I have come across several people who were told they needed to supplement iron, despite consuming a very iron-rich diet. I have also seen studies that attribute certain symptoms to low iron levels. Often, even with iron supplementation (and I would suggest, because of it), the patient "goes downhill" and we are told how important iron is. Of course it is, up to a certain level, but when one is eating a diet that is too high in iron to begin with, something else is wrong - and yet the the myth or anemia persists.
So what is really happening in most of these cases, since the "not enough iron" notion is beyond illogical and borderline ludicrous? When cells are stressed (for any number of reasons), arachionic acid is released (if you are eating a typical American diet), and some of it, along with other polyunsaturates, will react with iron in your body, possibly doing tremendous damage. When your iron levels are measured, they may very well be "low," because the iron is being used up quickly in these reactions. The more iron such a person consumes, the more damage that will likely be done. But because doctors don't usually study molecular-level mechanisms, and the textbook writers are not interested in questioning existing notions considered "established," the low iron/anemia myth continues. |
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