Vitamin C Helps To Reduce Iron

alywest

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Hmmm this was interesting to read. I will definitely be taking vitamin c after reading it, that blog is pretty legit! Thanks @Arnold Grape
 
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Arnold Grape

Arnold Grape

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The theory outlined in the aforementioned blog post is that Vitamin C taken congruently with an iron source will increase its absorbtion while taking Vitamin C with adequate b vitamins and a good diet elsewhere will reduce overall iron in one's system.
 
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Haemochromatosis

Individuals with iron overload problems, mainly the elderly and those with haemochromatosis (HC) may be reluctant to use vitamin C because of medical advice that it may increase iron absorption. However, from a biochemical perspective, iron overload is a problem of the redox balance with too much iron in the oxidised ferro-form accumulating in the liver. I have shown that this can easily be cured or rectified with a sufficiently high intake of vitamin C (10 grams of spaced-out sodium ascorbate/day) to normalise the overall redox potential of the body (9, 10).

I had several HC patients whose iron levels normalised within weeks with a high sodium ascorbate intake. The success rate was 100%, while with the low vitamin C intake suggested by conventional medicine it is 0%. My first patient with hereditary HC was treated conventionally for several years with frequent blood-letting, and was close to death without bringing the iron values into the normal range. But this happened within 20 days after starting ascorbate supplementation. He was anaemic with very low haemoglobin values, and additional Meniere's disease, also all of these normalised rapidly with the start of ascorbate therapy. Interestingly, when he reduced his ascorbate to 5 grams and also started eating meat his iron level moved up again and only normalised when increasing vitamin C to 10 grams.

In medicine HC is regarded as an iron overload disease because high amounts of oxidised iron in the form of ferritin (an iron-3 binding protein complex) are stored in the liver and cause oxidative problems also in other parts of the body. I prefer instead to regard it as an iron deficiency disease. The body is deficient in usable iron, that is why it sends out a message to absorb more of it.

Vitamin C not only improves the absorption of iron, it is also required to move iron in and out of ferritin tissue stores. Without adequate antioxidants, ferric iron stores may build up because iron cannot be liberated from tissue ferritin and transferred onto plasma transferrin, the main protein in the blood that binds to iron and transports it throughout the body. This step requires vitamin C for a temporary reduction of 3-valence ferric to 2-valence ferrous iron.

A main problem is the recycling of iron from the continual breakdown of haemoglobin in the spleen. About 25 mg of iron are recycled daily in this way, but this requires a reduction-oxidation step to transfer ferritin iron in the tissue onto plasma transferrin. With vitamin C deficiency there would be only a partial recycling. Most of the iron stores build up in the liver where the decomposed haemoglobin arrives through the portal vein after its liberation from old erythrocytes in the spleen.

This causes a very high oxidation potential in the liver, leading to various liver diseases and elevated liver enzymes. However, very high ferric iron stores in the liver would also make this organ more antioxidant deficient than other tissue. The highest vitamin C activity would be in the intestinal mucosa as these have first call on the antioxidants absorbed from food. Therefore, transferrin will preferentially pick up iron from the intestinal mucosa and avoid the liver stores as too difficult to convert.

Iron overload is not just a problem of our genes. It is a general problem as we get older but happens more rapidly in males and with liver diseases. Therefore it is probably a condition of most elderly individuals. This causes generalised vitamin C deficiency being expressed as a great variety of old-age symptoms. Two very common ones are connective tissue weakness and loss of hair colour.
 

Blossom

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Haemochromatosis

Individuals with iron overload problems, mainly the elderly and those with haemochromatosis (HC) may be reluctant to use vitamin C because of medical advice that it may increase iron absorption. However, from a biochemical perspective, iron overload is a problem of the redox balance with too much iron in the oxidised ferro-form accumulating in the liver. I have shown that this can easily be cured or rectified with a sufficiently high intake of vitamin C (10 grams of spaced-out sodium ascorbate/day) to normalise the overall redox potential of the body (9, 10).

I had several HC patients whose iron levels normalised within weeks with a high sodium ascorbate intake. The success rate was 100%, while with the low vitamin C intake suggested by conventional medicine it is 0%. My first patient with hereditary HC was treated conventionally for several years with frequent blood-letting, and was close to death without bringing the iron values into the normal range. But this happened within 20 days after starting ascorbate supplementation. He was anaemic with very low haemoglobin values, and additional Meniere's disease, also all of these normalised rapidly with the start of ascorbate therapy. Interestingly, when he reduced his ascorbate to 5 grams and also started eating meat his iron level moved up again and only normalised when increasing vitamin C to 10 grams.

In medicine HC is regarded as an iron overload disease because high amounts of oxidised iron in the form of ferritin (an iron-3 binding protein complex) are stored in the liver and cause oxidative problems also in other parts of the body. I prefer instead to regard it as an iron deficiency disease. The body is deficient in usable iron, that is why it sends out a message to absorb more of it.

Vitamin C not only improves the absorption of iron, it is also required to move iron in and out of ferritin tissue stores. Without adequate antioxidants, ferric iron stores may build up because iron cannot be liberated from tissue ferritin and transferred onto plasma transferrin, the main protein in the blood that binds to iron and transports it throughout the body. This step requires vitamin C for a temporary reduction of 3-valence ferric to 2-valence ferrous iron.

A main problem is the recycling of iron from the continual breakdown of haemoglobin in the spleen. About 25 mg of iron are recycled daily in this way, but this requires a reduction-oxidation step to transfer ferritin iron in the tissue onto plasma transferrin. With vitamin C deficiency there would be only a partial recycling. Most of the iron stores build up in the liver where the decomposed haemoglobin arrives through the portal vein after its liberation from old erythrocytes in the spleen.

This causes a very high oxidation potential in the liver, leading to various liver diseases and elevated liver enzymes. However, very high ferric iron stores in the liver would also make this organ more antioxidant deficient than other tissue. The highest vitamin C activity would be in the intestinal mucosa as these have first call on the antioxidants absorbed from food. Therefore, transferrin will preferentially pick up iron from the intestinal mucosa and avoid the liver stores as too difficult to convert.

Iron overload is not just a problem of our genes. It is a general problem as we get older but happens more rapidly in males and with liver diseases. Therefore it is probably a condition of most elderly individuals. This causes generalised vitamin C deficiency being expressed as a great variety of old-age symptoms. Two very common ones are connective tissue weakness and loss of hair colour.
That's so interesting! Where did you find that information?
 

SaltGirl

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Taking a lot of Vitamin C and some calcium torpedo'd my Ferritin from 80-90 to 12 in less than half a year. Don't remember the Iron Saturation exactly but that also went down to below 15%.
 

SaltGirl

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How much vitamin c?
If you are referring to me I was taking about 1000 grams before sleep every day. Some days I'd take more if I felt like it. If I had indigestion, bloating, or edema, I'd take Vitamin C and it would resolve rather quickly.

Cured gallstones with Vitamin C. Had those gallstones with great pain for 4 years. After Vitamin C I haven't had an incident for ages.
 

SaltGirl

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Did you have any other factors, like blood donation?

Nope, nada, nothing. I don't even menstruate.

Didn't eat too much red meat, basically just ate whatever the office cantina was offering every day. Even had Iron rich cereal for a week or two(Cheerios).
 

SaltGirl

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how did you take your vitamin C? OJ, fruit, liver?

Capsules actually. 1 gram Now brand. Take the capsules, not the tablets as I found the capsules more effective for some reasons(maybe some binding material that makes the tablets less effective). I know Ray Peat talked about heavy metals in Vitamin C, but at the time I was desperate to resolve my gallstones(didn't want to lose my gallbladder) so I took high-dose vitamin C after reading that estrogen depletes Vitamin C, especially in HRT. Then, when I got additional benefits, I just kept on taking it.

Food Vitamin C never managed to do ***t for me. Maybe because it is harder to get adequate Vitamin C that way when you are really deplete or some other issues. Vitamin C also had positive effects on my anxiety.
 

YourUniverse

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Capsules actually. 1 gram Now brand. Take the capsules, not the tablets as I found the capsules more effective for some reasons(maybe some binding material that makes the tablets less effective). I know Ray Peat talked about heavy metals in Vitamin C, but at the time I was desperate to resolve my gallstones(didn't want to lose my gallbladder) so I took high-dose vitamin C after reading that estrogen depletes Vitamin C, especially in HRT. Then, when I got additional benefits, I just kept on taking it.

Food Vitamin C never managed to do ***t for me. Maybe because it is harder to get adequate Vitamin C that way when you are really deplete or some other issues. Vitamin C also had positive effects on my anxiety.
Vitamin C has historically been the most profound vitamin for me too, for all the reasons you noted.
 

tankasnowgod

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Vitamin c increases absorption of iron

It does in single meal challenge studies that have non-heme iron (actually, supplemental iron). It does this since it's an iron chelator, so it bonds with iron and makes it more absorbable. In fact, EDTA bound to iron will have the same effect. But in longer term studies, it does not necessarily lead to increased iron in the body. In fact, it might possibly lower it. This long term study found that the results were not at all consistent, and subjects took 1 gram of C twice a day with their biggest iron containing meals-

http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/bloodjournal/64/3/721.full.pdf?sso-checked=true

Most, no noticeable effect, some had a modest increase of 10-20 ng/ml ferritin, but two more than halved a very high (or "high normal") ferritin level, one from 197 to 76, the other from 199 to 46.

If you have any worries about C increasing iron, it can always be taken away from meals that contain non-heme iron (it doesn't have an effect on heme iron).
 
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TeaRex14

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The is really good news for me. I take 5 grams of vitamin C daily, so I've always spaced out my dosages about an hour before meals so they don't increase iron. Glad to know this may not even be a problem.
 

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