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Don’t you need iron supplements if you are anemic?
“In general, no.
Many doctors think of anemia as necessarily indicating an iron deficiency, but that isn’t correct. 100 years ago, it was customary to prescribe arsenic for anemia, and it worked to stimulate the formation of more red blood cells. The fact that arsenic, or iron, or other toxic material stimulates the formation of red blood cells doesn’t indicate a “deficiency” of the toxin, but simply indicates that the body responds to a variety of harmful factors by speeding its production of blood cells. Even radiation can have this kind of stimulating effect, because growth is a natural reaction to injury. Between 1920 and 1950, it was common to think of “nutritional growth factors” as being the same as vitamins, but since then it has become common to use known toxins to stimulate the growth of farm animals, and as a result, it has been more difficult to define the essential nutrients. The optimal nutritional intake is now more often considered in terms of resistance to disease, longevity or rate of aging, and even mental ability.
An excess of iron, by destroying vitamin E and oxidizing the unsaturated fats in red blood cells, can contribute to hemolytic anemia, in which red cells are so fragile that they break down too fast. In aging, red cells break down faster, and are usually produced more slowly, increasing the tendency to become anemic, but additional iron tends to be more dangerous for older people.
Anemia in women is caused most often by a thyroid deficiency (as discussed in the chapter on thyroid), or by various nutritional deficiencies. Estrogen (even in animals that don’t menstruate) causes dilution of the blood, so that it is normal for females to have lower hemoglobin than males. Q. What should I do if my doctor tells me I’m anemic? Is there any situation in which a person needs to take iron supplements?
Iron deficiency anemia does exist, in laboratory situations and in some cases of chronic bleeding, but I believe it should be the last-suspected cause of anemia, instead of the first. It should be considered as a possible cause of anemia only when very specific blood tests show an abnormally low degree of iron saturation of certain proteins. Usually, physicians consider the amount of hemoglobin or of red cells in the blood as the primary indicator of a need for iron, but that just isn’t biologically reasonable.
If a large amount of blood is lost in surgery, a temporary anemia might be produced, but even then it would be best to know whether the iron stores are really depleted before deciding whether an iron supplement would be reasonable. Liver (or even a water extract of wheat germ) can supply as much iron as would be given as a pill, and is safer.” -Ray Peat
I have fairly normal thyroid tests. I’ve felt better by eating more iron rich food. Charlies recommendations for zinc supplements must have nuked my iron really low. My swollen thyroid is improving with more iron.
I think Dr Peat talks from a privileged perspective. Iron deficiency on its own is known to cause thyroid problems. I am not a privileged person. I suffer from lack not excess.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6552785/
Eating iron rich food to me feels exactly like taking thyroid hormones as long as I keep up with my copper needs. I just have a BIG problem as the zinc supplements really tanked my copper as well so any time I eat anything even slightly iron rich it tanks my copper and I need to eat more copper to feel better.
‘Patients with thyroid disease have a high prevalence of iron-deficiency, but this is often times overlooked in the medical community. Treating a patient’s iron levels may be all that is needed to reverse his or her thyroid condition. Iodine is one of the main components of thyroid hormones; however, iodine requires iron in order for it to be fully utilized. Iron is an element that is essential for the human body to synthesize and metabolize the thyroid hormones. The body is dependent upon iron to convert thyroxine (T4) into the active hormone triiodothyronine (T3) via thyroid peroxidase (TPO). As such, low iron levels can impede thyroid function and patients can present with hypothyroid-like symptoms. ‘
I dont have the ability to post pictures from my phone???? But I did a little home test and have VERY LOW ferritin. My RBC is normal and I have no anaemia. Yet I have hypothyroid symptoms. Iron deficiency is a problem for underprivileged people.
Too much zinc can cause low copper, so upping zinc rather than iron I would think would be preferred….
“A zinc deficiency is often associated with a
deficiency of vitamin B6 and an excess of
copper; since estrogen is associated with zinc
loss, other nutrients including vitamin E and folic
acid should be considered when the nails have
white marks.” -Ray Peat “NutritionI Mean I used too much zinc and have a copper deficiency
I know my zinc stores are good these days though. No more white spots as I had throughout my childhood.
What I was saying is since copper regulates iron and zinc opposes copper wouldn’t keeping copper and zinc foods balances with food be a better way to regulate iron than taking iron, since it has it’s problems?
I’ve actually stopped the iron today but I knew I needed at least some, you always need some. I was massive milk drinking maniac since age 12 so I must have had very low iron as milk is known to chelate it.
I’ve put it in my calendar to focus on copper only for the next 2 weeks. Hopefully can get my energy and drive back. I definitely know I needed some iron though. but obviously not too much as Dr Peat said that
I must have started with a complete blank slate. Very depleted and sick. EVERY mineral and vitamin I took helped me. Thats why I think iron helped so much. I mostly drank sorghum leaf tea. I didn’t take the strong iron supplements from the doctor. Also young people like me are sensitive to iron deficiency around times of development so it’s really not that bad if we are careful.
@Questforhealth “Also young people like me are sensitive to iron deficiency around times of development so it’s really not that bad if we are careful.”
Yes Ray Peat said iron is for growing young people, but that with all of the fortification of our food supply it makes it a rarity for anyone to truly be iron deficient.
Really should be sending all that iron fortified bread to third world countries….
“During aging, our tissues tend to store an excess of iron. There is a remarkably close association between the amount of iron stored in our tissues and the risk of death from cancer, heart disease, or from all causes. This relationship between iron and death rate exists even during childhood, but the curve is downward until the age of 12, and then it rises steadily until death. The shape of this curve, representing the iron burden, is amazingly similar to the curves representing the rate of death in general, and the rate of death from cancer. There is no other relationship in biology that I know of that has this peculiar shape, with its minimum at the age of 12, and its maximum in old age at the time of death.“ -Ray Peat
“Flour, pasta, etc., almost always contain iron which has been artificially added as ferrous sulfate, because of a federal law. Meats, grains, eggs, and vegetables naturally contain large amounts of iron. A few years ago, someone demonstrated that they could pick up a certain breakfast cereal with a magnet, because of the added iron. Black olives contain iron, which is used as a coloring material. You should look for “ferrous” or “ferric” or “iron” on the label, and avoid foods with any added iron. Many labels list “reduced iron,” meaning that iron is added in the ferrous form, which is very reactive and easily absorbed.” -Ray Peat
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