
Iron is the new Cholesterol? - r0n0j0y
http://nautil.us/issue/67/reboot/iron-is-the-new-cholesterol
======
pella
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18737001](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18737001)

------
JimXugle
A few things this article misses:

\- In healthy people, excess iron is not absorbed in your small intestine and
is passed along with other digestive waste.

\- There are actually three HFE genes.

\- Hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive disorder. You need two defective
copies of the HFE genes in order to be affected. This can be one defective
copy of two genes, or two defective copies of the same gene. Some unlucky
people have two defective copies of each gene.

\- The HFE genes are almost exclusively found in people with British and Irish
heritage. You should really only be concerned about HFE-related
Hemochromatosis if your genetic background has a strong connection to the
isles. There are other genes found elsewhere that can cause Hemochromatosis
though.

\- Ferritin is the body's way of packaging the reactive iron atoms into a
less-reactive molecule for storage (in your liver, brain, kidneys, gonads,
heart, pancreas, and joints) and transport.

\- The article fails to mention the actual, known symptoms of hemochromatosis:
chronic fatigue, liver problems, low sex drive, arthritis.

\- The treatment for hemochromatosis is diet management, regular ferritin
checks, and the occasional phlebotomy.

The wikipedia article can go into more depth:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemochromatosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemochromatosis)

As always: I am not a doctor. If you have medical concerns, see a doctor. If
you're particularly concerned about if you have hemochromatosis, talk to your
doctor about your concerns and if a CBC with differential and ferritin test is
right for you. If you're concerned about passing on a defective gene to your
child, talk to your doctor about a referral to a genetic counselor. Mail-in
genetic tests are not meant to diagnose or treat any disease.

See. a. DOCTOR.

~~~
KitDuncan
Isn't excess iron only not absorbed if it is non-heme iron? Not an expert or
anything, that's just what I remember hearing somewhere.

~~~
vanderZwan
You're probably thinking of the type of iron they add to breakfast cereals,
which is the mineral kind you don't absorb. Also, you wouldn't absorb it
anyway because calcium-rich food (like, I dunno, _milk_ ) block the absorption
of iron. There was an episode on a Dutch TV show where they investigated this,
and they found you could actually make Special K flakes follow a magnet when
floating it in water.

The episode is among the few that you cannot stream from their own website,
but it's, still on YouTube[0]. I am _pretty_ sure legal threats from Kellogs
had to do with tgat, because the week after the episode in question aired,
people on that program were forced to publically apologise for joking that
Kellogs was putting crusher bicycles in their cornflakes. Also, Kellogs
actually took out a _full-page ad_ stating that they don't and that the people
on that show were slandering.

The corporation doth protest to much, methinks.

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2AC0E0D930B52A07](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2AC0E0D930B52A07)

~~~
klodolph
Your body can absorb metallic iron, because it will react in your stomach and
change to Fe2+, which you can absorb just fine. For a different type of
experiment, you can try mashing Special K in a mortar and pestle and use a
magnet to extract the iron. This is fine, because your body can actually
absorb this!

It’s also misinformation that your body won’t absorb iron because of calcium
intake, it’s just that calcium inhibits iron absorption somewhat, and only
short-term, it doesn’t stop it completely. It’s not that well understood.

~~~
vanderZwan
Any source on that? I'm just basing my statements on what the GP who was
consulted in the linked episode stated, and while she's not exactly a
specialist on the subject she does know a little bit more about nutrition than
the average person on the street.

> _[mineral iron] it will react in your stomach and change to Fe2+_

Wouldnd't the presence of an acid-neutralizing ingredient like milk negatively
affect this process?

> _it’s just that calcium inhibits iron absorption somewhat, and only short-
> term, it doesn’t stop it completely._

Could you be a bit more precise when you say "short-term"? If it basically
reduces absorption for the current meal the point of it defeating iron
absorbtion is still valid.

~~~
klodolph
> Any source on that?

Personal correspondence with a nutrition PhD. Not going to identify for
unrelated reasons.

> Wouldnd't the presence of an acid-neutralizing ingredient like milk
> negatively affect this process?

Milk is acidic in the first place. In either case, it doesn’t raise the pH of
your stomach very much.

> Could you be a bit more precise when you say "short-term"?

Short enough that the effect is gone before you finish digesting the meal.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21462112/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21462112/)

From what I gather, there were some studies that claimed that calcium
interferes with iron absorption, and it’s clear that it does, but it might not
have much of an effect on nutrition.

~~~
vanderZwan
Thanks, appreciate the follow-up!

------
rmetzler
Wow, it mentions diabetes 25 times, iron 133 times, and sugar not even once.

------
rvp-x
blood tests for ferritin levels are trivial. it's not worthwhile to be
concerned about overdosing when checking is so simple.

I have to wonder why people feel compelled to write such articles.

we have blood checks. get your regular checkups. ask your family about
diseases they had and make sure you get regular checkups for those and avoid
lifestyles that trigger them.

------
mothsonasloth
Can't wait for the marketing bandwagon to start pushing low iron products and
medicines, if they haven't already.

"Low iron Cheerios, now with added sugar"

------
jgalvez
Ray Peat has been saying this since forever :)

------
gregoryexe
Water is the new diabetes?

~~~
kevin_thibedeau
Unless it's high pH miracle water.

