STOP Taking Iron Supplements Now

Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast

Dr. Eric Berg

Health & Fitness

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

DATA:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22704...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14580...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15247...

Too much iron over time can cause iron accumulation in your organs and tissues. Some people have a genetic problem that makes it difficult to eliminate iron if it accumulates too much.

Potential side effects of too much iron include the following:

1. Cancer

2. Liver disease

3. Heart disease

4. Low testosterone

5. Low libido

6. Diabetes

7. Chronic fatigue syndrome

8. Infertility

9. Neurodegeneration

10. Inflammatory diseases

Iron deficiency is one of the most common mineral deficiencies, but iron can also be dangerous if you’re getting too much. Iron toxicity is one of the most underdiagnosed and overlooked conditions.

When you take iron supplements, you don't absorb very much. The excess iron accumulates in the digestive tract, causing constipation, nausea, diarrhea, bloating, and irritation of the colon. The type of iron in iron supplements feeds pathogens.

Red meat is a better source of iron. Heme iron from red meat and fish is absorbed much more easily. It goes straight into the bloodstream. Red meat also has other nutrients like B vitamins, zinc, and selenium. High-quality protein also helps to balance iron.

Many processed foods contain added iron in the forms of ferrous fumarate, ferrous sulfate, and ferrous gluconate. The most common sources of iron are supplements, fortification, and cooking with cast iron cookware. Liver damage will also cause you to accumulate iron.

A lack of copper is a common cause of dysfunctional iron because copper helps control iron in the body. Many enzymes dependent on copper relate directly to the control of iron.

The first enzyme involved with copper converts iron into a less accumulative and less toxic form. Copper also allows you to transport iron through the body. Copper is involved in a powerful antioxidant that reduces oxidation caused by iron!

Glyphosate, antibiotics, high fructose corn syrup, and wheat products can cause copper deficiency. Iron deficiency anemia may really be iron dysfunctional anemia, which is often related to a copper deficiency. Oysters, shellfish, and organ meats are the best food sources of copper.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You never want to take iron supplements. Iron is the most toxic mineral that you can consume.
0:06.2	And so if you are unknowingly taking and being exposed to too much iron over time,
0:10.1	your organs are going to start to accumulate iron. Your tissues are going to get iron overload.
0:15.3	Even certain people have a genetic problem where they accumulate too much iron and they cannot get rid of it,
0:20.8	which is very dangerous. You might not even be they accumulate too much iron and they cannot get rid of it, which is very
0:21.2	dangerous. You might not even be aware of how much iron is in your daily life. I mean, this is
0:27.3	really important because you might not even be aware of how you're getting exposed to iron from
0:31.7	all sorts of, you know, strange places. Let me just kind of cover all the risk factors if you have iron overloaded. Number one,
0:39.8	cancer, especially colorectal. Number two, liver disease. I'm talking about scar tissue,
0:45.3	inflammation of the liver, which leads to cirrhosis, heart disease. Because if you think about iron,
0:49.7	think about rust. It rusts the inside of your body if you have too much. Low testosterone, low
0:55.2	libido, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, infertility, neural degeneration, and a wide range of
1:02.5	inflammatory diseases. You know, I did a video on iron deficiency being the most common mineral
1:07.6	deficiency. In the same time, it's the most dangerous if you're getting too much.
1:12.9	A toxic amount of iron is the most underdiagnosed, overlooked condition in relationship to all the
1:22.0	vitamins and minerals. And so let's just cover the common ways that you get iron that you might not
1:27.3	even be aware of.
1:28.1	One way that people are being overloaded is with their supplements, especially the one-a-days.
1:33.8	I do not recommend getting a one-a-day supplement with iron.
1:36.9	And you don't absorb much, which means a lot of it accumulates and sits around in your digestive
1:43.5	track, which means that it is time to cause
1:46.5	constipation, nausea, diarrhea, bloating, irritation in the colon. You really only absorb like 10%
	...

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