Iron supplements cause more harm than Good

For the last several decades, iron supplements have been routinely recommended all too liberally. Because iron is a basic requirement for cell growth and longevity, it is often assumed that people should supplement with extra iron. However, this faulty belief may carry serious health risks.

High Iron Linked to Heart Attack Risk and More

In one Finnish study published in the journal Circulation; 1992, of more than 2,000 individuals, researchers found that stored iron was more strongly linked to heart attack risk than either high blood pressure or high cholesterol. It is believed that women who menstruate regularly are less likely to experience heart attacks because iron levels are reduced by the loss of blood each month. The same line of logic explains why men who donate blood regularly also experience fewer heart attacks.

In other research reported in 1999 in the journal Circulation, Swedish scientists found that men with a genetic abnormality that causes slightly elevated blood iron levels had a 2.3 fold increase in heart attack risk. This is very relevant to people in Ireland because Irish people have one of the highest incidences in the world of a genetic condition that causes people to absorb excessive amounts of dietary iron

But this doesn’t just affect men, A second study published in the same year in the same journal found that women with the abnormal gene were also at greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

High levels of iron are linked to more than just heart attack risk:

- One recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; Dec 2010, showed that iron supplementation disrupted the balance of gut flora in children. Children who were given iron supplements showed an increase in harmful bacteria and a decrease in beneficial bacteria.

- Research indicates that lower levels of iron can actually be protective against infectious disease, leukemia and lymphatic cancers.

- Other studies demonstrate that iron produces free radicals which accelerate the aging process.

It is easy to see why high iron is a common problem these days, when you consider that the modern diet is heavy countless foods which contain added iron. Typical staples in the Irish diet - such as breads and cereals - are generally enriched with added iron. Avoid all these processed foods. In addition, iron is also present in many multivitamin and mineral supplements.

I personally only recommend iron supplementation when blood tests show an actual deficiency in iron. Using hemoglobin or red blood cell tests to determine iron deficiency may not only be inaccurate, but could be harmful if iron supplementation is given when it is not needed. Even when a true iron deficiency exists, it is safer and healthier to eat foods naturally high in iron than rely on supplements.