I was searching through pubmed and couldn't find any answers to this one.
Excess iron is supposed to be bad for us due to metabolic factors as well as increasing microbial load. However, I've never found a study that compared the two effects with each other. After all, if many metabolic perturbations in the body occur downstream of dysbiosis and resulting endotoxin, wouldn't increased iron absorption from concurrent Vitamin C be a good thing? Wouldn't it be preferable that the body regulate iron itself, instead of allowing it to freely pass on to bacteria downstream of the GI?
I dunno. This could be simpleton thinking, but at a gut level steak and Vitamin C rich pineapple juice together never makes me feel bad, even for several days in a row. In fact, they make me feel better than most foods period. I've Celtic heritage too, and donating blood in the past has made me feel fantastic. The first time I did it, it significantly and noticeably improved my glucose tolerance. This was all before I ate much steak or pineapple juice.
Vitamin C is an endotoxin antagonist/reducer(?), maybe this fits in with a more holistic picture of the Vitamin C/iron dynamic. In other words, poorly absorbed iron is bad, well absorbed iron can be good or bad based on the situation. Fortified cereals have always made me feel spacey, bloated, and gassy before (I don't touch for years), although this could be because of the folic acid... Whereas somewhat equivalent (where is cheap, unfortified cereal?) forms of ingredients didn't cause such disturbances when I was in good health.
I'd really like someone to show me some direct evidence in refutation if possible, because the whole counter intuitive notion IMO bothers me.
Excess iron is supposed to be bad for us due to metabolic factors as well as increasing microbial load. However, I've never found a study that compared the two effects with each other. After all, if many metabolic perturbations in the body occur downstream of dysbiosis and resulting endotoxin, wouldn't increased iron absorption from concurrent Vitamin C be a good thing? Wouldn't it be preferable that the body regulate iron itself, instead of allowing it to freely pass on to bacteria downstream of the GI?
I dunno. This could be simpleton thinking, but at a gut level steak and Vitamin C rich pineapple juice together never makes me feel bad, even for several days in a row. In fact, they make me feel better than most foods period. I've Celtic heritage too, and donating blood in the past has made me feel fantastic. The first time I did it, it significantly and noticeably improved my glucose tolerance. This was all before I ate much steak or pineapple juice.
Vitamin C is an endotoxin antagonist/reducer(?), maybe this fits in with a more holistic picture of the Vitamin C/iron dynamic. In other words, poorly absorbed iron is bad, well absorbed iron can be good or bad based on the situation. Fortified cereals have always made me feel spacey, bloated, and gassy before (I don't touch for years), although this could be because of the folic acid... Whereas somewhat equivalent (where is cheap, unfortified cereal?) forms of ingredients didn't cause such disturbances when I was in good health.
I'd really like someone to show me some direct evidence in refutation if possible, because the whole counter intuitive notion IMO bothers me.