Iron:Why is iron in your products? We hear today that iron is dangerous especially for men.

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Why is iron in your products? We hear today
that iron is dangerous especially for men.

Iron is an essential nutrient. It is on the list of required nutrients. While an excess of any nutrient is not good, iron is still an essential part of good nutrition. Excess iron may be caused by a variety of factors, many of which may be discovered by a qualified medical doctor. If there is no apparent reason for elevated iron it may be an imbalance between minerals. Our products will re-balance the body so that it may more easily find it's own equilibrium. The Majestic Earth products only provide a part of the minimum daily intake of iron.

Iron: What is it?
Iron is an essential mineral and an important component of proteins involved in oxygen transport and metabolism (1,2). Almost two-thirds of the iron in your body is found in hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to your body’s tissues. Smaller amounts of iron are found in myoglobin, a protein that helps supply oxygen to muscle, and in enzymes that assist biochemical reactions in cells.

About 15 percent of your body’s iron is stored for future needs and mobilized when dietary intake is inadequate. The remainder is in your body’s tissues as part of proteins that help your body function. Adult men and post-menopausal women lose very little iron except through bleeding.

Women with heavy monthly periods can lose a significant amount of iron. Your body usually maintains normal iron status by controlling the amount of iron absorbed from food.

What is the Recommended Dietary Allowance for Iron
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of nearly all (97-98%) healthy individuals in each life-stage and gender group (1).

The 2001 RDAs for iron (in milligrams) for infants ages 7 to 12 months, children and adults are:

Age	Infants, Children	Males	Females	Pregnancy	Lactation
7 to 12 months	11 mg
1 to 3 years	7 mg
4 to 8 years	1o mg
9 to 13 years		8 mg	8 mg
14-18 years		11 mg	15 mg	27 mg	10 mg
19-50 years		8 mg	18 mg	27 mg	9 mg
51+ years		8 mg	8 mg

When can iron deficiency occur?
The World Health Organization considers iron deficiency the number one nutritional disorder in the world. It affects more than 30% of the world’s population.

When your need for iron increases or a loss of iron from bleeding exceeds your dietary iron intake, a negative iron balance may occur. Initially this results in iron depletion, in which the storage form of iron is decreased while blood hemoglobin level remains normal. Iron deficiency occurs when blood and storage levels of iron are low, and the blood hemoglobin level falls below normal .

Iron deficiency anemia may result from a low dietary intake, inadequate intestinal absorption, excessive blood loss, and/or increased needs. Women of childbearing age, pregnant women, older infants and toddlers, and teenage girls are at greatest risk of developing iron deficiency anemia because they have the greatest needs .

Individuals with renal failure, especially those receiving dialysis, are at high risk for developing iron deficiency anemia. This is because their kidneys cannot create enough erythropoietin, a hormone needed to make red blood cells. Iron and erythropoietin can also be lost with blood during dialysis, which can result in an iron deficiency. Extra iron and erythropoietin are usually needed to help prevent iron deficiency in these individuals .

Iron deficiency could also be caused by low vitamin A status. Vitamin A helps to mobilize iron from its storage sites, so a deficiency of vitamin A limits the body’s ability to use stored iron. This results in an “apparent” iron deficiency because hemoglobin levels are low, even though the body can maintain normal amounts of stored iron . While uncommon in the U.S., this problem is seen in developing countries where vitamin A deficiency often occurs.

The anemia that may occur with inflammatory disease differs from iron deficiency anemia. It occurs in people who have chronic infectious, inflammatory, or malignant disorders . It is not associated with a shortage of dietary iron, and may not respond to iron supplementation. A physician should manage anemia associated with an inflammatory disorder.

Signs of iron deficiency anemia include feeling tired and weak, decreased work and school performance, slow cognitive and social development during childhood, difficulty maintaining body temperature, and decreased immune function, which may decrease resistance to infection . During pregnancy, iron deficiency is associated with increased risk of premature deliveries, giving birth to infants with low birth weight, and maternal complications .

Iron and Heart Disease.
Several observations have led researchers to examine the association between high iron stores and coronary heart disease. It appears that rates of heart disease among women increase when monthly periods stop, a time when levels of stored iron increase. Also, some researchers have suggested that lower rates of heart disease among people living in developing countries may be due to low meat (and iron) intake, high fiber diets that inhibit iron absorption, and gastrointestinal (GI) parasite concentrations that result in gastrointestinal blood (and iron) loss, all of which contribute to low iron stores in this population. In addition, a 1980s study of Finnish men linked high iron stores with increased risk of heart attacks. However, not all studies have supported this relationship , including a 1999 review of 12 studies that failed to show a strong association . It is also true that older women have a greater prevalence of traditional cardiovascular disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and elevated blood cholesterol. Currently, available data do not provide convincing support for an association between high body iron stores and increased risk for coronary heart disease .

What is the health risk of too much iron?

Iron has a moderate to high potential for toxicity because very little iron is excreted from the body. Thus, iron can accumulate in body tissues and organs when normal storage sites are full.

In children, acute toxicity can occur from overdoses of medicinal iron. Ingestion of as few as five or six high-potency tablets can provide amounts of iron that can be fatal to a child of 22 pounds. Consuming 1 to 3 grams of iron can be fatal to children under six and lower doses can cause severe symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea (64). It is important to keep iron supplements tightly capped and away from children’s reach. Any time excessive iron intake is suspected, immediately call your physician or Poison Control Center, or visit your local emergency room. In adults high intakes of iron supplements are associated with constipation, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, especially when the supplements are taken on an empty stomach (1).

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine set a tolerable upper intake level (UL) of 40 mg per day for infants and children through age 13 and 45 mg per day for adolescents ages 14 to 18 years and adults 19 years of age and older (1). The upper limit does not apply to individuals who receive iron under medical supervision. There may be times when a medical doctor prescribes an intake higher than the upper limit, such as when individuals with iron deficiency anemia need higher doses of iron until their iron stores return to normal.

References
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, in conjunction with the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) in the Office of the Director of NIH.

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