiety, transferrin, Hb and ferritin.
Being anemic is not fun on any level.
If you believe you might get too much then stick to natural sources, but keep track. Some need more. Some less. You wont know which category you belong to by assuming, wishing or guessing.
Here is an interesting fact: while vegan, i had no problems with my iron levels (shitload of other problems though), but became anemic when i out of curiosity tried a meat rich LCHF- diet (even more stupid than veganism).
Today i seldom eat meat, carely crave it and eat mostly vegetarian with buttloads of milk and cheese (always with a vitC source to help iron absorption). I kept getting more and more tired, like exhausted. Checked blood at work and had p-Fe levels of 5,5micromol/L (ref 9-34) but all other parameters were normal except Hb of 117 (usuamly never higher than 125 for me).
Apparently i do have some sort of iron absorption issue…
So i supplemented shitloads (pooping black was kinda fun,constipation as a result not so much) of iron for a month and within one week felt better and finally at the end of week 4 like a million bucks.
I’ve kept supplementing (multivitamin/mineral). Just in case (while keeping track) because feeling like shit on a daily basis is just not worth it. For me.
Sorry to go off track a little, I seem to have high histamine levels and was thinking of experimenting with some methionine. I know you’ve got to be careful as I’ve increased my anxiety before by using anti-histamine but just wondering why peat doesn’t like methionine and have you written about it Mary?
Ahem…..*Matt*!!
You can call me Mary if you like Nik. I’ve been called worse!
Experiment all you like. See if it seems to increase or decrease your inflammatory reaction to things.
Coffee is interesting in how it effects me. I have found that moderate to high amounts have very serious negative consequences. I become very aggressive, confrontational, anxious, depressed and get this kind of empty feeling in my stomach, a kind of looming doom or dread feeling. Mostly it makes me become an a-hole.
On the flip side however a cup here or there occasional seems to elevate me slightly and I do enjoy it a lot.
Tea and cola don’t seem to have these affects so I’m not sure whether it’s the caffeine or some other component of coffee. I usually have it with meals and with sugar and milk which is supposed to help according to Ray Peat but I still get problems if I have too much.
Thanks. I was always confused by this (I read Roddy’s book). I, and many women with me, has low hemoglobin, really low ferritin, low serum iron, low low low. I really never hear of any woman with high of any of these.
I ate rather much food made with beef blood, and my levels went more normal (but serum iron that remained in the low range, normal but low).
All those women I hear from in different FB groups or in other places, says they are feeling more energy, less tiredness, if they take iron (from good sources).
So what to think? Or is “too much iron” a male problem, and the opposite a female problem?
I can say, that when I got better gut function, some 1-2 years after I started with food made with blood, my ferritin got a bit too high, so I did stop eating so much beef blood, and now I eat it like people did yesteryears: now and then.
(Whisk 1 dl of beef blood with 1 egg, fry like a pancake or fried egg. No, or very little salt needed since the blood is salt. This is the simplest way to cook blood. Tastes great with sugar or jam.)
When you say the women are taking iron from good sources, do you mean supplements or do you mean they are eating more organ meat and muscle meat? I’m curious because I wonder if B-vitamins are responsible for the women feeling better as opposed to the iron.
“So what to think? Or is ‘too much iron? a male problem, and the opposite a female problem?”
High iron is a bigger problem for men in general than it is for women, although men can be anemic and women, even pre-menopausal women, can have high iron.
Another point is that anemia can happen in the face of high iron stores. This can be due to very serious conditions like sickle cell and thalassemia, or more common and easily corrected conditions like low folate, B6, or B12. A simple B-complex would probably resolve more cases of anemia than iron supplements, and at the very least, if you need to take iron, use a B complex too. Since dessicated liver contains both along with a safer and highly absorbable form of iron, it could be ideal.
When I was doing monthly blood donations to lower a high ferritin number (started at 440), I noticed my hemoglobin tests trending down from 15.5 to about 12.7. One month after adding Life Extensions Two Per Day (an Iron free multi with a nice complement of B vitamins), hemoglobin shot back up 14.9 in a month.
Tea and coffee, only decrease the absorption of iron from plant foods, called nonheme iron, and not the iron from animal-based iron sources, called heme iron. Nonheme iron is already less absorbed by the body.
One study showed when the subjects ate the meal with tea, there was a 62 percent reduction in iron absorption. Drinking coffee resulted in a 35 percent reduction.
Coffee and tea affected only the levels of non-heme iron, the kind found in grains and vegetables. Heme iron, found in meat, fish and poultry, was unaffected.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/37/3/416.abstract
http://www.livestrong.com/article/427404-caffeines-effect-on-iron-absorption/
When it comes to Heme iron which is found meat, fish and poultry one study shows calcium has been found to decrease the absorption of heme and nonheme iron “both haem- and non-haem-Fe absorption was inhibited by Ca supplements and by dairy products” But this is only one study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19087437
Best thing to do to limit heme iron absorption is not to eat too much meat.
Thanks Kevin. Making meat more of condiment in my own personal diet treats me very well, and I suspect the heme iron could be part of the reason why.
Also, but maybe more for us who tries to raise iron: the meat factor increases uptake of heme iron.
That is, if you eat blood, the uptake won’t be as great as if you eat some muscle meat with it. (Leif Hallberg, meat factor, google it and you will find info.)
I also read that the acidic effect that make us take up more iron, just make nonheme iron to heme iron, so taking acidic stuff with heme iron would not work.
I surely can tell that heme iron in bottle, did NOT raise MY ferritin (maybe would work for others). Blood with meat factor did. And the amount of iron was lower in total in the blood than all the pills I tried before.
Women are certainly more susceptible to low iron because of menstruation, but this definitely goes back to the principle Dr. G. teaches – if you don’t test, you don’t know how to supplement. I would love to hear from him. Is there a mineral that balances iron like magnesium balances vitamin d and calcium?
Yep, testing is a must. Many just try out whatever. Also decreasing iron could be done that wrong way. I am followed by a doctor (for free, health care system), but cant afford hair mineral tests sadly enough.
Yes, that’s the pasta Matt. It’s REALLY good. Great in chicken noodle soup :)
I always think of a bible quote whenever I think of anything like coffee that has the potential to boost metabolism:
“For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
I’m not religious, but I think of this quote a shit-ton because it applies to so many areas of life.
I think it applies to metabolism in the sense that, if you try to “boost” your metabolic rate with light, coffee, aspirin, exercise, etc, and you are in a glycogen-depleted, burned out state, you will make shit way worse, because you are just more rapidly burning through what little fuel you have left.
On the other hand, if you are glycogen-replete, well rested, and are already feeling pretty stable, this is a good baseline to use metabolism boosters from. Otherwise you just get that feeling of being in overdrive.
Hazmatt,
Would love to hear more about your opinions on light therapy. Are you counting near infared? About 3 weeks ago I got a heat lamp that is supposed to have near infared. It also emits red visible light because of the color of the bulb. I have been using it a few times a week – sometimes on my throat, sometimes on my scalp and sometimes on my belly- I usually do all 3 spots on the same day for 5 to 20 minutes depending on the part. I have noticed that my sleep has gotten worse and this week I have 3 lumps/bumps – I got a huge cold sore on my lip, a lump near my armpit and a tooth/gum boil. I haven’t had a cold sore for a very long time and have never had the other 2 in my whole life (near 50). I can’t 100% say that it was the light therapy that caused these things but I haven’t done anything else different in my diet, excercise, etc…
I’ve tried finding actual testimonials of people who have actually used NIR but have only been able to find loads of websites that repeat the same thing – that NIR is therapeutic for dozens of ailments and they site the same studies but I would like to hear people’s experiences.
So, with bright lights, as with anything else, you’re gonna want to pay attention and give value to your own observations and instincts, rather than listening to what supposed studies say or what I’m about to say.
I tried aiming it at myself pretty close up once, like inches from my stomach, and had a pretty terrible reaction to it, what I’m assuming was a stress response. I’ve also had episodes of hypoglycemia if I stay too close or under the light for too long.
I use incandescent bulbs [250w-300w] as these have the most optimal frequency range. Red filtered bulbs or infrared bulbs may not be optimal, and in fact bulbs with the red filter [red glass] actually filter out the desired frequency range.
My best results are usually best achieved with one bulb hanging 3-4 feet above my head when I’m seated. If I’m tired or in a stress state, I usually don’t like using it as I find it too stimulating. If I’m well-rested and “glycogen-replete”, it has a general mood boosting, stimulating effect. Even when well rested, I can still go overboard and it eventually induces what feels like a slight mania, and again the feeling of overdrive or running on fumes.
It sounds like you are doing a form of spot treating, which may not be a good idea, and you also might be using the wrong type of bulb. Peat recommends and uses incandescent lights himself.
Light, like pretty much everything else, is not a panacea, and it shouldn’t be used as such. Consider it a tool in your arsenal, and use it with the same moderation as you would coffee.
Want to add that I’ve been drinking a couple of cups of coffee for most of the last 20 years. I did stop for a few months because I felt ill all the time and the coffee seemed to make me feel more sick. I love the taste and ritual of coffee – even the stale stuff on grocery shelves and I don’t feel any effects from drinking it other than the pleasure in drinking it.
I don’t understand why that if you are healthy, that you would go to the trouble of using light therapy. It is kind of a pain/time consuming. By far most of my calories come from fruit, mostly dried. I eat some starch too so I do eat lots of carbs. I do light walking with some weight lifting, could I still have low levels of glycogen? When I get enough sleep I feel fine, not ready to run a marathon, but enough to get me through a typical day. But I still have lots of body fat, aging skin and hairloss – that’s why I thought I’d add in NIR. So Hazmatt or anyone else, please share your experiences with NIR or websites that might be helpful in understanding what might be going when one uses it. Like i’ve said I’ve seen the Laurence Wilson site and those that say similar things but would like to find those that have had problems with it to determine if sleep problems and abscesses are from NIR.
Again, I don’t even think you are using the right type of light. If you are using a red filtered bulb, you are filtering out a lot of the light and just getting the heat, which is useless.
Also, eating a diet of primarily dried fruit is bound to cause some serious issues.
What’s the problem with dried fruit?
Thanks Hazmatt for your replies. {I wrote that second post of mine before I saw your reply to my first)
I will have to look into the bulb thing – I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best lamp/set-up and settled on Philips 415836 Heat Lamp 250-Watt R40 Flood Light Bulb
9 (one that Ari Whitten recommended). I don’t reject your opinion that I bought the wrong one though – it is hard to wade through all the opinions and articles….
I am not handy in construction so I have done spot treatments.
The dried fruit I eat is without additives – just organic fruit and no added sugar or sulfites or anything else. I spend so much time trying to figure out what is healthy. I like dried fruit a lot and thought it healthy. Most of my calories are from fruit but I do eat some meat/cheese and starches too.
After I am done using that lamp, I feel mostly the same – not energized or more tired, but maybe more relaxed because of the heat. I usually use the lamp in the morning. The difference I feel is simply that I can not sleep as long. I don’t understand why or if it is the lamp that is causing it. I started using the lamp a few weeks ago, and it was 5 days ago that my skin infections/abscesses started, so they weren’t immediate reactions to the light therapy, if they were reactions to the lamp at all. I do think shining the lamp on my skin did have something to do with my recent problems. I have been eating lots of fresh fruit and dried fruit for 9 months and only just got these skin lesions/boils/abscesses.
Did you read my comment after your first comment?
No – apologies, I did not see it before I wrote my second reply.
But thanks Hazmatt for your time.
A study from last year shows a link between red meat consumption and heart disease by finding a strong association between heme iron, found ONLY in meat, and potentially deadly coronary heart disease.
The study found that heme iron consumption increased the risk for coronary heart disease by 57 percent, while NO association was found between nonheme iron, which is in plant and other non-meat sources, and coronary heart disease.
The new study is unique because it looks at the associations of total iron consumption as well as heme and nonheme iron intake in comparison to the risk of coronary heart disease.
The body treats the two kinds of iron differently. It can better control absorption of iron from vegetable sources, including iron supplements, but not so with iron from meat sources.
“The observed positive association between heme iron and risk of CHD may be explained by the high bioavailability of heme iron and its role as the primary source of iron in iron-replete participants,” the researchers wrote in the journal article. “Heme iron is absorbed at a much greater rate in comparison to nonheme iron (37 percent vs. 5 percent). Once absorbed, it may contribute as a catalyst in the oxidation of LDLs, causing tissue-damaging inflammation, which is a potential risk factor for CHD.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140423170903.htm
If this is true than it means iron from grains does not really have that much of a negative impact on the heart compared to heme iron from meat.
True, but the iron intake from grains in the U.S. is massive. A single serving of most breakfast cereals has 4.5 mg. For half my life I probably had 25 servings of cereal a week.
The thousand pounds of red meat I’ve had since coming across the Weston A. Price Foundation materials is probably much more problematic though. Also, as a Peativore, beef is the safest of the meats from a PUFA and amino acid standpoint, swaying me even further towards beef in preference to other animal products.
I’d get my levels tested and donate blood n’ shit, but I’m a hardcore fainter. I’d honestly prefer death I think.
Peativore!!? LMAO! Hey Matt, you should have that printed on a bunch of shirts like McDougall does with his “Starchivore” label. BTW, I found that Jovial brand of Pasta in one of my local supermarkets called Fry’s (part of the Kroger chain of supermarkets). They didn’t have much of a selection but they had the Tagileo(SP ?) type of pasta (the one that looks like Fettuccine noodles)made with brown rice and eggs. Just in case anyone has a Kroger supermarket near them (which is most of USA).
I Ate for Heat, and still do for the last year or so. It wasn’t until the last several month that I realized the coffee I was drinking was lowering my metabolism over-all. Likely due to triggering an initial stress response, suppressing appetite, and finishing up with a bowel movement. This occurs not matter how much sugar and cream I add into that beautiful cup of Jo (drool).
I’ve somewhat come to the conclusion that any food or stimulant that triggers an unwarranted bowel movement is not good. As I’ve cut out coffee, I’ve been able to digest and absorb food so much better. Plus my sleep has improved immensely.
I’ll be interested to see how the re-into affects you Matt.
http://www.functionalps.com/blog/2014/06/04/coffee-done-right-tips-to-help-avoid-coffee-intolerance/
@Potato
Thanks for the link. I have read Rob’s articles, including this one, before; he’s a dedicated peatarian — no bread and pasta on the Functional Alps program. Although Rob’s article has good suggestions for tolerance, I think his theory is B.S.
Rob is indicating that your tolerance to caffeine is an indication of health; and that may or may not be true. However, I have in the past built up a pretty high tolerance for alcohol consumption; does that mean I’m healthy and should try to drink more? Best case scenario that I can see is a little bit of a hermetic response from the stress (alcohol or coffee).
My experiences is that caffeine is a stimulant, the metabolic “boost” is short-lived and tends to have repercussions as my body tries to re-balance (i.e. lowering of metabolism).
Also, I’m heavily skeptical of any health claims for a food or drug that stimulates the bowel prematurely.
Premature is relative, as many people have delayed peristalsis and caffeine helps to stimulate it.
Functionalaps explanation is limited, but I think the metaphor of the car is useful when applied broadly.
Relative to what? Premature = before the body is ready. Most would agree that a premature BM (e.g. diarrhea ) or delayed BM (e.g. constipation) isn’t healthy. And I can attest that using coffee/caffeine to stimulate the bowel can be a double edge sword that can result in cycles of diarrhea and constipation. However, copious amounts of good food, without coffee, and relaxation seem to get things back to normal.
Potato, you and I both know the human body is definitely not a car. Metaphor’s like that create mechanical over-simplifications of the bodies processes; which is a dangerous way to think.
BTW: a “hermetic response” is when you become a hermit because no one wants to be around you when you’ve had too much coffee.
“An unwarranted bowel movement”… that’s exactly what I dig about coffee. Unwarranted BMs are the bees knees.
I started using unenriched unbleached wheat flour years ago because of the chemical additives they so-called enriched it with; and because of the chemical used in the bleaching process, which I was told is what they use to induce diabetes in lab rats. my local natural foods store has carried it in bulk for years (I don’t know their source, could be bob’s red mill) so it was easy for me. (That was way before my recent 7 year detour into low glycemic). So I’m thinking perhaps it’s more about the “enrichment” version of the vit’s and min’s in the flour that we want to avoid, rather than dietary iron in general. And isn’t it cool that the things we like to drink with our meals like tea and coffee, help to keep that iron part balanced? I’m loving getting back in touch with my own body wisdom of eating, resting, and everything, and unlearning so much bullshit accumulated during 50 years of dieting. Thank you for helping with that, Matt and everyone. Bullshitproof me. I was told once that my bullshit meter was broken or missing. Well, that’s changing. I just always want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but there’s a lot of people out there trying to sell bullshit that I just don’t want anymore, so getting that bullshit meter up and running is high priority.
I did buy some green coffee beans a few months ago off of amazon, as far as a source for that goes. The book I got with it suggested roasting in a stovetop popcorn popper, but I want to do it in a frying pan. Haven’t gotten around to it.
Wait until you try my unnecessarily complicated methods for preparing coffee. It’s been subclinically proven to decrease one’s susceptibility to marketing claims by 57%.
Yay!!! I was inspired and today got up and peeled and quartered a coffee Haagen Dazs pint and blended it with some milk, salt, palm sugar, collagen, and an egg yolk. Went pretty good with the leftover pizza I had for breakfast.
I happen to stop at dunkin donuts twice a week for iced coffee with cream and sugar also! It’s not as complicating as you would think!
Dude, I ordered some green coffee beans. It’s about to get even more complicated. Luckily, I’ve figured out a mystical way to only brew, sweeten, and add cream to coffee twice per month. I’m not ordering a fucking wok though. That’s where I draw the line!
I am Thalassemia minor and have a low Hb count but am not supposed to take iron supplements. Unfortunately, I found this out after many years of iron supplementation. Folic acid supplements are recommended though.
If you really wanted to get fancy, you could get some coffee berries and Kopi luwak those suckers yourself! Or would they be a Kopi Matt?
My mom got my girlfriend a gift card for sur la table, and we bought their wok… It’s awesome. You going to use a popcorn maker? Where did you order the beans from? I get mine from deans beans. Time to go blow the toilet up!
Got mine from u-roast-em. They should be here tomorrow. I’ll test out my roasting skills next weekend. Going to put them in the oven in my giant rondeau (it’s like a French wok, sort of).
Hmmmm…. I hope the rondeau works, because you need to keep the beans in constant movement. Let me know how it works!
I was Paleo for 8 yrs. I’m 43 yrs old. I got a full blood panel after moving away from Paleo and found my serum ferritin was 333! That’s insane. My doc said not to worry since my liver enzymes were ok. Screw that. I gave blood 8 times in the last 1.5 yrs. plan to get retested soon. Anyone know how much giving blood decreases ferritin? I’m sure “it depends.”
Like others on the forum I hate giving blood as I had a bad experience when I was younger, but they have Keebler Fudge Strip cookies in the recovery room and I damn well eat enough to get over my fear. Ha
Hi David199
I believe your iron is meant to come down by about 30 points each time you donate. This is not a hard and fast rule.
ip6 worked about as fast as donating blood would have for me.
My first doc also told me a ferritin level of 271 was fine.
One would infer from the research studies linked below that that is unequivocally false.
http://www.healtheiron.com/iron-reduction-therapy
Coffee wrecks me. I get extreme energy, but also extreme anxiety and my distant vision gets blurry from drinking like half of a normal kitchen sized cup of black coffee. Must be the MYCOTOXINS! Hah.
I was never even interested in drinking coffee until I started reading health blogs, as everyone from Peat to the Bulletproof mycotoxins dude seemed to say how magical it was.
Caffeine supposedly decreases cerebral blood flow and increases the release of catecholamines. People break down catecholamines at different rates, so possibly something like Comt or Mao variants could play a part in how people react to coffee.
Lots of people dismiss the genetic element(though these same people may obsess over other biochemical minutia) as some of these variants are actually pretty common, but combinations of them likely do have an effect.
*phew*
I thought I was all alone in here.
Exactly! Big energy boost…..running around like an anxious headless chook though. I gave up coffee 2 months ago. Sleeping better, skin plumper, hormones up, more sex drive, less anxiety. More of a morning person. Appetite good. No more hot flashes. Not getting as much stuff done without the spike in energy – my only complaint. I’m better paced across the day though. Maybe some people just don’t process coffee well. I think it’s the cortisol increase from the organic acids, not just the caffeine? Nowadays I only have a coffee before driving on a long road trip. And I don’t sleep well (nightmares, restless, etc.)
Decaf is dreadful. Someone once said it is like going to a prostitute for a hug. Sums it up ????
I just noticed the comment by kevin82 last week, and having gone over the full publication he cited, feel there is some correction needed. Popular accounts of peer-reviewed research understandably hype the most sensational findings, like: “Iron consumption can increase risk for heart disease”, study shows” which Kevin82 cited. But the full study by Jacob Hunnicutt et al. at Indiana U needs to be taken with lots of salt.
First of all, the association of heme iron with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk found in this meta-analysis was 1.57, which is considered a weak–not “a strong association.” (That’s a 57% risk increase. In fact, the study found only a 37% risk increase of death from CVD, and this figure was not statistically significant.)
Second, the study actually showed that total iron (heme + non-heme, measured in subjects’ blood–not in the diet) decreased CVD risk by 15%. In fact, non-heme iron was also associated with reduced risk, although there was too little data for this 23% risk decrease to be statistically significant. (Non-significant results don’t make the study’s abstract nor the headlines.) So on balance, it would seem to indicate that non-heme iron is beneficial, as Matt intimated.
Third, even if you take the entire study with all the details of its findings as gospel, you need to understand the limitations of the findings: These researchers used blood measurements as an indirect measure of dietary consumption. Even if this is perfectly accurate, there is more to meat than iron! High meat consumption means high protein consumption; protein from muscle meat which is relatively high in methionine and low in glycine (and as Matt and Peat suggest, beef is not as bad as poultry), thus causing or exacerbating glycine deficiency. Glycine deficiency means more chronic inflammation, which is now understood as the underlying mechanism that produces CVD in the first place.
Thanks Joel. Great additions to the conversation for sure.
Coffee destroys me, I feel like total shit if I have the smallest amounts. However, green tea has the same effects for iron absorption, so those of us that can’t do coffee and can do green tea. (Although my adrenals are so fried that even green tea makes me feel like crap anymore, but still)
best is pumpkin flour http://www.anti-grain.com/squash-flour-pdp.html Followed by this brand of Cassava flour, but Cassava is a starch, so use it sparsely http://www.ottosnaturals.com/buy/ottos-cassava-flour Recipe suggestion: http://brittanyangell.com/aip-crispy-waffles-glutengraineggdairynutcoconutnightshade-free/
Hi Matt,
I have always thought Ray Peat had some good advice. I liked how he cautioned about fish oil. Some peopel think we need 4 gallons of it. LOL !
I take no more than 500 mg EPA/DHA combined tops. And usually I will just eat some fish. Damaged fish oil is very bad.
Take care,
Raz
So I have questions about what to do when you’re severely anemic. My anemia is due to large Uterine Fibroids and extreme blood loss each month. I’ve always been borderline anemic (11 on the scale when 12 – 15 is normal), but recently, my blood work came back a 9, which is the worst it’s ever been. My energy, heart palpitations, shortness of breath have been worse in the past year, so I know its all now due to the severe anemia. I try to eat red meat as much as possible when I’m on my period, but I’ve also started taking an iron suppliment from Nature’s sunshine that also has herbs for absorption. So I’m trying to either get MORE iron into my diet or at least get my body to absorb it. I’m also trying to find ways to shrink the fibroid naturally so I don’t have to have surgery. Any thoughts???? I also almost never drink coffee because of the way it drains your iron. I think drinking it and stress from the past 15 years has even been on of a million things that added to the growth of my uterine fibroids.
The B vitamins are super important, and I bet they are a major factor in your anemia, if not the factor. Get your B12 levels tested. You may want to add in a B complex.
I know some things that enhance iron absorption if taken at the same time are sugar, alcohol, and vitamin C.
Hey Matt,
I got interested in the Iron issue a few years ago, and had my levels tested (mainly thanks to Anthony Colpo). Ferritin came back at 440, and that spurred me to start donating blood immediately. Did a few other things too- ditched a cast iron skillet I used to cook sometimes, shifted protein away from meat a bit, and more toward milk and eggs, made sure to take vitamin C away from meals, and dabbled with IP6 and lactoferrin. Over about 8 months, I got it down to around 60. Looking back, I noticed an improvement in mood and energy over those months. And one of the most interesting things, I was noticing a few gray hairs at the start of the process (I was 36 at the time). Over time, the color has returned, and I currently have no gray hairs on my head at all. I’m not 100% sure, but I think lowering my iron levels helped get rid of my gray hair. I think iron can impair copper utilization, so I think lowering iron was a factor.
I still donate blood, and oddly, I notice an improvement in mood immediately after donating. It’s apparently a common phenomenon, that donor centers attribute to helping others with your donation, which is probably a factor, but I think there is a chemical explanation as well.
Iron is interesting, in that it can render antibiotics completely ineffective. E.D. Weinberg discovered this back in the 1950’s, and it kicked off his career focusing on iron for decades. His book “Exposing the Hidden Dangers of Iron” is a must read if you are interested in the iron issue.
Have you ever heard about cannabis can helps you to lose weight. it will come as no surprise to them that those who smoke it are usually slimmer compared to those who don’t. As a natural bodyweight regulator, cannabis also helps to fight diabetes in the body. As I continue researching, Cannabis can also help you to relieve some pains. kylekushman.com/topic/durban-poison-showing-calmag-deficiency/ I learned thru this bout medical cannabis. do you wanna try cannabis?
Hey Matt, great article. It really pays to read this article, and I hope there will be some interesting articles like this in the future.
It’s apparently a common phenomenon, that donor centers attribute to helping