Re: Iron absorption, etc (OT?)

[Guest guest]

Thanks! Yeah, the " saturated fat " debate has become very polarized, and I

think (obviously) that iron is the missing link in the debate. One study I

read specifically used coconut oil as an iron-absorption-enhancer. I didn't

figure this out until I started having some issues (heart arrhythmia) that

seemed to occur mainly when I ate vitamin C or beef ... both of which I

figured were good for me! But I was taking the vitamin C with meals, which

of course enhance absorption of all that healthy food I was eating.

Eeesh.

My homemade molasses beer was probably part of the issue too, plus our

high-iron well water. In terms of this microbial nutrition group, molasses

is commonly used to help grow yeast/bacteria (think molasses beer, water

kefir, EM). But the iron content isn't lowered by the fermentation process:

the iron stays, albeit in a different (more absorbable?) form.

Anyway, my current experimentation seems to be working: my heart is doing

fine, my BP is down 20 points, my joints don't crack. Interestingly, my " age

spots " (which I've had since I was 30) are fading.

On Sat, May 22, 2010 at 11:32 AM, <doopt@...> wrote:

> What an excellent post!

> I've been reading quite a lot on these exact topics lately--especially

> the high iron business and have come to believe high iron, high ferritin

> are

> hugely detrimental to good health. I also take calcium (and some chromium

> picolinate) when eating high iron foods to avoid absorption as well as

> smaller amounts of magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D to balance things out.

> It

> didn't register with me that coconut oil (or saturated fat) was enhancing

> iron

> availability. That's very good info. Thanks.

>

>

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

> ------------------------------------

>

> The whole " saturated fat " debate is an interesting one. The latest

> research

> goes something like this:

>

> 1. Polyunsaturated fats are very, very unstable. They go rancid quickly.

>

> 2. For this reason, many of the polyunsaturated fats you buy are

> " saturated "

> ... that is, they add hydrogen atoms to them. This makes the fat " stiffer "

> and also more stable. Used a whole lot for frying.

>

> 3. Naturally saturated fats are the stiff ones, like cow fat.

>

> 4. Monunsaturated fats, like olive oil, are pretty stable, and not stiff.

>

> The #1 fats have been shown to cause heart disease. Feeding corn or

> safflower oil to mice is a standard way to cause athlerosclerosis in mice,

> and corn/safflower oil consumption tracks with heart disease in humans

> too.

> It's not so much the heat processing as the fact they are very unstable,

> and

> they are unstable in your body too.

>

> The artificially saturated fats (#2: the " trans fats) have also been shown

> to cause heart disease. There is so much evidence against them that New

> York

> banned them. Really bad stuff, and there isn't any controversy about it

> even.

>

> #4 fats, the monos, like olive oil, don't cause heart disease. Some people

> think, though, that if they are protective it's not because of the oil so

> much as because of the olive extract that is in the oil. Olive extract is

> a

> very potent antioxidant.

>

> The #3 fats are where the controversy is. Naturally saturated fats. Some

> people believe they cause heart disease: some people don't. The thing is,

> the studies aren't very good. Most of them track " all fats " ... which

> includes, in the US, mostly #1 and #2 fats. But if you look at places like

> Thailand, where they eat a LOT of naturally saturated coconut oil, the

> coconut oil is not causing heart disease. So people are now thinking

> coconut

> oil does not cause heart disease. Pure cow fat doesn't appear to cause

> heart

> disease either.

>

> And yet some studies DO link saturated fat to heart disease. So what is

> going on? My take is that there is one thing we know saturated fat does:

> it

> increases iron absorption. High iron levels DO track with heart disease

> (and

> metabolic syndrome in general). So if a person eats, say, a meal of steak

> and potatoes and enriched bread, the saturated fat allows the iron in the

> steak, potatoes, and enriched bread (all quite high in iron), to get

> absorbed, and iron levels in the US are very high compared to other

> countries. While the Thai guy who eats rice and fish, with coconut oil,

> does

> not get a bunch of iron at all.

>

> Anyway, we use mainly coconut oil: it is quite stable, and has good

> antiviral stuff in it. I also use olive oil, and it is nice on salads,

> esp.

> mixed with fresh-squeezed garlic. And when I eat steak, I take a calcium

> pill with it: the calcium blocks the iron. Also I donate blood, which is a

> really efficient way to get rid of lots of iron!

>

>

>

>