Iron Removal

eminions

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I know there are some discussions about PUFA removal from our tissue/body, but is there any information about the removal of excess iron that has been accumulated over the years?

What is the process of Iron removal in our body? What is the time frame (Is it similar to PUFA's)?

Es
 

charlie

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Donate blood to bring down iron stores. I donate as frequently as possible which is every 56 days. I also take measures to make sure I don't put too much iron back into my body by drinking coffee or mexican coke when I eat high iron foods.


Ray Peat said:
For about 50 years, it has been known that blood transfusions damage immunity, and excess iron has been suspected to be one of the causes for this. People who regularly donate blood, on the other hand, have often been found to be healthier than non-donors, and healthier than they were before they began donating.

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E

eminions

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Charlie,

Is that the only way to remove excess iron? Five to eight years ago, when I was in high school, I was eating about 3 double cheeseburgers a day, probably more. I have never been able to put on any weight, but that is beside the point.

Those years of pounding burgers and other various iron rich foods would probably take its toll. I was just wondering if there was any processes/were any processes in our body that removed iron, or is it only through donating blood/bleeding that we can possibly remove excess iron?

Is it similar to PUFA's in that stored iron from our tissue/pancreas/liver etc... slowly empties into our blood over time; therefore, periodic blood donations would be the only way to safely remove that iron?

Along that same line of thought, if you don't bleed/donate blood, does the accumulated iron just stay in your body?

Thanks,
Es
 

pboy

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Iron leaves either by bleeding, or just by growing...(when skin cells reach the surface and fall off, some iron is lost, through hair, and GI/stomach cells shedding...basic growth). So either bleed...in some way shape or form, which isn't really healthy, or just try to rapidly grow without putting any iron back into your system, and taking measures to try to prevent its uptake when iron foods are consumed (your body is pretty intelligent with this on its own). Copper helps 'loose' if you will, iron, become incorporated into red blood cells, which potentially could grow and die and shed...but without copper the iron will hang out pretty much indefinitely. So no, accumulated iron doesn't permanently stay in the body, but it leaves very slowly and not really in a direct way

A lot of info I've read about this has been relatively vague...but that's how it works to the best of my understanding. Ive also read that miniscule amounts leave through bilirubin excretion from the liver into the bile, then out with stool (bilirubin is basically the waste material end product of recycled red blood cell)
 

Asimov

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Do a double red blood cell donation a few times a year. Save a life or 3, get rid of excess iron, and gain all the proven health benefits of being a blood donor. win/win
 

haidut

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Stuart said:
@haidut
Do you know how effective donating blood four times a year is for reducing serum ferritin?

In my case and a few hundred others I have seen - it is extremely effective. I had probably 30 blood draws in a matter of 2 months and my ferritin dropped from 120 to 59. Keep in mind that each blood draw was on average about 15ml so it approximated about one blood donation. I would be careful with blood donation though and monitor ferritin and transferrin levels closely as to not become iron deficient.
 
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Stuart

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haidut said:
In my case and a few hundred others I have seen - it is extremely effective. I had probably 30 blood draws in a matter of 2 months and my ferritin dropped from 120 to 59. Keep in mind that each blood draw was on average about 15ml so it approximated about one blood donation. I would be careful with blood donation though and monitor ferritin and transferrin levels closely as to not become iron deficient.

Thanks. Just curious about your 30 draws of 15 ml in 2 months. That seems novel?
Also, the hemoglobin test they do here when you turn up to donate blood will possibly miss low ferritin ? in other words can you have normal hemoglobin but low ferritin? My hemoglobin in always in the low normal range. Always, in 20 years of giving blood. They even crack jokes about it now. Should I have a ferritin test? Maybe if I ask at the blood bank they'll test me. They've never suggested it. Seems a bit odd. Are there any obvious symptoms of low ferritin. Sorry to pepper you with questions.
 
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johns74

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If I recall correctly, frequent donors absorb a lot more iron.
 
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johns74

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Stuart said:
Maybe if I ask at the blood bank they'll test me. They've never suggested it. Seems a bit odd.

Maybe not odd if their main motivation was getting the blood and not your health? Without the hemoglobin, maybe the blood is less useful for the recipient.
 
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haidut

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Stuart said:
haidut said:
In my case and a few hundred others I have seen - it is extremely effective. I had probably 30 blood draws in a matter of 2 months and my ferritin dropped from 120 to 59. Keep in mind that each blood draw was on average about 15ml so it approximated about one blood donation. I would be careful with blood donation though and monitor ferritin and transferrin levels closely as to not become iron deficient.

Thanks. Just curious about your 30 draws of 15 ml in 2 months. That seems novel?
Also, the hemoglobin test they do here when you turn up to donate blood will possibly miss low ferritin ? in other words can you have normal hemoglobin but low ferritin? My hemoglobin in always in the low normal range. Always, in 20 years of giving blood. They even crack jokes about it now. Should I have a ferritin test? Maybe if I ask at the blood bank they'll test me. They've never suggested it. Seems a bit odd. Are there any obvious symptoms of low ferritin. Sorry to pepper you with questions.

It was due to medical blood tests from different doctors. The scary thing is that they all knew I was seeing other doctors and everybody ordered their own blood tests. Yet nobody made the connection that having so many blood draws in a short time period can lead to iron deficiency. I discovered it by doing my own test through www.directlabs.com So, I am very conscious now about blood draws now.
And yes, you can have normal hemoglobin with low ferritin. I am one example and that's probably one reason it was not caught earlier.
 
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jyb

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haidut said:
It was due to medical blood tests from different doctors. The scary thing is that they all knew I was seeing other doctors and everybody ordered their own blood tests. Yet nobody made the connection that having so many blood draws in a short time period can lead to iron deficiency. I discovered it by doing my own test through Discount Online Blood Chemistry Tests & Results, Wellness & Anti Aging Direct Access Laboratory Testing So, I am very conscious now about blood draws now.
And yes, you can have normal hemoglobin with low ferritin. I am one example and that's probably one reason it was not caught earlier.

It terms of quantities, 30 * 15ml is comparable to 250ml from a blood donation - some people donate every couple months, so that would be 500ml from the same time period. And yes, that could lead to iron deficiency eventually if you don't eat much iron.
 
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haidut

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jyb said:
haidut said:
It was due to medical blood tests from different doctors. The scary thing is that they all knew I was seeing other doctors and everybody ordered their own blood tests. Yet nobody made the connection that having so many blood draws in a short time period can lead to iron deficiency. I discovered it by doing my own test through Discount Online Blood Chemistry Tests & Results, Wellness & Anti Aging Direct Access Laboratory Testing So, I am very conscious now about blood draws now.
And yes, you can have normal hemoglobin with low ferritin. I am one example and that's probably one reason it was not caught earlier.

It terms of quantities, 30 * 15ml is comparable to 250ml from a blood donation - some people donate every couple months, so that would be 500ml from the same time period. And yes, that could lead to iron deficiency eventually if you don't eat much iron.

Yes, I was eating a Pretty strict Peat diet msotly based on milk, shellfish, etc and it was very poor on iron. So, I would caution people who eat iron poor diet and donate blood to check their ferritin and transferrin levels in addition to the standard CBC.
 
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narouz

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haidut said:
jyb said:
haidut said:
It was due to medical blood tests from different doctors. The scary thing is that they all knew I was seeing other doctors and everybody ordered their own blood tests. Yet nobody made the connection that having so many blood draws in a short time period can lead to iron deficiency. I discovered it by doing my own test through Discount Online Blood Chemistry Tests & Results, Wellness & Anti Aging Direct Access Laboratory Testing So, I am very conscious now about blood draws now.
And yes, you can have normal hemoglobin with low ferritin. I am one example and that's probably one reason it was not caught earlier.

It terms of quantities, 30 * 15ml is comparable to 250ml from a blood donation - some people donate every couple months, so that would be 500ml from the same time period. And yes, that could lead to iron deficiency eventually if you don't eat much iron.

Yes, I was eating a Pretty strict Peat diet msotly based on milk, shellfish, etc and it was very poor on iron. So, I would caution people who eat iron poor diet and donate blood to check their ferritin and transferrin levels in addition to the standard CBC.

Peat seems to think that people, generally, tend to have too much iron.
I have too much,
so I donate as often as I can.
I can't really say cause and effect,
but in periods where I donate to the max
I've done well.

haidut-
check out Walk-In Lab.
I've used Direct in the past
but Walk-In was definitely cheaper in my latest comparison shopping. :)
 
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haidut

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narouz said:
haidut said:
jyb said:
haidut said:
It was due to medical blood tests from different doctors. The scary thing is that they all knew I was seeing other doctors and everybody ordered their own blood tests. Yet nobody made the connection that having so many blood draws in a short time period can lead to iron deficiency. I discovered it by doing my own test through Discount Online Blood Chemistry Tests & Results, Wellness & Anti Aging Direct Access Laboratory Testing So, I am very conscious now about blood draws now.
And yes, you can have normal hemoglobin with low ferritin. I am one example and that's probably one reason it was not caught earlier.

It terms of quantities, 30 * 15ml is comparable to 250ml from a blood donation - some people donate every couple months, so that would be 500ml from the same time period. And yes, that could lead to iron deficiency eventually if you don't eat much iron.

Yes, I was eating a Pretty strict Peat diet msotly based on milk, shellfish, etc and it was very poor on iron. So, I would caution people who eat iron poor diet and donate blood to check their ferritin and transferrin levels in addition to the standard CBC.

Peat seems to think that people, generally, tend to have too much iron.
I have too much,
so I donate as often as I can.
I can't really say cause and effect,
but in periods where I donate to the max
I've done well.

haidut-
check out Walk-In Lab.
I've used Direct in the past
but Walk-In was definitely cheaper in my latest comparison shopping. :)

Perfect, thanks!
 
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answersfound

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tara said:
Salicylic acid from fruit may reduce tryptophan absorption, but vit-C from fruit increases iron absorption, right? So a bit of a trade off with meat.


Not if you have low iron levels....
 
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johnwester130

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Thanks. Just curious about your 30 draws of 15 ml in 2 months. That seems novel?
Also, the hemoglobin test they do here when you turn up to donate blood will possibly miss low ferritin ? in other words can you have normal hemoglobin but low ferritin? My hemoglobin in always in the low normal range. Always, in 20 years of giving blood. They even crack jokes about it now. Should I have a ferritin test? Maybe if I ask at the blood bank they'll test me. They've never suggested it. Seems a bit odd. Are there any obvious symptoms of low ferritin. Sorry to pepper you with questions.


15 ml ??

each blood donation in the UK is 470ml
 
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