The Effects of Iron on your Heart Health

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The effects of iron on your Heart Health - by Jakki Francis

 

A ranch house, a zip lock bag and some ordinary flour Two experiments: 1) Some

ordinary wheat flour such as can be found in most homes placed with some water

in a zip-lock plastic bag. A magnet is passed over the bag and an extraordinary

thing happens - Iron particles start popping out and attaching themselves to the

side of the bag, forming clusters of what looked like iron filings.

 

2) The next experiment involves placing a well-known brand of cereal into a bowl

of water. The magnet is again passed over the bowl this time and the flakes

literally line up and follow the magnet round the bowl. This is the first time I

realised that there is so much added iron in the food that we eat and the effect

it can have on our health.

 

We’ve all been told that heart attacks and heart bypass surgery are as a direct

result of clogging or furring of our arteries by ‘bad cholesterol’. The arteries

become so narrowed as to make the blood flow through the arteries very difficult

thus placing enormous strains on the cardio-vascular system.

 

Why do we need chelators? A few trace metals that we absorb are toxic, these

include iron and lead

 

To make use of a metal, our bodies must form chelates (key-lates) out of them,

and to do this requires chelating substances Chelating substances attach to

desirable trace metals and allow the body to properly utilize those metals they

also attach to undesirable trace metals and allow the body to remove them.

 

Types of Chelators

 

Many chemicals can serve as chelators. Their effects will depend on the precise

nature and concentration of that chelator. They also vary in the strength with

which they bind metals. There are some weak chelators present in common foods.

 

Other chelators, such as substances used medicinally to rid the body of excess

toxic metals, form very strong bonds (chelates) with metals.

 

Why is there potential for Iron Overload?

 

Iron overload is possible because there is no normal mechanism for removing it

from the body.

 

The body is iron-efficient, it retains its iron and recycles it over and over

again. The body's iron level is controlled almost entirely by absorption and

iron can build up progressively as dietary intake increases, especially in men

because they do not have a monthly blood loss.

Over a period of months and years this will result in the accumulation of

several grams of iron.

 

Iron and Heart Disease Risk

 

Iron can generate free radical pathology. There is now good evidence that free

radical pathology leads to changes in the blood vessels which sets the stage for

atheroscelerosis. Accumulation of excess iron in the body may increase the risk

for heart disease and the connection doesn't end there.... Health statistics

have revealed that women have a lower risk of heart disease than men, until

menopause, after which the risk is the same.

Why?

 

Pre-menopausal women have a monthly blood loss that rids the body of excess,

potentially toxic iron, which may protect against heart disease. Even

pre-menopausal women with high blood cholesterol levels and high levels of LDL

(bad) cholesterol, which are considered to be strong risk factors for heart

disease, have less heart disease than men.

 

The Lead connection

 

Lead is a toxic element that has many undesirable health effects. Evidence links

excess lead with cardiovascular disease, cancer and other disorders. Researchers

have found that cancer rates are higher amongst people living near

heavily-traveled roads and it was suggested that this increased risk is due to

the higher levels of lead in the air. The findings led the researchers to test

the effect of a lead-removing substance - EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra acetic

acid),a man-made amino acid and chelating agent - on cancer rates in people

living near high-traffic roads.

 

After 18 years those treated with EDTA had one-tenth of the cancer rate of those

not treated with EDTA.

 

(1) Chelation Therapy This is the use of chelating agents, orally or by

injection, in order to bind and remove harmful metals from the body. The man

made chelating agent EDTA can remove most toxic metals.

 

Intravenous Chelation

 

This therapy has been used by doctors as an effective alternative to bypass

surgery for atherosclerosis since the 1950s, giving hope that having hardening

of the arteries need not lead to coronary bypass surgery, heart attack, stroke

and numerous other related diseases. Doctors noted reduced pain and blood

cholesterol levels as well as other favorable changes.

 

EDTA chelation therapy has been reported to help in many conditions now thought

to be related to free radical pathology: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes,

Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and others.

 

Another effect of EDTA is that it changes the calcium/ magnesium ratio in the

body. EDTA removes calcium more efficiently than magnesium which reduces the

ratio.

 

Lowering the ratio improves the flexibility of blood cells, reduces the tendency

of blood to clot and reduces blood cholesterol and blood pressure.

 

So the benefits of EDTA are not entirely due to the removal of toxic metals but

also the calcium/magnesium balance.

 

In the case of intravenous chelation, EDTA is used as the chelating agent. It is

carried in a glucose formulation together with synthetic B Vitamins. It takes

several hours and requires 80-100 treatments. Oral Chelation Oral EDTA therapy

can also be used. One or two oral doses of EDTA per day, over a period of months

can have a long-term preventative effect. There are many so-called oral

chelation supplements on the market containing few or no chelating substances!

 

For an oral chelation supplement that has been tested and certified to lower bad

cholesterol by The University of Illinois, Department of Food Science and Human

Nutrition:

 

Go to

http://GetaHealthyHeart.com --------------

References: 1. Blumer,W, et al Environmental International 3: 1980, pages

465-471 Bibliography: New Answers to Old Questions, The Free Radical Story by

Harry W Hersey

 

 

--

 

Jakki Francis, Natures Remedies (UK), 2004 This article is

copyrighted. Please feel free to use it in it’s entirety including copyright

information and information about the publisher. Jakki Francis operates 'Natures

Remedies' a health and nutrition business selling cutting-edge herbal nutrition

products. They are based in the UK and also trade in Europe, USA and Canada and

new partners are welcome from any of these countries.

http://www.naturesremediesuk.com And while there, don't forget to to

her F*REE Ezine, " Health News You Can Use " Who is Jakki Francis?

http://www.JakkiFrancis.com

_________________

JoAnn Guest

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DietaryTipsForHBP

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