Dietary Iron Restriction

by Jon Sasmor RCPC (Mineral Guide, MinBalance LLC)
Updated April 2, 2022

The offical RCP Organic Ancestral Whole Foods diet doesn't seem to limit your intake of iron-rich foods such as red meat and organ meats. In contrast, the suggested Diet for Minerals does offer the benefit of limiting iron intake.

For those with too much iron, less iron intake may reduce the need for blood donation or phlebotomy. One milligram per day less of absorbed dietary iron would be as effective as removing an extra 365 mg per year of iron; this is about 1.5 fewer blood donations or phlebotomies needed, per year, to obtain the same net iron balance.

Most iron comes from recycling in the reticuloendothelial system. However, the iron going in does add up! A little bit less iron absorbed (say, 1 milligram per day instead of 2 milligrams per day) can help in the long run to ease the oxidative stress from excess iron, especially for those who:

can't or won't donate blood.
would thrive better donating blood less often due to adrenal fatigue (e.g. twice a year instead of four times, for men or postmenopausal women, or once a year instead of twice for premenopausal women).
have extreme iron overload and want to reduce iron faster.

Measures in the Diet for Minerals to limit excess iron absorption include:

All fruit, adrenal cocktails, and other sources of real Whole-Food-Vitamin-C must be eaten away from other food.
Coffee or tea may be sipped with meals to inhibit iron absorption.
Quantities of red meat, meat, and total animal protein foods are limited to avoid eating too much iron. (Restricting protein to the amount needed, and not more, also seems beneficial for many people.)