Article Commentary: Foods that can Assist in Reducing Iron in the Body

Many today are  being told they don’t have enough iron in their body.  What might be better stated, is that their body is not releasing the iron into the blood to go where it needs to go.

Dr Mercola just rereleased an article originally published in 2024, regarding ways to deal with high iron in the body. His recommendations for reducing high iron however, are/were limited. His top recommendation is donating blood, however this may not necessarily be possible. I have a sister with persistent high iron, and while she sits in a chair once a month to fill a pint, it isn’t to donate it. Her doctor has stated that her blood’s level of iron is too high to put into blood bank circulation and would cause the recipient to suddenly have high iron complications if they were to accept her blood. Not everyone has her particular condition, so if a person’s blood-iron is low enough, perhaps donating can help bring it down to a healthier level without threatening recipients with their monthly pint of blood.

I skimmed to the nutritional medicinal recommendations and found a couple nuggets worth looking into further.

The first is a carotenoid, also known as an anti-oxidant, (all anti-oxidants are carotenoids, but not all carotenoids are anti-oxidants) called alpha-lipoic acid. This according various sources, is useful in boosting glutathione, eye health, heart health, digestive health, liver and kidney health. I did some digging and curated a useful list that can help round out the typical diet to aid in chelating unnecessary iron from the blood.

Alpha-lipoic acid can be found in a variety of foods such as: Beets, Brewer’s Yeast, Broccoli, red cabbage, Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, Eggs, Carp, Halibut, Kale, Beef, Chicken, Peas, Potatoes, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, and Yams.

Spinach is cautioned due to it’s high estrogen content. Young girls, men, and older women should not be increasing their typical levels of estrogen. If you have sensitivities to sulfur, the brassica family may not be your best set of choices. This includes broccoli, brussel sprouts, Cabbage, kale, etc.

The book-writer Mercola was quoting, says another phytochemical, curcumin, is so effective, it lowers her iron, blood pressure and other health markers too! She is quick to note this is due to a different condition she has, but it showed her the effectiveness of this phytochemical nonetheless. Curcumin binds to iron, effectively chelating it from the body. This is harmful if you are low on iron already, but may be useful if the reason you are low, is the iron hiding in various areas of the body that it won’t come loose from on it’s own. Curcumin is found in Turmeric and Cumin.

Silymarin is also recommended for lowering iron levels, and is often quoted as only found in Milk Thistle! It is also present in other members of the thistle family such as artichoke and scotch thistle. Artichokes are readily available in most produce stores, and you just might have a scotch thistle growing nearby, particularly if you live in a dry area.

Copper deficiency can also contribute to high or low levels of iron, as it helps a couple enzymes get it into the body from the intestines, then helps it enter various cells. Mercola quotes the book author as saying:

“Hephaestin is in the lining of the gut, the intestinal lining. Copper is necessary for iron to be absorbed in the gut lining. So, without copper, you will not absorb iron and you will develop iron-decient anemia.

Once iron has been absorbed in the gut lining by hephaestin, it passes it off to ceruloplasmin, which is the second copper-rich enzyme. Ceruloplasmin basically then allows that copper to transfer in and then move throughout the body. So, without ceruloplasmin, iron gets stuck in the tissues”

Copper is a touchy recommendation, in that it needs zinc to keep it balanced in the body. I go into this issue in my article: “Copper: Are We Getting Too Much or Too Little?”.

Copper is found in beef liver, eggs, brewer’s yeast, beets, fish, scotch thistle, spinach, tomatoes, yams and garlic. Notice how similar this list is to the alpha-lipoic acid list?

Zinc can be found in eggs, kale, beef, chicken, peas, potatoes, scotch thistle, spinach, and tomatoes. Yet another similar food list! Incorporating these foods into your regular diet if you’ve been diagnosed with high iron/ferratin levels, or suspect them due to symptoms you are dealing with, may very well help your body better regulate it’s iron levels in a safer manner than relying on manmade drugs to do the job.

Wholefood to the rescue, both to balance out dangerous iron levels as well as to keep assistive phytochemicals in balance so they don’t cause issues of their own.

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