Hemochromatosis Diet

Question
I am a 46 year old male. My hemochromatosis is in maintenance mode after very aggressive Phlebotomy regimen for the first 18 months after diagnosis where I had 70 units of blood taken at 500 ml per phlebotomy.

I now need to have 600 ml of blood taken through phlebotomy every 8 weeks. I am looking forays of reducing my iron intake through diet. My iron Saturation will rise to 70 % after 8 weeks without phlebotomy even though my feratin level is always below 15.

I eat very little red meat and minimal chicken and poultry. I avoid clams oysters, mussels and liver completely. My meat intake is perhaps 100 grams ounces of chicken every 2 or 3 days. I eat fish perhaps 3 times per week.

I avoid vitamin C and to avoid increasing iron absorption and I try to drink tea or coffee with meals to inhibit iron absorption. I completely avoid iron fortified breakfast cereals and to the extent possible I avoid iron fortified breads.

I eat quite a bit of lentils, black beans and other legumes to get protein.

My iron accumulation however is still extremely rapid. Are there any other things I can do to reduce my iron metabolism.

Parce-que je suis de Canada je parle francais aussi.

Merci beaucoup,

Mike Peplinski

Answer
Mike,

There is no evidence that hemochromatosis can be efficiently treated by a diet. However, you are doing well with your food choices. Black tea, indeed, as well as coffee were shown to decrease the absorption of iron but don抰 forget calcium and foods containing oxalic and phytic acids such as spinach or collard greens, which must be consumed at the same time as the iron-containing foods to prevent its excessive absorption.

You抳e mentioned legumes ?be careful: they are rich in ferritin, a major form of endogenous iron.

Be careful with supplements. Not only vitamin C but also vitamin E enhance the absorption of iron.

Keep in mind that there are foods rich in iron other than red meats, etc. For example, oat and wheat bran are almost 20 times higher in iron and cashew nuts contains 2.5 times more iron than lean beef.

Suggested article:

Food Sources of Iron
http://atkinszone.com/recipes/2008/09/food-sources-of-iron.html


Tanya Zilberter  

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