Hemochromatosis  and Anemia Diet   This diet is especially important for those in protocol treatment 1.  A low iron diet is not recommended or even possible to design.  Iron is in everything  and foods that contain iron also provide other essential elements to help heal and rebuild  the body.  Red meat is an important source of B vitamins.  Fresh fruits and vegetables  benefit the liver more than processed foods. 2.  Iron is not excreted.  A normal metabolism for iron refrains from absorbing more than  the daily need.  One milligram of iron is lost daily through hair, fingernails, dead skin cells  and other detritus.  The average daily loss for menstruating woman is one and half milligrams.  That one or one and a half is the daily need despite outdated levels recommended by the governmental agencies. 3.  Body damage from iron injury is entirely preventable.  Treatment is completely benign.   An individual with elevated iron should begin protocol treatment and be motivated to bring  ferritin to the lowest end of normal ranges.  Then the patient must continue a maintenance program to prevent the re-buildup.  Each individual loads iron at a different rate.  The first  year is experimental.  Measure the ferritin - measure of storage iron - at the end of each year,  and adjust the schedule as necessary. 4.  Protocol treatment is blood removal once or twice a week at the blood bank.  The patient  should be well hydrated and should not skip meals.  Treatment is inexpensive or free in some  cases and is effective.  Such treatment will return the patient to a normal lifespan and reverse  most if not all symptoms. 5.  With a hemoglobin of 10 or higher and a hematocrit of 33% or higher, a full unit of blood  should be drawn off once or twice a week.  The blood is usable as donor blood when it meets all safety criteria. 6.  What about anemia?  Anemias are iron-loading, except for anemias resulting from  chronic blood loss or tumor.  When iron accumulates in storage instead being used by hemoglobin, the patient's hemoglobin will test low.  Iron should not be administered.  Instead the patient needs a complex of B vitamins, including B6, folate or folic acid and B12.  The excess iron must be removed despite the anemia. 7.  When low iron is found, it is essential to seek the source of the blood loss or cancer. Cancer cells require iron to proliferate.  It is dangerous to medicate with iron without first knowing the iron levels and then discovering the reason for low iron. 8.  When anemia is severe enough to require transfusions, physicians should be aware that this process will increase the dangerous iron burden.  Iron must be simultaneously removed through the iron chelator Desferal or a new chelator called Exjade. 9.  Preventing liver cancer is the patient's primary goal.  The patient should avoid medications where possible and protect the liver.  The physicians should use medications only when  absolutely necessary. 10.  Alcohol should be avoided until the de-ironing process is completed.  When liver enzymes return to normal, the patient may cautiously ease back into social drinking. 11.  Tylenol ® - acetemetaphen - should never be taken with alcohol.  The patient who tests with elevated liver enzymes, as many do, must avoid Tylenol ® altogether. 12.  Those in protocol treatment will benefit from a B complex of vitamins, including B6, folic acid or folate and B12.  Low doses of vitamin E - below 50 International Units daily is also beneficial. 13.  Iron patients must check labels of processed foods for added iron or vitamin C.  An example is that oatmeal or shredded wheat should be selected instead of the breakfast cereal Total ®. 14.  Who should take iron?  The only candidate for iron supplementation is an individual who has had large portions of gut surgically removed. 15.  The patient must not take any over-the-counter vitamin C as a pill.  It has been found to mobilize stored iron into the heart muscle where it sets up arrhythmia or heart rhythm disturbances.  It can also cause people to over absorb iron even from their ordinary diets. And it can fire the iron that is stored in the joints and makes arthritis worse.  Of course everyone will need vitamin C in their diet.  The source for vitamin C should be any uncooked food.  Fruits, juices and salads are excellent sources.  Multi vitamins even without iron should be avoided because of the vitamin C restriction. 16.  The patient must not eat or handle raw seafood.  Cooked is OK, but not raw.  Iron overloaded patients should also not walk on beaches barefoot.  This is because of a bacterium common in all sea water called Vibrio vulnificus.  This bacterium when it encounters stored iron is catastrophically toxic.  Every year it is the cause of death and maiming when an undiagnosed iron overloaded patient comes in contact with this bacteria. 17.  Drinking tea can help inhibit iron absorption.  Tannin is the blocking agent.  The patient should understand that this will not be a replacement for protocol treatment. 18.  Excess iron stores in liver, heart, brain, pancreas, joints and everywhere.  Iron oxidizes - rusts - and results in deadly and expensive disease.  Symptoms of heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis, diabetes, arthritis, sexual dysfunction and others are completely preventable when they are based on iron.  Maintaining low iron levels improves immunity, making iron unavailable to viruses, bacteria and cancer cells. 19.  The most common of several iron storage diseases is hemochromatosis.  It is caused by the most frequently expressed genetic abnormality in any population and can result in the metabolic defect that leads to iron overload.  It is estimated that 42 million Americans are at risk, including those with the double gene and those with the single gene expression.  The single mutation may result in enough excess iron to cause heart attack or stroke, aside from full blown hemochromatosis. Prepared by Iron Overload Disease Assn. Inc.   PO Box 15857 West Palm Beach, FL 33416 561-586-8246 866-768-8629  Toll Free    E-mail:  iod@ironoverload.org  Web Site: www.ironoverload.org This site is supported entirely by memberships.  If you feel that this site is of value, we hope that you will consider joining with us as a member of our organization.  It is an excellent way to stay updated on this important and complex subject.  Simply click on the membership button below or mail a check to the above address.  We are a 501 (c) (3) charity as listed with the IRS and donations are tax deductable.                                                        Membership To join our organization go to our web page entitled Contact  .          Add this web site to your favorites list in your web browser                               Copyright © 2002  by Iron Overload Diseases Association, Inc. - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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