| Iron and your Heart Health |  |
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 realized 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 and what are they? A few trace
metals that we absorb are toxic, these include iron and lead
To make use of them 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 Chelator
Many chemicals can serve as chelators. Their effects will
depend on the precise nature and concentration of that
chelator.
There are some weak chelators present in common foods.
Stronger chelators are substances used medicinally to rid
the body of excess toxic 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.
This 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.
But beware! - 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
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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 operates 'Natures Remedies' a health and
nutrition business selling cutting-edge herbal nutrition
products.
http://www.naturesremediesuk.com
Who is Jakki Francis? http://www.JakkiFrancis.com
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