Iron is a co-factor to oxygen as they work hand in hand. Iron is responsible for attracting oxygen to the body and carrying oxygen to all systems, tissues, and organs. Iron combines with other nutrients to produce vital blood proteins and is involved in food metabolism. Without iron the body cannot survive long since the metabolism would decrease and atrophy. Iron functions in the body: Ensures oxygenation of blood, Coverts hematin to carry oxygen to cells, Improves circulation, Augments tissue oxidation, Attracts oxygen to the body.
Iron is one of the most recognized minerals in society, especially amongst women as they loose large amounts of iron in their body during menstruation and childbirth. Iron deficiency is one of the most common deficiencies in the world and is a common condition amongst men as well as women. "There's no doubt that many of us can use more iron than we're getting. Roughly 20 percent of Americans are deficient in this mineral." 51
Iron is a co-factor to oxygen as they work hand in hand. Iron is responsible for attracting oxygen to the body and carrying oxygen to all systems, tissues and organs. "The three to five grams of iron in the body are found primarily as a component of hemoglobin and myoglobin, which are oxygen carrying and releasing substances." 52 Iron acts as an astringent on tissues because of its counteractive effects. Iron combines with other nutrients to produce vital blood proteins and is involved in food metabolism. Without iron the body cannot survive long since the metabolism would decrease and atrophy. Iron together with oxygen raises metabolism, promotes ambition and reasoning ability.
Without sufficient iron (hematin), the body can't manufacture enough new blood cells packed with hemoglobin, the red-cell protein that transports oxygen in the blood. Oxidation could not occur without iron in the hemoglobin of the red cells. Oxygen is drawn to the body when iron is supplied in the diet and stocked in the body. Oxygen burns waste materials to prevent them from building up in the body. As iron promotes oxygen in the body it increases its free use, in enhances motor function, mental vitality, liver, kidney and heart function as well as arterial elasticity. Iron helps to raise blood pressure, improve circulation, digestion and elimination. Lack of iron in the body leaves it susceptible to colds, throat and chest troubles.
Iron is beneficial for conditions of anemia, nose bleeds, tendencies to hemorrhage, chronic nephritis and many other conditions. In addition to its predominance in the red corpuscles, iron is found in gastric juices, lymph fluid, bile, eye pigment, hair and skin. Sixty to seventy percent of tissue iron is classed as essential or functional and only forty percent is storage iron. Essential iron is an integral part of hemoglobin and respiratory enzymes involved with the intracellular oxidation reduction process. "When iron is in short supply, so is oxygen... Oxygen shortage leads to disturbing pulmonary circulation; lungs feel uncomfortable and stiff." 53
Worn-out iron is excreted through the serous and mucus surfaces, the bile, urine and bowel. Organic iron is essential to the body. Overdoses of iron produce violent reactions in the body such as upsets in the digestive process, changes in blood chemistry, and can lead to anorexia. When too much iron is ingested it can cause hearing difficulty, absentmindedness, dulled senses and cranial pressure from within.
51. The Editors of Prevention Health Books, Healing with Vitamins, (RodalePress, Inc., 1996) pg. 9.
52. Robert Garrison, Jr., M.A., R.Ph. & Elizabeth Somer, M.A., R.D., The Nutrition Desk Reference, Third Edition, (Keats Publishing, Inc., 1995), pg. 197.
53. Bernard Jensen, Ph.D., The Chemistry of Man, (Bernard Jensen, 1983) page 213.
