Is IP6 intake enough when eating nuts daily (about 100 gr) ?
Or is it recommended for to take this as a supplement for short periods ? I assume you need more magnesium when supplementing with IP6 ?
after a little reading":
Therapeutic Methods For Iron Elimination:
1. Reduce Iron Exposure. This may sound obvious, but it is usually overlooked by those who care for iron-toxic patients. The diet should be restricted with elimination or drastic reduction of white flour products with iron, red meats, dark greens for a time, and perhaps foods such as molasses and red beets. Vitamin preparations and even prescription medications need to be checked carefully for iron content. Avoid iron cookware and check the iron content of the drinking water, especially if well water is used for drinking. Other, less common exposures include one’s occupation, colored inks, air pollution and others listed earlier in this paper.
2. Bloodletting. Leeches or phlebotomy (removing blood by intravenous needle) have been and are presently used commonly to reduce iron levels in cases of polycythemia and other disorders involving excessive iron.
These methods work excellently for removing iron. The advantages of this method are it is very fast (too fast) and it is relatively easy for the patient.
On the subject of bloodletting, it is, perhaps, no coincidence that those who give blood often live longer than those who receive many blood transfusions, a very dangerous pattern of medicine that needs to change. The problem with receiving blood, however, is not so much the iron, which is often needed, as infections that are blood-borne and hard to detect at the blood bank.
Adverse effects of bloodletting include:
1) Fatigue and weakness temporarily, at least.
2) Depletion, possibly, of many other nutrients besides iron. This is potentially a very devastating side effect in some cases of iron excess that can worsen the iron condition.
3) Masking of the real problem, since bloodletting does not address deeper causes of iron toxicity. In other words, this method does not restore true health.
4) Subtle defects in the body may show up with repeated bloodletting, as the blood carries much more than just minerals. Removing blood on a frequent basis carries other subtle risks for this reason.
2. Chelating Drugs. Iron chelators such as deferoxamie, penecillamine or even EDTA to some degree will remove some iron. Advantages of this method are ease and safety, relatively, of these methods in comparison with bloodletting. Problems with drug chelators are that other vital minerals and other substances may be removed, toxicity of the substance itself, especially if administered improperly, and not addressing the underlying causes.
Chelation may in fact address some causes if it is able to remove lead, cadmium and other toxic metals. However, chelation can also worsen mineral imbalances in some people, especially those with low tissue calcium or magnesium or zinc levels.
3. Natural Chelating Agents. These include green tea extract, a very interesting supplement. One can drink green tea, but it is not as effective as the extract that contains concentrated polyphenols and tannins. These tend to absorb iron and prevent its absorption into the body. It can also extract some iron from the intestinal walls. Four to ten capsules daily are neede, each with a polyphenol content of about 300 mg at least, according to Disease Prevention And Treatment, published by the Life Extension Foundation, 3rd edition.
Another chelator is vitamin C, except for the difficulty that vitamin C enhances iron absorption, so is less useful unless given intravenously. Another substance used is phytic acid found in some grains or in preparations such as IP-6. This natural method works by inhibiting absorption of iron from the intestine. It does not remove most stored iron, however, but will do some good. As an aside, bread is cooked by baking because adding the yeast and other ingredients and baking the flour destroys the phytic acid in the wheat. This is an important reason why bread should be baked and not eaten in an unleavened state.
Advantages of this method are low toxicity, with the exception of the IP-6, a powerful chelating agent, for which reason we prefer to call it a drug as it can remove much more than iron (such as zinc), causing deficiencies and gravely upsetting body chemistry in some individuals. It needs to be used with care.Other problems with the natural chelators is they do not address the causes, as with the other methods. They just lower iron, which is only one aspect of the problem.
4. Iron Antagonists. Certain food items and nutritional supplements can help reduce 1) iron absorption, 2) iron uptake by the cells or 3) help eliminate more iron through mechanisms other than chelation.
Above we discussed phytic acid, for example, a chemical that can inhibit iron aborption. Others are molybdenum, copper, zinc, manganese and other trace minerals as well.
Supplementing with these minerals, in foods or pill forms, can help reduce iron absorption and can even help the body eliminate some iron.
Food sources of antagonists often work best. Of course, the foods must not be high in iron as well, as is the case with meats, for example. Red meats are high in zinc and copper, but also high in iron. White meats are better, such as chicken, as it has less iron and still has some zinc and a little copper.
Sulfur is a potent iron antagonist, especially from meats. This mineral can help eliminate some iron through a type of chelation process, though not identical to the use of the chelating agents. Sulfur, selenium and other nutrients also help the liver process all toxic amounts of metals, including iron.
Products to support the liver and kidneys can also help the body remove iron. These include herbs such as milk thistle, dandelion root and many others.
Pancreatic enzymes can also be helpful to assist the body to produce plenty of bile to help eliminate iron.
The skin is another route to help the body remove iron. This is discussed at length in the Sauna Therapy book and article on www.drlwilson.com.
Finally, a program combining all the above is the finest way to eliminate iron, in our view. These are properly called nutritional balancing programs, as they combine six or seven methods at once for a synergistic approach that is the most powerful and safest method by far.
Edited by drmz, 13 December 2007 - 09:27 PM.