Iron (not the kind you lift)

[CollegeB]

Its in the blood and can cause disease...

 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi65.html

Edited November 27, 2006 by CollegeB

[pelicanAndrew]

The only logical conclusion i've come up with is somehow finding a way to menstrate.

 

 

 

I'm not too worried about this seeing that there's obviously way more iron in meat and dairy along with a ton of other unhealthy crap. Basically i don't really want to resort to eating rice bran or blood letting.

 

 

Better stop eating all them leafy greens.

[Trev]

Uh, I thought this was going to be about pumping iron...

 

[Odidnetne]

The only logical conclusion i've come up with is somehow finding a way to menstrate.

 

 

 

I'm not too worried about this seeing that there's obviously way more iron in meat and dairy along with a ton of other unhealthy crap. Basically i don't really want to resort to eating rice bran or blood letting.

 

 

Better stop eating all them leafy greens.

 

Actually, that's one of the problems with dairy though. Dairy has almost no iron at all. An infant would have to drink like a large number of quarts of cow's milk to get their iron, but would of course be deficient in a number of things.

[cubby2112]

I have heard that lacto-ovos sometimes have a problem with iron deficiency if they intake too much dairy because it inhibits the absorbtion of plant-based iron (non-heme I think), but not animal-based iron.

[Trev]

Guess those whole grains are a good thing to keep eating, being that they are the only iron-absorption inhibitors in my diet right now. Yikes!

[Odidnetne]

Guess those whole grains are a good thing to keep eating, being that they are the only iron-absorption inhibitors in my diet right now. Yikes!

 

Green tea too.

[veggymeggy]

Men do have higher iron levels than women, but unless you have hemochromatatosis, you probably don't need to worry.

[CollegeB]

Ohh Meg good to see you back on the boards. I was wonderin where you went.

[Jay]

According to Pete who posts here occasionally non heme iron (vegan iron) is absorbed by the body only to the extent that your body actually needs it, while heme iron (meat iron) can be absorbed to the body to toxic levles.

[Richard]

The article doesn't scare me, lots of the things which cause good control over iron levels are things I already do, woopie

[Odidnetne]

According to Pete who posts here occasionally non heme iron (vegan iron) is absorbed by the body only to the extent that your body actually needs it, while heme iron (meat iron) can be absorbed to the body to toxic levles.

 

What about the whole thing about Vitamin C though, does that just aid it into getting it to necessary levels?

[Jay]

What about the whole thing about Vitamin C though, does that just aid it into getting it to necessary levels?

Nonheme is not absorbed as well as heme iron. Vitamin C significantly helps in the absorption of nonheme iron. I don't remember the absorption percentages offhand but they should be easy to find online. How it knows to stop absorbing is something I don't know and again, that's just what Pete, who has always seemed very knowledgeable said on the subject.

[CollegeB]

I would take a wild guess that non heme iron might be water soluble, so it can be flushed out if not needed, just like vit c. Heme iron from meat is probably fat soluble and stays in the body and can collect to toxic levels...might mercury be similar?

[veggymeggy]

What about the whole thing about Vitamin C though, does that just aid it into getting it to necessary levels?

Nonheme is not absorbed as well as heme iron. Vitamin C significantly helps in the absorption of nonheme iron. I don't remember the absorption percentages offhand but they should be easy to find online. How it knows to stop absorbing is something I don't know and again, that's just what Pete, who has always seemed very knowledgeable said on the subject.

 

The difference between heme(animal) and non-heme(plant) iron is its oxidation state. Non-heme iron is Fe3+, heme is Fe2+.

All of vitamin C's functions are related to its reducing capacity. In the case of iron absorbtion, vit. C reduces non-heme iron to the 2+ form, which is able to enter the small intestine for absorption through generic divalent metal transporters. (Nramp2, DC/MT1).

 

Heme iron is absorbed at a rate of approximately 23%(of what is consumed) vs. non-heme which ranges from 3-8%. Non-heme is more drastically affected by what it is consumed with it. It's often bound to phytate, which prevents absorbrtion. Phytate is a significant hinderance to many minerals, and is found exclusively in plant sources. This is one of the reasons many nutrients are more easily absorbed from animal sources. (Please note, I'm not advocating animal consumption in anyway, just trying to provide some science. There are more than enough ways to overcome these issues.)

 

 

This is helping me study for my finals

[veggymeggy]

I would take a wild guess that non heme iron might be water soluble, so it can be flushed out if not needed, just like vit c. Heme iron from meat is probably fat soluble and stays in the body and can collect to toxic levels...might mercury be similar?

Good guess, but no

 

The human body actually lacks physiological pathways for eliminating iron, regardless of the form in which it was consumed. Iron balance is affected by intake, body stores, and loss. Women lose significant amounts of iron through menstruation, however this leads to anemia more often than men experience toxicity. Because we lack specific excretion pathways, we have tightly regulated cellular mechanisms to control iron absorption and use. Stored iron is not a concern as far as disease state. Also, we have the ability to up and down regulate how much iron is absorbed.

 

As I said before, unless you have hemochromatatosis, which is about 1 in 200 people, you should be a-ok on iron. (FYI hemochromatatosis is caused by a gene mutation, results in an inability to sense iron stores and therefore down regulate absorption, and is treated through phlebotomy.)

[veggymeggy]

I have heard that lacto-ovos sometimes have a problem with iron deficiency if they intake too much dairy because it inhibits the absorbtion of plant-based iron (non-heme I think), but not animal-based iron.

The only possible explanation I can think of for this is dairy can reduce stomach acid, and stomach acid aids in reducing non-heme iron for absorption. That's a stretch though, I'd say that statemet is mostly baseless.

[veggymeggy]

Ohh Meg good to see you back on the boards. I was wonderin where you went.

Thanks Life is nuts...but I'm still around here and there.