Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Hi everyone,

I've been lurking on this forum for several months, but this is the first time that I've posted anything. I'm hoping that some of the more biochemistry-literate PaleoHacks members can provide some help and advice regarding a somewhat unusual issue.

I have some form of hereditary hemochromatosis (for those of you who are not familiar with HH, it is a genetic mutation that causes excessive absorption of iron from the GI tract). In general, paleo-style eating greatly exacerbates this problem, both because of the emphasis on red meats and the notable lack of phytates in the diet (which seem to have kept my iron levels under control when I was eating a mostly-vegetarian, grain- and bean-based diet).

However, I've found that limiting my red meat consumption (in favor of poultry, mainly) has little to no effect on either my serum iron levels or the rate of iron deposition in ferritin stores. Furthermore, I've recently had blood tests done that suggest at least a marginal zinc deficiency, which is consistent with several lingering symptoms that I've had. According to nutritiondata.com, poultry has a much lower zinc-to-iron ratio than beef, and is not actually that much lower in iron than red meat.

Donating blood is the only way I've found to consistently lower my iron levels, but (a) the effect is temporary and (b) even when ferritin is very low, serum levels remain high, sometimes very high, which I'm concerned may wreak havoc with the delicate balance of iron, copper, zinc, and manganese.

So my plea to the PaleoHacks community is this: can anyone help me figure out how the hell to achieve optimal mineral balance with this disorder? Is this even possible? What else would you eat and/or supplement to mitigate the negative effects of HH? Any other relevant thoughts?

I'm concerned that avoiding red meat is both ineffective and potentially harmful, as it deprives me of optimal quantities of other important nutrients.

Thanks so much in advance.

Edit: I took 1500 mg of IP-6 and 300 mg of apolactoferrin daily for a month, which had no effect whatsoever on my iron levels.

edited Jan 31 2012 at 3:35

asked Jan 31 2012 at 3:21

Iron Man
91●3

Carbicidal · Answer 1 · 2012-01-31 04:52:25Z UTC

G'day Iron Man, not sure if this will be helpful at all but you never know :)

i too have this condition and found that when i was concerntrating on eating lower iron foods my iron levels remained the same or increased but mostly increased them (weird!!)- i wondered if the saying 'what you concerntrate on gets bigger' was my problem, what i mean is, i was spending so much time worrying and not living the iron issue was taking control of my life, so i thought to myself- why deprive myself of the things i love MEAT?? So i stopped worrying and started eating a clean diet.

i have been eating a ('mostly') paleo diet for the last 6-9months and with regular v-sections my levels are now at a very good level. i have been aware of my condition for nearly 6 years and it has taken this long to get my levels under control. due to the condition your body will always pull iron from whatever it can.. Crossfit and eating a good balanced diet a big part in keeping my levels under control. i do take vitamin and mineral supps plus a very high potency fish oil and a few other sports products and i use wet celtic sea salt which has helped with some of my side effects of the condition BUT everybody is different and it will take some time to get things under control but the best thing to do is relax, dump blood every 2-3months & live life to the fullest.

a few questions- how old are you? and how long have you been aware of this condition?

take care!

James · Answer 2 · 2012-01-31 17:59:58Z UTC

My recollection is that the #1 method of reducing the iron is giving blood. You'll pretty much need to do it on a regular basis.

Totally unrelated trivia. The hemochromatosis gene is common in those of European descent, and is believed to be due to the bubonic plague. People with hemochromatosis were more likely to survive to child bearing age.

Todd · Answer 3 · 2012-01-31 22:06:25Z UTC

Iron Man -

I've been trying to manage my iron overload for a few years now (I'm assuming I've had the condition my entire life, but noticed it after going Paleo [ likely just more self-aware ]). At one point my Iron Stauration was at 96% and since then has fluctuated between 50 - 80%. My ferritin levels were close to 300, but after some routine phlebotomies, I got them down. That is actually the only way I've been able to positively affect my numbers - but not to the point I've wanted to. I too have incorporated more fish and poultry in the past year, in favor of red meats. I also stopped using my cast iron cookware in favor of stainless steel. I still eat about 3-4 oz pastured liver once or twice a week, and I did supplement with other vitamins / minerals [ copper, zinc ] with the hope they would compete with iron for absorption.

All in all, I would say it's been a tough, frusterating road to go down. I was vigilant with it in the beginning, but after repeated attempts to get my Primary Care doctor and my Hematologist to help, I didn't know what else to do, and got discouraged. I did reach out to Chris Masterjohn - through a thoughtful gesture from Melissa hunt.gather.love., and also had Chris Kresser take a look at my labwork. Both of them had some good advice and were able to give me more insight into the condition than I recieved from the aforementioned doctors.

Based on my experience, I would say there are things you can do on a day to day basis such as the choices of meats, cookware, possible supplements, but where you really make a difference in the numbers is through routine phlebotomies.

Best of luck, and please do report back if you figure something else that helps :)

S.Y. · Answer 4 · 2012-01-31 11:03:42Z UTC

I too have this condition and lowered my ferritin from 203 to 18 with five blood donations. My target was around 30 - 40 range so it dropped a bit too low ;). I will re-check my ferritin levels within few months and calculate how fast it has a tendency to rise.

Both Ray Peat and Robb Wolf (the latter in the case of iron accumulation) recommend drinking coffee with iron rich meals (meat, liver) - it can supposedly block the iron absorbtion up to 90 - 95%. I am not aware whether coffee affects zinc, calsium, magnesium etc. absobtion though.

Theresa · Answer 5 · 2013-03-25 18:49:57Z UTC

My son has just been diagnosed with HH (267/81%) and his dad dug up some useful sounding dietary stuff that he ran past one of the doctors he works with who has an interest in HH. Vit C greatly enhances the absorption of iron as does sugar. HH patients preferentially absorb the NON-HAEM form of iron, dark green leafy vegetables etc. Don't take milk thistle - can't remember why.... And yeah, phytates, oxalic acid, coffee all good for inhibiting absorption. We have no experience of how this might help in practice because he has only had one bloodletting session as yet.

Balancing minerals with hemochromatosis?

5 Answers