Thanks, Heather. I really don't think high iron is my problem, because I tend to be anemic. In fact, I get rejected for that reason when I try to donate blood, so I gave up.
Also, I eat gluten-free, so I don't eat many processed carbs, especially cereal or fortified anything. I don't drink juice or soda pop (only an occasional soda). GF foods tend not to be fortified, and I just don't eat cereal or bread much (the biggest fortified offenders.) I tend to overdo on Starbucks drinks, homemade popcorn, homemade baked goods, and real potatoes.
Good info, though.
Susie
--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, Heather Twist <HeatherTwist@...> wrote:
>
> Blood sugar is a tricky one, for sure.
>
> One of the things I found out, via a lot of reading, is that *high iron
> absorption* is one of the causes of high blood sugar. This seemingly
> doesn't make sense, since high carb intake seems to be one of the culprits
> in the US. But, in the US, most high carb foods also have added iron. Iron
> in a meal acts very much like sugar does, except that the iron sticks
> around forever, while the sugar goes away.
>
> Anyway, one of the things I did was to watch the iron content of a meal,
> and if a meal has, say, red meat, to have an iron-blocker with the same
> meal. Usually a cup or two of tea, and something with chili in it. Or an
> IP6 pill. Also I started donating blood, and we switched our diet to more
> fish, eggs, and poultry, less red meat. Using vinegar with meals (salad
> dressing: vinegar has some odd effects on iron). Avoiding Vitamin C or
> fruit or pop WITH meals (between meals is fine). In studies, even just
> donating blood a couple of times helps with T2 diabetes. Anyway, it
> worked. Our meals are mostly based on vegies (lots), fish/eggs/poultry,
> rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Fruit for snacks.
>
> I don't eat processed carbs much at all these days, but I have noticed some
> of them have a huge amount of added iron. Esp. the "healthy" cereals, which
> might have the entire recommended dose in one tiny serving. Natural iron,
> like the kind in brown rice, isn't very absorbable, but the kind that is
> added (ferrous sulfate usually) can be over-absorbed by some people, esp.
> if it is in a meal that has meat in it.
>
> The thing about "carbs" is this: Most of the world is on a high-carb diet,
> esp. the billions who live mainly on rice. Rice is a high-glycemic carb,
> and there are also soft drinks and HFCS in those areas too. But that part
> of the world does not get diabetes or obesity much, and when they do, they
> associate it with "Eating American food". This is one reason I started
> researching why "carbs" might be an issue in the US: it just doesn't make
> sense. The main carb that causes problems is wheat, which wreaks havoc in
> many ways, and iron, which is basically toxic even though we need a little
> of it. The hallmarks of "the American diet" is mainly that it rotates
> around wheat, white potatoes, and beef. All of which are high-iron foods,
> and wheat and beef might both promote iron absorption. Soda pop and orange
> juice, more common in America, also promote iron absorption. Your average
> Japanese, Vietnamese, or Thai meal though, is low in iron. So is your
> average French meal, since they don't add iron to bread and they don't eat
> much beef.
>
> There is a good paper about how iron affects diabetes:
>
>
> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12145144
>
> Emerging scientific evidence has disclosed unsuspected influences between
> iron metabolism and type 2 diabetes. The relationship is
> bi-directional--iron affects glucose metabolism, and glucose metabolism
> impinges on several iron metabolic pathways. Oxidative stress and
> inflammatory cytokines influence these relationships, amplifying and
> potentiating the initiated events. The clinical impact of these
> interactions depends on both the genetic predisposition and the time frame
> in which this network of closely related signals acts. In recent years,
> increased iron stores have been found to predict the development of type 2
> diabetes while iron depletion was protective. Iron-induced damage might
> also modulate the development of chronic diabetes complications. Iron
> depletion has been demonstrated to be beneficial in coronary artery
> responses, endothelial dysfunction, insulin secretion, insulin action, and
> metabolic control in type 2 diabetes. Here, we show that iron modulates
> insulin action in healthy individuals and in patients with type 2 diabetes.
> The extent of this influence should be tested in large-scale clinical
> trials, searching for the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of therapeutic
> measures that decrease iron toxicity. The study of individual
> susceptibility and of the mechanisms that influence tissue iron deposition
> and damage are proposed to be valuable in anticipating and treating
> diabetes complications.
>
>
> Also, high blood iron levels put you at risk for infections, since the
> infective bacteria tend to be iron-lovers. The way some antibiotics work is
> to chelate iron, keeping it away from the bacteria. You can get a blood
> test for ferritin to see what your stores are: just a plain "iron blood
> test" doesn't say much, since free iron, like glucose, goes up and down.
> But the things I've done to make us healthier are perfectly safe for most
> anyone, and it's a pretty easy experiment.
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 11:07 AM, susieq_az1 <susannauw2010@...> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I posted here some time back but have been away from IF/FF for about a
> > year. The reasons are important, as they affected my overall health: I
> > had pneumonia twice over the winter (the last time was March), with chronic
> > congestion and asthma-type symptoms. I discovered in March that it was due
> > to a severe hidden mold problem in my apartment. Needless to say, I
> > haven't felt my best. In addition to being very sick for weeks at a time
> > and feeling crappy the rest of the time, I was trying to keep income
> > flowing in (I'm self-employed) and seek new clients, which was stressful.
> > I've now moved into a new (brand new) apartment, and am slowly starting to
> > feel better.
> >
> > I didn't cope very well with all the stress, and developed very bad habits
> > of eating way too many carbs and sugar, including liquid sugar in the form
> > of coffee drinks. Of course, I gained weight, about 15 pounds.
> >
> > Now that I'm starting to get settled in my new place (with a pool and
> > gym), I am committed to being more fit and healthy. So the first thing I
> > did was to start FF. It has been a fairly easy transition so far, even
> > though I've only done it for about 3 days. The first two days, I ate
> > anything I wanted. Yesterday, I started focusing more on healthy (lower
> > carb, protein, veggies, fruits) food and planned meals.
> >
> > Here's my concern/question. I also started checking my blood glucose,
> > because it's motivating to me to see the levels stabilize, based on
> > http://www.phlaunt.com, which I read about here. Generally, my levels
> > are in the high normal range and they stabilize into the normal or low
> > normal range.
> >
> > However, now my blood glucose levels are much higher than they've ever
> > been and they stay high. Though I only have a few days, the pattern seems
> > to be roughly:
> >
> > First thing in the morning: 140-185
> > Before break fast (approx 2-3 pm): 95 (high normal) (this is lower than
> > day 1, which was 107, so there is a positive trend)
> > 1 hour after dinner: 165
> > 2 hours after dinner: 175-180
> >
> > Clearly, my illnesses and foray into high carb has not been good for my
> > system, as I've never experienced these levels before. It is taking at
> > least 14-16 hours for my blood sugar to return to normal after dinner,
> > when it should be taking 1-2 hours. From reading, it appears this
> > indicates insulin resistance? This also helps explain why I'm still not
> > feeling terrific even though my lung symptoms have decreased substantially.
> >
> > I know that I've read here that people have reported higher readings with
> > FF at first, though I think my higher readings are due to the high carb
> > period, as I haven't been doing FF or lower carb long enough to help. I
> > remember reading that FF and low carb have helped people lower their BG
> > levels, and my own limited experience supports that.
> >
> > My plan is to continue FF, choose high quality foods higher in protein and
> > fairly low in carb (mostly meat, non-starchy veggies and some fruits) at
> > two planned meals during my window. I also plan to resume taking
> > probiotics to help with digestive issues I've experienced since taking the
> > strong antibiotics, as well as a high quality multi-vitamin, calcium, and
> > vitamin D. (I was diagnosed as D deficient a few years ago, but have
> > fallen off the supplement wagon, which I know doesn't help.) Exercise
> > wise, I'll start off easy at first with a few strength training sessions
> > each week and walking in my new neighborhood, which has trails.
> >
> > I'm going to go back and read the older blood glucose posts over the next
> > few days. I guess I just need a bit of encouragement to stay the course and
> > not get freaked out by the "you must eat every few hours" mantra I've been
> > reading while researching blood glucose issues.
> >
> > Any advice or encouragement is appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Susie
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Heather Twist
> http://eatingoffthefoodgrid.blogspot.com/
>
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