As a vegetarian I went through the whole anemia thing and my doctor prescribed iron pills and vitamin C. Lots of side effects. I stopped and improved within days. I now get iron only from food and always mix in C rich foods along with the greens and beans and stuff. Good video. Oh, I'm 78 and still working. Vegetarian since 1989.
So figure, you started eating real food with real basic nutrition (vitamins, minerals and macros) and stopped “eating” fake supplements! I’m guessing the same would happen with pastured-raised and/or grass-fed and finished animal products! #TheRootCauseProtocol
Nah animal.products wether "finished " on grass or not, organic or not it doesn't matter animal products will mess your body up. Animal products is what I call survival food! It's not a food our bodies can thrive on.
Can you do iodine next? I really appreciate the level of detail you go into on these videos, and I can honestly say that iodine is one that there are a lot of different opinions about.
Blackstrap molasses and liquid chlorophyll are too lesser known iron sources that have always worked great for me. My iron is way better when I’m plant based than when I’m a meat eater but I do still have pretty heavy periods so I will usually take the blackstrap molasses just 2-3 times towards the end of my period just to cover my bases. These both worked great during my pregnancies also, and lots of green smoothies.
I really appreciate how your mind works. Reminds me of my professors from the geography department. They were always good at putting us in our place and showing us that we weren’t even asking the right questions yet. They tried very hard to teach us how to become well informed and knowledgeable enough to start asking useful questions and to start making meaningful connections. Being exposed to people who are so well practiced at thinking scientifically has for the most part vaccinated me against wild unsupported internet claims but i still get tricked from time to time. Thank you for these excellent and very entertaining videos.
That was a nice throwback to my nutrition classes. It helped to bring the facts back to my mind and there also was some new information, so thank you. I always love these videos.
The biggest take away from this for me was a low dose every other day. I have heard that too, too high of a dose can prevent absorption but I didn't really understand it until this great video. I have also been intrigued by hepcidin because apparently vegans have less of it when they are raised vegan. So I was happy to see that brought up. I love you man!!!!
lol vegan linked is researching stuff,, lol cool xD trying to keep legit and not to shy about researching and commenting with my actual sub,, this is so weird i rarely see this happen : P
Once I heard that heme iron bypasses the body's safety limits for iron, I figured we shouldn't be eating it. The body has safety limits for a reason. Good video!
"heme iron bypasses the body's safety limits for iron" Because heme iron is the only form of iron that the body can absorb without the liver and kidneys treating it as a toxin. The "safety limits" for iron are for the plant/supplement variant. There are still limits to heme iron; your body will let you know when you've eaten enough liver and/or red meat. I say this from personal experience.
@@MK_ULTRA420 Tell that to Frank Tufano who made himself sick from heme iron overload. No, your body doesn't tell you when you've had enough or else heart attack and stroke wouldn't be the #1 and #2 killers worldwide. People wouldn't say they'd rather have their feet cut off from diabetes rather than give up bacon cheeseburgers.
@@MK_ULTRA420 thank you for this. I am so sorry that so many are deceived by monocrop psy opps. We did not evolve to eat rows of spinach. This is complete crap. Our brain growth and general health grew with meat consumption.
Another vegetarian that thinks meat is bad. We are omnivores, eat meat and vegetable. We eat meat because it is so dense in nutrition, vegetable for nutrition that lacks in meat and fiber due to vegetable has a huge amount of fiber and we need it for gut health. Stop glorifying both vegetarian and carnivore we need both of them and see your own tooth we both had normal teeth and Fang. Don't eat those garbage syntetic meat from soy protein 😂.
Honestly it’s so nice that I can receive this information that is incredibly well researched and detailed, but also well packaged so I can understand it as well. Makes me feel like a scientist lol. But it also helps because these are massive points of debate that non vegans often bring up that worry people like me. Great work and I really hope this information becomes more widely disseminated for all the other worriers to hear it.
Great video. I struggled with anemia all through my late teens, 20s and beyond, even before I went vegan at 32. Now I'm in my 50s and have no more problems because I drink a green smoothie every day, loaded with greens and some fruit, too (for vitamin C). I think because the greens are blended, the iron is better absorbed. No more iron supplements for me, although I was taking the Gentle Iron you featured for years, off and on as needed. Thanks for explaining things in understandable language.
Thanks, Andrea. 😁 We do the green smoothies too and as long as my wife isn't giving blood too often, like every two months, she doesn't have issues with iron. I seem to be able to give blood on the regular every 60 days without problems.
Wow, this is convincing. I'm always testing just under normal for iron even when I once experimented with eating red meat twice a day, 7 days a week. I will listen carefully to the video.
I have debated many meat eaters who claim that eating meat is superior to a plant based diet partially due to the iron in meat. I will be giving a link to this video to reinforce my side of the debate. The links in the description are gold. Thank you for the thorough and well documented video about this topic!
BTW, one reason the links are so valuable is that UA-cam now autodeletes any new comments that include links. The only exception is links to other UA-cam videos.
Thanks, @Some Guy 😁 I have long wondered what the deal is for increased mortality in meat (especially red meat) eaters. Is it really just the saturated fat? Do sulphur containing amino acids contribute? How about the heme iron? I'm inclined to think it's multi-factoral, but the charts of mortality versus ferritin levels are pretty shocking, no? And we know exactly what excess iron does and how it does it to the liver and other organs.
Always really entertaining and bringing something different. I really enjoy your videos. When I was in my early to mid 20s I was active but basically ate the standard American diet. I had heavy periods with large clots. When I switched to a plant based diet in my late 20s my period gradually got lighter and clotting went down dramatically. I can't tell if the heavy periods were causing fatigue for me in my early 20s but I feel so much better in general since I made the switch.
I’m vegan 4 years now. I’m 47 and in peri menopause. My periods have been getting closer together and heavier over the past couple of years. I’ve now been menstruating pretty much constantly since August last year so I got blood tests 2 weeks ago (just to make sure it’s not anything more serious) and my blood count came back normal and my iron levels are on the low side of normal. Considering how much blood I’ve been losing over the past 6 months I’m delighted (and relieved) at that. That’s without taking any iron supplements during that time. I’m now taking a vegan iron supplement every few days. Roll on the menopause! Menstruating is a pain in the a***!
So you are solving the issue by putting into your body a toxic version of iron when you can solve the issue by using a natural one which is eat some meat this is what our species is designed to do. you people are so clueless
My hemo is normal with a ferritin of 4 what should I do? RBC and WBC are normal too any advise would help I’m will to share all my test results as well ❤
Blood letting (like a lot of discarded notions) had just enough benefit in some situations to have led us to the wrong conclusions about what it was good for.
Thank you so much for making these videos. Diet advice on UA-cam is so complicated and contradictory but you always talk about the facts and back then up by highlighting thorough research! We need more people like you on UA-cam!
You're channel is helping a lot! I have quite a bit of education behind me but I still get completely swept up by marketing or obscure sources of information claiming to be scientific or whatever. Or people who say they "heard something about the science being wrong" on a topic. It's not possible to go out and put together a research paper on every topic that affects our lives. Thank you so much for your videos!
Thank you far another amazing vlog. I first learned about the importance of donating blood in high school and was motivated to get a gallon pin. Now, too many gallons later to count, I find out there's another great benefit to donating blood. Keep up the educating and entertaining Chris. By the way I LOVE and appreciate the scenery!
Another great video, sir! I'm a 67 yo who gives blood about every 2 months, so this answered a lot of questions for me. BTW, the amount of research and work you put into these videos is probably "way over your pay grade" but much appreciated. Love the stroll.....
Hahaha, yes, way above my pay grade. 😁 Especially that book from the Iron Disorders Institute on iron overload, written for physicians. So much talk about diseases and medications I had never heard of. 😳
This summer my hemoglobin levels were low and my diabetes markers were high. I spent 2 weeks eating lentils dark leafy greens with lemon juice. A lot. Two weeks I had my blood retested. Everything was normal. My doctor decided the first test must have been wrong.
Two weeks is not much gor parameters to change. Erythrocytes get reproduced every 4 weeks, Hba1C shows a glycemic change of 8 to 12 weeks. If Hb wasn’t so low, it could come back to normal, cause older Erythrocytes got renewed in two weeks.
Loved this. So dense with information, will have to re watch and take notes. Thanks so much for examining this unfortunately unexamined issue--at least in the mainstream--and for posting!
Very interesting, my mother-in-law has hemochromatosis (she's a meateater) and how she explained the disease was that sufferers of the disease could no longer rid the body of excess iron. Now i find out it's not really that, no body can rid themselves of iron, but hemochromatosis sufferers just uptake way more iron from their food. Small but significant difference, esp. for the rest of us. I only take 1 iron tablet a month (as vegan) just after my period, but i'm stopping that once the jar is empty.
That is not correct. The same with everything in this video if you want the truth go to a person named bart kay who has ripped this video apart. I suffer from Haemochromatosis myself
Great information! I love those old commercials and clips you insert. That Geritol TV commercial was hilarious. I wonder what year that was? I remember taking Geritol when I was a kid back in the late 60's (my mom must have fallen for the commercial hype) a brown liquid as I recall, it tasted terrible!
I have been struggling with my iron levels since I became vegan. Nothing I did seemed to really work, but I started taking a iron supplement every other day, because I was worried about taking it. It has really helped. I have more energy and feel less anxious. Today when I look in the mirror, my face is full of colour, and I don't have circles under my eyes. But overall, it's frustrating, my doctor has been doing tests to check if I have H pylori, even if I have anything going on in my colon. Everything looks fine. I chew my greens a lot, and shall continue to put vitamin C rich foods together with them. I just wish I could figure it out without having to supplement!
I know, it's very frustrating. My daughter and a couple teen granddaughters have the same problem. My daughter Anne had the problem even when she was an omnivore eating a fair amount of meat.
I am type O Negative, the most valuable kind, since it can be given to all patients regardless of blood type. I used to give blood, but am now not allowed to because I am gay and living in the USA. Now that we test donated blood for HIV, there is no logical reason for this policy.
@@GlennMarshallnz Thank you. Personally, I am in a long term monogamous relationship, so I am less likely to have AIDS than many promiscuous straight people.
O negative is valuable because o neg can only receive o neg not because everyone can receive it. o positive is most valued because every blood type can receive it and it’s the most common
Thanks again for your great content! Always very informative and entertaining. I really enjoy the different topics you cover. Looking forward to the next.
Great video. I was diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis this year and already have Cirrhosis. I'm a 42/F and had the lining of my uterus removed at 30 to avoid birth control. My ferritin started at 3100 and 4 months later I'm only down to 2300 (twice my Ferritin went up). I've been going weekly phlebotomies since February. This condition is under diagnosed and many doctors have never heard of it. I found out I had homozygous C282Y in a 23andme genetic test. It saved my life.
Oh my God. Thank you so much for posting that. I'm so sorry to hear of your condition but really glad to hear you got a diagnosis and can do something about it. 👏
I am 65 and have become aware of iron sensitivity as I have gotten older. As of late I became terribly tired and my root canal teeth ached terribly. I ran across information on coppers effect on iron levels and based on symptoms and my diet, I determined I was likely deficient in copper, so I took a colloidal copper supplement. About an hour later I noticed that the brain cloud was clearing, my energy levels were rising and my teeth felt less painful. I removed iron rich Himalayan salt from my diet and continued with the magnesium and copper supplementation. And thank God I am feeling normal again. Mitochondria needs iron and copper to produce energy so if you are copper deficient it can look and feel like an iron problem when it is actually a deficiency in copper and magnesium.
I am going to be sharing this video a lot I can already tell. After watching this a couple of hours ago I already had to share it in response to a comments under some of my videos. Thanks again for doing this, you really are fantastic.
Thanks! I don't know why iron isn't more commonly thought of in connection with heart disease, along with cholesterol. The data sure seems compelling...
@@keefejassoy you need to figure out what scientific means, not a single one of those papers is scientific. They are all opinion pieces pushed by plant based propaganda
@@kapower06 What is your take on human anatomy being very similar to that of a herbivore as opposed to a carnivore or omnivore? Flattened teeth incisors, short and blunted canines, complex colon, flat nails, long small intestinal length relative to body, inability to produce vitamin C, lateral jaw movement to grind foods, lack of predatory instinct, carbohydrate digesting enzymes within the mouth. I know all about the B12 debate and supplement accordingly since B12 is a bacteria found in soil which has been all but wiped out thanks to heavy pesticide use. It should also be of interest to note the millions of pounds worth of supplements and antibiotics mixed with feed at industrial farms. This is without even getting into the social, ethical and environmental issues around industrial farming. Why do you consume animals?
I am impressed by how much you managed to cover in only 26 minutes!!!! And, please, do not be afraid to make the episodes longer!! I think that many people who watch your videos would appreciate it.
I really admire how much work you put into every episode, and how many books you read. Another Episode suggestion: Please do a video on the report “Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission” from UNEP, ILRI and CGIAR. It was linked in an NYT opinion article shown on screen in your episode about lab grown meat. Gotta keep you busy 😉
Fantastic videos. I've been learning about plant based nutrition a lot, but still find something new and important in these videos. Quality of the footage is superb, I have enjoyed watching it. Huge thanks for your work.
A lot of endurance athletes can be at risk for anemia because of how much they sweat. Apparently you can also lose iron from sweating a lot in addition to giving blood.
I have hemochromatosis. It causes me all kinds of issues. It caused my dad to have cirrhosis of the liver. It also caused his heart issues. It is nothing to sneeze at.
I love the videos but can’t watch while you are walking! It makes me dizzy so I just listen in those parts. This information on iron is fascinating and had me running to the cupboard to check my kids’ vitamins to make sure they didn’t have iron. Thanks for doing the research and presenting it in an easy to understand way. I’m sharing this one!
Wow, I'm just blown away by your videos. I've been streaming them non stop for the last couple hours whenever I get a second. I love the presentation style, and being plant based myself, enjoy all the self gratifyingly information. I've never done patreon before, but if you started one, I'm there.
Frenchie here! Watched this video because my mom had chest pains and issues arise when supplementing iron. She also noticed issue with fortified cereal, meat, and processed foods. However, she was surprised when "high iron" plants like coconut, spinach, etc. never caused her problems. This helps explain things! Thanks!
I receive blood donations for surgeries as a teen and in my twenties - I feel so grateful about the generosity of those people and think highly of blood donation. The other time I had iron deficiency was after having my son and my daughter.
Thank you for this information. I believe you. A doctor once told me to take iron for no reason. I was not even tired. Now I take nothing and I feel fine. Eva
Great explanation of the "Total Mortality Graphs" (10:45) Many UA-camrs would just quickly brush over it (and not explain its significance!). That's why Dr. Greger (Nutrition Facts) suggests morning coffee may be healthy, reducing iron! I wonder if this doesn't go some way in explaining the longevity gap between men and women (with women having lower iron levels)
Great video as usual. I had low iron despite being of Celtic decent and was encouraged to take ferrous sulfate. I guess I will just eat more Italian white bean and kale soup with a side of bell peppers and humus. Thanks for sharing your research with us!
Fyi, Your doctor can diagnose hemochromatosis by sequencing the HFE gene from a blood sample. They did that on me, found a heterozygous mutation at a secondary site, and said that was hemochromatosis. At that time, about 15 years ago, the treatment was blood letting, but the red cross did not accept blood from hemochromatosis patients, so I had to go to a cancer clinic multiple times to have my blood drawn and discarded. Rules might be different now... fyi, I turned vegetarian at about that time, and didn't need blood letting to keep iron in check for the past 10 years or so.
My iron levels were always low. I found after a C-section that I had Thalassemia minor. I talk to my grandma and she said “oh, Mediterranean anemia. I have it, my mother had it etc. “ We always talk about Mediterranean diet and how people live longer. So many, Mediterraneans have Thalassemia. I understood that what I had to do is try to keep eating what my family has been eating for generations and not fall for trends and supplements. I eat beef only when I’m on my period and eat seasonal fruit and vegetables. Lots of soups with beans in the winter. My iron levels on my blood test have been normal ever since. I work at a daycare and I’m the only staff that hasn’t been sick this winter. When I was breastfeeding, I kept hearing people talking about breastmilk having less iron than formula and that there was no iron after 6 months. It’s ridiculous. Iron is lower but better absorbed and at 6 months, you are supposed to introduce your baby to food so it still has iron but food is supposed to supplement it.
So what happens leading up to fatal iron malnourishment? I recall scurvy there’s a bunch of symptoms of bleeding gums and oral health troubles. What happens when iron is actually severely lacking from the diet?
Always enjoy your videos. I perceive the body is self healing and regulating. It is my limited understanding that Iron is utilized by cancer, inflammation and bacteria/viral loads, and when the body is overcome by these attacks will respond by a temporary withholding of iron to weaken the attack. So to address the iron deficiency one would look for the cause being one of those mentioned rather than increasing iron which is the opposite of what the body is attempting to overcome. Iron is important but the body's strategy is temporary in order to overcome the immediate attack. I think that this same principle also applies to deficiency in Vit B12 and Vit D. As I trust and respect your awesome ability and depth of research I look forward to one day you may consider researching and making a video about these 3 deficiencies from this view point as I am sure many of the world population have one of these deficiencies and they seem to be the common ones that often appear on blood test results. Thank you for your work.
From Montréal, 16:59 that's a local show with famous actors from Quebec which I don't know the name :) very happy to see them internationally. You've become my favorite UA-camr
Awesome! I got a big laugh out of that skit. Turns out all the monetization from this video is going to them, and I'm happy about it. It's a UA-cam thing for copyrighted material.
It's okay. If I had my way, I wouldn't monetize these videos at all but UA-cam now runs ads on them no matter what. It's quite the corrupting influence. For example, the UA-cam channel What I've Learned just did an episode comparing meat protein favorably to plant protein, and already has a million views in a few weeks. He's not a scientist, it's full of misinformation, but it's a great way to ring the cash register if you're a UA-cam creator - anything pro meat gets big views. And that explains a lot about the struggles social media companies have. Their business models depend on content like that. Scientists get a few hundred or thousand views because they have to say meat is unhealthy, and you don't get views for that.
@@Viva-Longevity That's so true! I feel like meat-eaters think they are compromising taste when giving up meat but it's so untrue!!! I've watched some of What I've Learned stuff, I only liked the sleep video because I'm passionate about sleep from reading Why We Sleep book, but other than that he sounds too much like brogan for me, happily expanded out of that mentality. I wish videos saying how beetroots, broccoli, and potatoes are better for us had as many views D: our specie is still so barbaric, but I still have hopes for younger generations. Keep up the awesome work! I love what you're doing. You and all the plant-based scientists make me want to study more of the impact of our nutrition on health, morale and environmental issues. Have a wonder-full day
The show is called "LOL". It's a non verbal humour show that is often featured in airplanes, just like those "Just for laughs" skits for those who may know this show. Super nice to see fellow Quebec actors here. The name of the guy in the chair is Martin Drainville. The 3 actors are well know in French speaking Quebec (Canada). By the way, i enjoy all your clips. You're the best! Thanks for your work!
I recently had need of iron . Iron Fumerate , was found , and 1 tablet taken . It was the last as well , the rest of the bottle went down the toilet , as that 1 tablet , gave really bad constipation . An alternative iron , was found in one of the 12 essential minerals , called "IRON PHOSPHATE" , Which had provided no adverse reaction , though a decrease in inflammation was noticed , which is one thing I was after , the other was easier breathing , and oxygen uptake , as my walking speed is the same , up hill or down , and a mile on the flat , will be cut out n approx , 10 minuets . It's still used daily , to reduce inflamation , as any pharmacutical is bad news for myself , with unwanted reactions .
My ex husband was a meat eater. I had surgery. He donated his blood for my surgery. I was 24 and after I got his blood in me I felt better than ever in my life! So, your blood may work the same for some anemic person. Everyone wins.
I have been a donor (in Australia we don't get paid) since I was about 18. The mad cow disease thing stopped me from donating and that is when I found out that I had haemochromatosis. The excess iron made me so fatigued it was investigated. I still had to be bled but my blood could not be used. Now they are using my blood again and I couldn't be happier about it. I have also not had cytomegalovirus which makes my blood particularly valuable for children.
Well, thanks for this video! Inherited Hemachromatosis here...can't get rid or iron naturally so must give blood every 3 months minimum. At first, i had a phlebotomy every two weeks for a few months. Apparently 25% of Gaelic people have it. Men can suffer more and earlier because they dont menstruate as do women. Imagine too much iron creating fatigue! Anyhow, it's a cheap test, easily done, but it took me 10 years (after menopause) to convince a doctor to test for it. With 25% of Gaels having it, it shouldn't be so challenging to get tested. Personally, i think an easy fix like phlebotomies ruins the chances of medical professionals from cashing in on the many serious diseases and conditions that can arise from Hemachromotosis iron overload going too long undiagnosed. Me...cynical? Maybe just a little.
13:36 Yes! PD Mangan's Dumping Iron is a great reference also. I eat meat and eggs only. Ferritin went from 112 to 324. I gave blood and it's back down to 92. Just give more blood. I'll keep doing that, thank you.
Kudos for giving blood. My understanding is only 38% of people qualify to give blood and only 5% of the population does. I wonder what that means for the other 95% who have skyrocketing iron levels from their diets.
@@Viva-Longevity Seeing as how all the processed food is iron fortified, I figured the FDA was trying to kill everybody. I think only pure vegans and pure carnivores are able to avoid all the processed stuff. One is eating from the garden and the other is eating animals that ate from the garden. Everybody else is getting some slop created by people that just need a job/money and are robots. And they can add whatever they want to those products during inflationary times to cut down on costs...
Good luck going back to the 🚒 every single day of the month depleting your body of needed blood sir. Why not just go plant-based? It's easier - cheaper and healthier.
When I committed to plant based back in 2016, naturally the energy came about to run and run and run. I found the action of running 30km+ a week really took a toll on my iron levels, so I too take Gentle Iron a couple of times a week to avoid low ferritin (where I find I can’t even run one kilometre (as opposed to comfortably running 10km) and the lunch time naps start to creep in).
That was another thing from Dr. Shatzel's book on iron deficiency: endurance athletes, especially women, get very low iron levels. That quote of his I displayed near the end about Ava getting a 1,000 mg infusion, the backstory is she is on Oregon State's track team and if I remember her distance is 10K.
Same thing happened to me after kicking veganism and now I'm carnivore. Plants are good for most people but causes all kinds of autoimmune issues due to the anti nutrients and allergens in plants for me.
Male, whole plant vegan for 20 years, extremely fit, age 51. Low ferritin. Really low (24). Had to take ferritin supps with vitamin c according to doc. Got levels to 79. Hematocrit still at point between low and normal. Didn't take supps for 6 months and it fell back to 60. 🤷♂️
Fascinating, FearZero. How active are you? My Ferritin is 79 too but I give blood and do a lot of biking and running, which tends to lower it. One reason I ask is the hematology books warn about slight blood loss from a polyp in your colon or something like that. 😬 But your doctor is far more qualified to know whether that's a concern than I am.
@@Viva-Longevity I had a colonoscopy after finding out about low ferritin. All normal. I do work out with heavy weights several times a week and cardio on other days. Doc says it might be a hereditary thing. Anyway thanks for videos, I enjoy your content!
Great video! The most surprising for me is that high iron levels has similar side effects like low iron levels. After years of marketing it is the common knowledge to recommend iron supplement when someone feels low. In my case (34 yo) I have high iron (233) but low ferritin (34) and I'm vegan, so the results are kind of counterintuitive to me. I plan to do gene test for hemochromatosis. In this case it is better to be safe than sorry.
Restless Leg Syndrome is often a sign of low iron levels in the brain. My RLS was getting worse after I became a regular blood donor. Once I started taking a 27 mg iron supplement, my RLS vanished. I slack off on taking iron when all is well, but if I experience RLS, I go back to taking the supplement for a while. Also before and after my blood donations. But I’m also requesting iron testing with my annual blood tests, just to make sure I don’t overdo it.
Thank you! When I had my blood work done just to be sure I wasn't missing anything, doc said they didn't run a B12 test because I wasn't anemic so highly unlikely lacking B12. Wondering how many people with anemia could have their issues sorted if they took B12
I remember those ridiculous Geritol commercials. LOL. Actually some people actually are anemic because of a very low red blood cell count. It's not from not eating enough iron, it's because of not having a balance diet and very low vit C intake. Others like my mom was told after her blood work to avoid cooking in her cast iron skillet! She had too much iron. Even though she didn't have a very good balanced diet. She never took any vitamin supplement in her life and still her blood work showed too much iron. It didn't make her tired, just hurt her stomach. Myself, when young my blood work always showed I was anemic with way to low red blood cell count. My doc told my mom to let me have all the raisins I want and eat a lot of split pea soup. Both high in iron and since raisins also have Vit C it solved the problem.
Switching from omnivore to pescatarian made me iron deficient for a couple weeks. It was the most fatigue I've ever felt. After a few days of iron supplementation I felt normal again. Now I just use a multivitamin and feel fine a year later.
Excellent as an overview to combat the ignorant prescriptions the majority of GP's are giving with respect to fatigue and reflexive responses to Hg without the sensitive consideration of ferritin as you point out. For example just this morning a 62 year old Mediterranean diet Jesuit devotee was told by his doctor "the iron levels were to low." At 103lbs he looks frail, but has 16 hour robust energy, never gets cold, has great digestion, constantly walking or cycling and a charming attitude to boot. I pronounced him as needing just few more calories and to pump the iron, not eat it. With low WBC's, Lymphocytes and inflammatory markers, I am betting on 95+ years without road accidents..Will see next year how he fares ? Oh BTW, potato, bean and kale stew... yum. Mandarin for dessert.
Hi Chris, great video! 44YO male (5;7, 119 lbs, lean, fit, active), WFPB since late August 2023 , and an avid blood donor. Just got my Hemoglobin, Iron, Ferratin checked for the first time in a long time and they came back 11.2, 14 and 12, respectively. Nurse was surprised, and I mentioned the blood donation as the likely cause (last donation was 5 weeks before labs were drawn, and every two months prior to that). She's recommending iron supplementation and recheck in 90 days. and I'm hesitant (prefer food solution). In your wife's case with her ferratin low due to blood donation, did she fix with diet, supplements, or both? I can't remember if you specified that in the video, and I can't seem to find that little section of the video without again rewatching. Thanks for all the great work you do!
Wow, great for you donating like that! 👏 Iron is such a tricky nutrient... I am 200 pounds so I must eat a lot more than you and I show up at the Red Cross with my iron levels slightly out of range high every two months. Disturbing. I don't eat any animal products. Must be genetic. Toni is 120 pounds and she just can't donate as often as me or her iron gets too low. When it has, she has had to supplement to bring it back into range. The types of food we eat is largely the same, so... 🤷♂️
@@Viva-Longevity Thanks kindly for the prompt response, Chris! Yeah, I'm 2K+ calories/day, and per Cronometer I'm usually around 30mg iron and 200mg vitamin C (for what it's worth). I'll supplement for a few months, get retested, and if good I'll probably get off the supplements for a few months and see if my dietary pattern is enough for me to sustain the elevated levels. You said it right...Iron is a tricky one, for sure...especially when you factor in body size and blood loss habits. Regardless, personal nutrition is a blast to play with. 😁 Anyway, thank you again, and keep up the great work that you do (your latest work on Framingham was just top-notch!).
New to this channel and disappointed that it appears to be biased towards veganism in cherry picking the facts presented. I fully support veganismn - was vegan for 7-8 years in the 90s, am still mostly plant-based, and would like to go vegan again, primarily for animals and the planet. But if the information to be presented is going to be limited only to what will work for vegans, it should be titled accordingly (Eg “Iron for vegans”) to avoid unintentionally misleading viewers. There was no discussion in this video of iron protein succinylate (IPS) despite it being listed as one of the best tolerated. As someone who chronically becomes anemic with supplementation, I’ve found it to be absolutely the most tolerable and effective at low doses. I will soon be trying higher doses for a bigger boost more quickly. Would have liked to learn more about it and would have been helpful for your viewers to at least know about it as well, particularly those not vegan who could benefit from it. Or ar the least to hear that you wouldn’t be covering the benefits and harms because it’s nonvegan. Also, the vegan doctor shouldn’t be giving advice on nutrition. A squeeze of lemon juice isn’t going to add hardly any vitamin c to your kale or help with iron absorption. Even a full ounce of lemon juice only has 11-12 mg of vitamin c. Straight up bad info. Stick with navel orange slices or some kiwi or strawberries to add a high dose of vitamin c and really get a boost in absorption.
Iron can cause LDL oxidation at certain pH that exists within lysosomes of macrophages. These macrophages consume trapped LDL and oxidise it within an iron rich environment 😊
my ferritin level is normally low, at low end of ref. range. After about 18 months of frequent platelet and plasma donation level went to 7 ng/ml. Turns out that during each donation they also take 50 mls of whole blood for testing. So, with last whole blood donation Feb 2021, and 20 platelet and plasma donations from then until mid 2022 I off loaded about 1.4 liters of whole blood. Supplementing with a low dose iron supplement a few days per week and slowing donations to 1x/month instead of 2x got me back to high 20s over 3 months. Hemoglobin was fine throughout. Platelet donation is a great help for cancer patients and is often in low supply in my area. recommend you consider, but get an iron panel on occasion
Absolutely correct! Most American seniors suffer from iron overload. I have never taken any iron supplement in my life. I have donated blood to reduce my iron load (primarily as a paid donor for research). People need to wake up and stop taking iron supplements unless they are pregnant.
My Ferritin levels are just below 400. I was a massive meat eater until jan 2022 when I went low fat vegan.However I'm having trouble trying to get my ferritin levels lower.I'm going to increase the time between meals also decrease the volume.This way my A1C can come down as well.I'm 53. Love your videos!
Thanks so much for making this video. I really appreciate all the work that goes into all your videos, and I appreciate the information they convey. Very educational and even life changing. Thanks again.
I have a ferritin level of 30 (up from 22). Anything below 50 is considered too low in my country. Did I hear correctly that in the US above 20 is acceptable? My doctor wants me to supplement, that's why I'm wondering.
Fascinating. Yes, the Mayo clinic has it as above 12 for women and UCSF has it as above 11. But in the book I quoted from the hematologist Joseph Shatzel, he says in his experience, women feel their best around 50. I also noticed a couple of sites who say for athletes, 60 is optimum. Iron is a tricky mineral, no? 🤔
My ferritin was at a 4 and Iron at a 3, hovering in the single digits for nearly a decade. I felt slowed down but not super tired, i was still able to enjoy life without hinderance. When i switched to a new GP she was floored at how low my Iron had been and wanted me to do infusions right away, I rejected it as she couldnt fully answer my questions about the who what why of my anemia. I started taking the Blood Builder supplement, shown in this video, every other day and my ferritin increased to 17 and Iron to 12 in 6 months. It felt positive about the result but as someone who loves to dig into things, im still on the journey to discover the reason behind my anemia. Having moved i then switched to another GP, she had run several tests to rule out the cause of the anemia but everything came back negative. My periods are normal, no blood in the stool, not celiac, no H polari or other parasites. I even did a hair mineral analysis which shown my iron levels to actually be normal along with copper. I think the next step is to test my methylation, it’s the only thing that i believe could be a factor here!
My brother has hemochromatosis he has to occasionally have get blood drawn to lower his iron. Since the condition is genetic our whole family was checked non of us have the condition or have high iron and we all eat meat. We were told our body can eliminate the iron since we don't have hemochromatosis.
If it helps anyone, when pregnant, I asked my doctors to test my iron levels and used that to determine if I should supplement. I'm still confused as to why they wanted me to supplement iron when mine was high. Felt so much better when I didn't! A doctor also mistakenly told me to give my baby cows milk before he was a year old--glad I got a second opinion there! Was told to give dairy to my child who always throws it up, basically "push through that until it's tollerated". Goat's milk was fine. Curious if anyone understands the difference.
Ok, seriously. No one (in the EU at least) gives their baby cows milk. They have breast milk or formula milk. As for the ferritin problems, my ferritin usually is between 2 and 10. That's it, for my whole life. I have heavy cycles and the only time I've seen my ferritin above 20 is when I was pregnant and not bleeding for 9 months. My boyfriend had cancer. And when it was diagnosed, his ferritin was 400 +.
12:15 Can you give a reputable source showing that the body cannot down-regulate the absorption of heme iron? I'm curious to know where you found this information as I cannot very easily find it on the internet. Thanks!
One source is the book by E.D. Weinberg, Exposing The Hidden Dangers If Iron, which has quite a lot of references. I made an iPhone snappy for you of one of the paragraphs and here’s a link (lemme know if you can’t open heic and I’ll convert it): drive.google.com/file/d/1-GxNIiel4CxElXvco_zv8W1J4CnWEtS9/view?usp=drivesdk
@@Viva-Longevity Thanks for sharing and for replying so fast on an older video! It shows you really care. So the book says "investigators have noted", is there specific research that the book references to support this statement?
Hi Chris - My recent ferritin test was 9.14 and has been low since I had cancer and cancer treatments 3 years ago. I have been NED for 2 years, but still low ferritin, though my iron levels are normal. I know you are not a medical doctor (you are very aware of speaking "above your pay grade" which I appreciate), but when you mentioned that your wife's ferritin had hit 9, I became curious if she took any specific actions to address her low ferritin level? Thank you. And I LOVE your highly informative, well-researched videos, thank you for all you do!!
Thanks! Toni had to limit her blood donations and take supplements. Several pre-menopausal women in my extended family have to supplement, as well. I give blood every 2 months and my ferritin is out of range high each time. 🤷♂️
@PlantChompers Thanks, Chris. In regards to supplements, have you come across any informative research on the effectiveness of Floradix? As it is plant-based and appears free of artificial additives, I was thinking it could be a valid option. Any info you may have on this is appreciated!
As a vegetarian I went through the whole anemia thing and my doctor prescribed iron pills and vitamin C. Lots of side effects. I stopped and improved within days. I now get iron only from food and always mix in C rich foods along with the greens and beans and stuff. Good video. Oh, I'm 78 and still working. Vegetarian since 1989.
So figure, you started eating real food with real basic nutrition (vitamins, minerals and macros) and stopped “eating” fake supplements! I’m guessing the same would happen with pastured-raised and/or grass-fed and finished animal products! #TheRootCauseProtocol
Nah animal.products wether "finished " on grass or not, organic or not it doesn't matter animal products will mess your body up. Animal products is what I call survival food! It's not a food our bodies can thrive on.
Iron made my hair fall out
@@melissabryant2251 Iron pills can cause that, which is why heme iron is important which only comes from animal blood and meat.
@melissabryant2251 low iron made my sister's hair fall out.
Can you do iodine next? I really appreciate the level of detail you go into on these videos, and I can honestly say that iodine is one that there are a lot of different opinions about.
Frankly speaking, I hope that he covers every nutrient.
I supplement Iodine because it is used as an antibacterial wash on cows teats.
That is why vegans have such low levels, that is what I was told.
I try to get iodine because I heard it prevents gout.
Yes, please!
What are some natural sources of iodine?
Blackstrap molasses and liquid chlorophyll are too lesser known iron sources that have always worked great for me. My iron is way better when I’m plant based than when I’m a meat eater but I do still have pretty heavy periods so I will usually take the blackstrap molasses just 2-3 times towards the end of my period just to cover my bases. These both worked great during my pregnancies also, and lots of green smoothies.
I really appreciate how your mind works. Reminds me of my professors from the geography department. They were always good at putting us in our place and showing us that we weren’t even asking the right questions yet. They tried very hard to teach us how to become well informed and knowledgeable enough to start asking useful questions and to start making meaningful connections. Being exposed to people who are so well practiced at thinking scientifically has for the most part vaccinated me against wild unsupported internet claims but i still get tricked from time to time. Thank you for these excellent and very entertaining videos.
amazing comment,, fuck think this guy attracts nicer people,, maybe?
This channel is seriously underrated. Your videos are getting better and they deserve more views.
fkinagree exactlymythoughts too manytimes
Totally, I immediately subscribed after watching this vid. YT actually suggested a great channel!
That was a nice throwback to my nutrition classes. It helped to bring the facts back to my mind and there also was some new information, so thank you. I always love these videos.
The biggest take away from this for me was a low dose every other day. I have heard that too, too high of a dose can prevent absorption but I didn't really understand it until this great video. I have also been intrigued by hepcidin because apparently vegans have less of it when they are raised vegan. So I was happy to see that brought up. I love you man!!!!
lol vegan linked is researching stuff,, lol cool xD trying to keep legit and not to shy about researching and commenting with my actual sub,, this is so weird i rarely see this happen : P
@@fortcastlevgn2368 I'm not clear on what you mean but I'm curious so please elaborate
Once I heard that heme iron bypasses the body's safety limits for iron, I figured we shouldn't be eating it. The body has safety limits for a reason. Good video!
Yeah, heme iron is SO toxic that humans survived 2 million years of eating almost exclusively red meat. So toxic...
"heme iron bypasses the body's safety limits for iron"
Because heme iron is the only form of iron that the body can absorb without the liver and kidneys treating it as a toxin. The "safety limits" for iron are for the plant/supplement variant.
There are still limits to heme iron; your body will let you know when you've eaten enough liver and/or red meat. I say this from personal experience.
@@MK_ULTRA420 Tell that to Frank Tufano who made himself sick from heme iron overload.
No, your body doesn't tell you when you've had enough or else heart attack and stroke wouldn't be the #1 and #2 killers worldwide. People wouldn't say they'd rather have their feet cut off from diabetes rather than give up bacon cheeseburgers.
@@MK_ULTRA420 thank you for this. I am so sorry that so many are deceived by monocrop psy opps. We did not evolve to eat rows of spinach. This is complete crap. Our brain growth and general health grew with meat consumption.
Another vegetarian that thinks meat is bad. We are omnivores, eat meat and vegetable. We eat meat because it is so dense in nutrition, vegetable for nutrition that lacks in meat and fiber due to vegetable has a huge amount of fiber and we need it for gut health. Stop glorifying both vegetarian and carnivore we need both of them and see your own tooth we both had normal teeth and Fang. Don't eat those garbage syntetic meat from soy protein 😂.
Honestly it’s so nice that I can receive this information that is incredibly well researched and detailed, but also well packaged so I can understand it as well. Makes me feel like a scientist lol. But it also helps because these are massive points of debate that non vegans often bring up that worry people like me. Great work and I really hope this information becomes more widely disseminated for all the other worriers to hear it.
NOOOOO, watching a You Tube video or 100 does NOT make you a scientists.
Except this is not well researched or detailed. This guy has absolutely zero clue about human nutrition.
Omg these replies. Such debaters.
@@kapower06 example?
@@SuperPract watch any of Bart Kay's videos debunking him
Great video. I struggled with anemia all through my late teens, 20s and beyond, even before I went vegan at 32. Now I'm in my 50s and have no more problems because I drink a green smoothie every day, loaded with greens and some fruit, too (for vitamin C). I think because the greens are blended, the iron is better absorbed. No more iron supplements for me, although I was taking the Gentle Iron you featured for years, off and on as needed. Thanks for explaining things in understandable language.
Thanks, Andrea. 😁 We do the green smoothies too and as long as my wife isn't giving blood too often, like every two months, she doesn't have issues with iron. I seem to be able to give blood on the regular every 60 days without problems.
Wow, this is convincing. I'm always testing just under normal for iron even when I once experimented with eating red meat twice a day, 7 days a week. I will listen carefully to the video.
What do you guys put in your green smoothie?
I have debated many meat eaters who claim that eating meat is superior to a plant based diet partially due to the iron in meat. I will be giving a link to this video to reinforce my side of the debate. The links in the description are gold. Thank you for the thorough and well documented video about this topic!
BTW, one reason the links are so valuable is that UA-cam now autodeletes any new comments that include links. The only exception is links to other UA-cam videos.
Thanks, @Some Guy 😁 I have long wondered what the deal is for increased mortality in meat (especially red meat) eaters. Is it really just the saturated fat? Do sulphur containing amino acids contribute? How about the heme iron? I'm inclined to think it's multi-factoral, but the charts of mortality versus ferritin levels are pretty shocking, no? And we know exactly what excess iron does and how it does it to the liver and other organs.
I didn't know that about UA-cam deleting links.
@@someguy2135 Just another good reason to abandon youtube. 🙂
@@Viva-Longevity Did you mean to say "increased" mortality?
Always really entertaining and bringing something different. I really enjoy your videos. When I was in my early to mid 20s I was active but basically ate the standard American diet. I had heavy periods with large clots. When I switched to a plant based diet in my late 20s my period gradually got lighter and clotting went down dramatically. I can't tell if the heavy periods were causing fatigue for me in my early 20s but I feel so much better in general since I made the switch.
I’m vegan 4 years now. I’m 47 and in peri menopause. My periods have been getting closer together and heavier over the past couple of years. I’ve now been menstruating pretty much constantly since August last year so I got blood tests 2 weeks ago (just to make sure it’s not anything more serious) and my blood count came back normal and my iron levels are on the low side of normal. Considering how much blood I’ve been losing over the past 6 months I’m delighted (and relieved) at that. That’s without taking any iron supplements during that time. I’m now taking a vegan iron supplement every few days. Roll on the menopause! Menstruating is a pain in the a***!
Thanks, Helen. It will be very interesting to see what happens to your iron levels once menopause arrives.
So you are solving the issue by putting into your body a toxic version of iron when you can solve the issue by using a natural one which is eat some meat this is what our species is designed to do.
you people are so clueless
Vitamin K for heavy periods .
My hemo is normal with a ferritin of 4 what should I do? RBC and WBC are normal too any advise would help I’m will to share all my test results as well ❤
Blood letting (like a lot of discarded notions) had just enough benefit in some situations to have led us to the wrong conclusions about what it was good for.
We still do it to this day for hemochromatosis
Thank you so much for making these videos. Diet advice on UA-cam is so complicated and contradictory but you always talk about the facts and back then up by highlighting thorough research! We need more people like you on UA-cam!
P
You're channel is helping a lot! I have quite a bit of education behind me but I still get completely swept up by marketing or obscure sources of information claiming to be scientific or whatever. Or people who say they "heard something about the science being wrong" on a topic. It's not possible to go out and put together a research paper on every topic that affects our lives. Thank you so much for your videos!
This channel doesn't go by what science shows you in the wrong place and fallen for BS.
@@nicmonberg5974 Thanks for your guidance. I have been so blind.
Too much iron feels like a very important thing to know and I wonder why we don't hear more about it.
It's not an issue unless you have a disorder it is regulated for normal people.
and it just so happens that we have a diabetes, heart-disease and what not epidemic
Thank you far another amazing vlog. I first learned about the importance of donating blood in high school and was motivated to get a gallon pin. Now, too many gallons later to count, I find out there's another great benefit to donating blood. Keep up the educating and entertaining Chris. By the way I LOVE and appreciate the scenery!
Another great video, sir! I'm a 67 yo who gives blood about every 2 months, so this answered a lot of questions for me.
BTW, the amount of research and work you put into these videos is probably "way over your pay grade" but much appreciated.
Love the stroll.....
Hahaha, yes, way above my pay grade. 😁 Especially that book from the Iron Disorders Institute on iron overload, written for physicians. So much talk about diseases and medications I had never heard of. 😳
You're so criminally underated... I hope you'll blow up soon... You deserve nothing less than a million subscribers
This summer my hemoglobin levels were low and my diabetes markers were high. I spent 2 weeks eating lentils dark leafy greens with lemon juice. A lot. Two weeks I had my blood retested. Everything was normal. My doctor decided the first test must have been wrong.
Two weeks is not much gor parameters to change. Erythrocytes get reproduced every 4 weeks, Hba1C shows a glycemic change of 8 to 12 weeks. If Hb wasn’t so low, it could come back to normal, cause older Erythrocytes got renewed in two weeks.
Loved this. So dense with information, will have to re watch and take notes. Thanks so much for examining this unfortunately unexamined issue--at least in the mainstream--and for posting!
Very interesting, my mother-in-law has hemochromatosis (she's a meateater) and how she explained the disease was that sufferers of the disease could no longer rid the body of excess iron. Now i find out it's not really that, no body can rid themselves of iron, but hemochromatosis sufferers just uptake way more iron from their food. Small but significant difference, esp. for the rest of us. I only take 1 iron tablet a month (as vegan) just after my period, but i'm stopping that once the jar is empty.
That is not correct.
The same with everything in this video if you want the truth go to a person named bart kay who has ripped this video apart.
I suffer from Haemochromatosis myself
It is commonly called the Celtic curse, because apparently it is most prevalent among those with strong Celtic ancestry.
@@justinw1765 Correct, she also has the "viking hand". But that can also be the arthritis, she won't give up her meat.
@@11235Aodh She took that Pink Floyd song way too seriously methinks.
@@11235Aodh meat does not cause inflammation.
Great information! I love those old commercials and clips you insert. That Geritol TV commercial was hilarious. I wonder what year that was? I remember taking Geritol when I was a kid back in the late 60's (my mom must have fallen for the commercial hype) a brown liquid as I recall, it tasted terrible!
I have been struggling with my iron levels since I became vegan. Nothing I did seemed to really work, but I started taking a iron supplement every other day, because I was worried about taking it. It has really helped. I have more energy and feel less anxious. Today when I look in the mirror, my face is full of colour, and I don't have circles under my eyes. But overall, it's frustrating, my doctor has been doing tests to check if I have H pylori, even if I have anything going on in my colon. Everything looks fine. I chew my greens a lot, and shall continue to put vitamin C rich foods together with them. I just wish I could figure it out without having to supplement!
I know, it's very frustrating. My daughter and a couple teen granddaughters have the same problem. My daughter Anne had the problem even when she was an omnivore eating a fair amount of meat.
I love your work!! and I always feels excited for your new videos. You always remind me of my grandpa. Thank you for doing all this.
Thanks! I hope you had a nice gramps and not some grumpy get-off-my-lawn gramps. 😁
I am type O Negative, the most valuable kind, since it can be given to all patients regardless of blood type. I used to give blood, but am now not allowed to because I am gay and living in the USA. Now that we test donated blood for HIV, there is no logical reason for this policy.
Homophobic discrimination pure and simple. Sad and unfair.
But I thought that homeless bums living on the street could sell THEIR blood to fund their drug habits. How is THAT fair ?
@@GlennMarshallnz Thank you. Personally, I am in a long term monogamous relationship, so I am less likely to have AIDS than many promiscuous straight people.
O negative is valuable because o neg can only receive o neg not because everyone can receive it. o positive is most valued because every blood type can receive it and it’s the most common
Thanks again for your great content! Always very informative and entertaining. I really enjoy the different topics you cover. Looking forward to the next.
Great video. I was diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis this year and already have Cirrhosis. I'm a 42/F and had the lining of my uterus removed at 30 to avoid birth control. My ferritin started at 3100 and 4 months later I'm only down to 2300 (twice my Ferritin went up). I've been going weekly phlebotomies since February. This condition is under diagnosed and many doctors have never heard of it. I found out I had homozygous C282Y in a 23andme genetic test. It saved my life.
Oh my God. Thank you so much for posting that. I'm so sorry to hear of your condition but really glad to hear you got a diagnosis and can do something about it. 👏
I am 65 and have become aware of iron sensitivity as I have gotten older. As of late I became terribly tired and my root canal teeth ached terribly. I ran across information on coppers effect on iron levels and based on symptoms and my diet, I determined I was likely deficient in copper, so I took a colloidal copper supplement. About an hour later I noticed that the brain cloud was clearing, my energy levels were rising and my teeth felt less painful. I removed iron rich Himalayan salt from my diet and continued with the magnesium and copper supplementation. And thank God I am feeling normal again. Mitochondria needs iron and copper to produce energy so if you are copper deficient it can look and feel like an iron problem when it is actually a deficiency in copper and magnesium.
I am going to be sharing this video a lot I can already tell. After watching this a couple of hours ago I already had to share it in response to a comments under some of my videos. Thanks again for doing this, you really are fantastic.
Thanks! I don't know why iron isn't more commonly thought of in connection with heart disease, along with cholesterol. The data sure seems compelling...
Yeah We definitely love your strolls! Great video as always, always fun to watch and learn some new stuff.
Thanks! I feared some people would say they are distracting but I like to walk. I always to it while talking on the phone.
This channel is great and doesn't compromise science for clickbait which is very rare and deeply appreciated.
Show me where a single ounce of actual science was covered in this garbage?
@@kapower06 The links to the scientific papers referenced are in the video's description.
@@keefejassoy you need to figure out what scientific means, not a single one of those papers is scientific. They are all opinion pieces pushed by plant based propaganda
@@keefejassoy did I ever mention dairy? No. I don’t consume dairy just animals
@@kapower06 What is your take on human anatomy being very similar to that of a herbivore as opposed to a carnivore or omnivore? Flattened teeth incisors, short and blunted canines, complex colon, flat nails, long small intestinal length relative to body, inability to produce vitamin C, lateral jaw movement to grind foods, lack of predatory instinct, carbohydrate digesting enzymes within the mouth. I know all about the B12 debate and supplement accordingly since B12 is a bacteria found in soil which has been all but wiped out thanks to heavy pesticide use. It should also be of interest to note the millions of pounds worth of supplements and antibiotics mixed with feed at industrial farms. This is without even getting into the social, ethical and environmental issues around industrial farming. Why do you consume animals?
I am impressed by how much you managed to cover in only 26 minutes!!!! And, please, do not be afraid to make the episodes longer!! I think that many people who watch your videos would appreciate it.
I think shorter is better!
I really admire how much work you put into every episode, and how many books you read.
Another Episode suggestion: Please do a video on the report “Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission” from UNEP, ILRI and CGIAR. It was linked in an NYT opinion article shown on screen in your episode about lab grown meat. Gotta keep you busy 😉
Fantastic videos. I've been learning about plant based nutrition a lot, but still find something new and important in these videos. Quality of the footage is superb, I have enjoyed watching it. Huge thanks for your work.
A lot of endurance athletes can be at risk for anemia because of how much they sweat. Apparently you can also lose iron from sweating a lot in addition to giving blood.
Hmm I do a sauna everyday. Gotta look into this
I have hemochromatosis. It causes me all kinds of issues. It caused my dad to have cirrhosis of the liver. It also caused his heart issues. It is nothing to sneeze at.
I love the videos but can’t watch while you are walking! It makes me dizzy so I just listen in those parts. This information on iron is fascinating and had me running to the cupboard to check my kids’ vitamins to make sure they didn’t have iron. Thanks for doing the research and presenting it in an easy to understand way. I’m sharing this one!
Hmmm, that's interesting. Thanks for letting me know. It's easier for me to sit so if other people feel that way...
Wow, I'm just blown away by your videos. I've been streaming them non stop for the last couple hours whenever I get a second. I love the presentation style, and being plant based myself, enjoy all the self gratifyingly information. I've never done patreon before, but if you started one, I'm there.
Frenchie here! Watched this video because my mom had chest pains and issues arise when supplementing iron. She also noticed issue with fortified cereal, meat, and processed foods. However, she was surprised when "high iron" plants like coconut, spinach, etc. never caused her problems. This helps explain things! Thanks!
I receive blood donations for surgeries as a teen and in my twenties - I feel so grateful about the generosity of those people and think highly of blood donation. The other time I had iron deficiency was after having my son and my daughter.
Thank you for this information. I believe you. A doctor once told me to take iron for no reason. I was not even tired. Now I take nothing and I feel fine. Eva
As usual: funny, entertaining and very educating!
Great explanation of the "Total Mortality Graphs" (10:45) Many UA-camrs would just quickly brush over it (and not explain its significance!).
That's why Dr. Greger (Nutrition Facts) suggests morning coffee may be healthy, reducing iron!
I wonder if this doesn't go some way in explaining the longevity gap between men and women (with women having lower iron levels)
Great video as usual. I had low iron despite being of Celtic decent and was encouraged to take ferrous sulfate. I guess I will just eat more Italian white bean and kale soup with a side of bell peppers and humus. Thanks for sharing your research with us!
eat more meat simple
My wife was iron deficient BEFORE going vegan. She was at normal levels 6 months after. Whole food plant based diet cured her.
Nothing it CAN'T cure, Chuck ! 😊👍🏻
What did she eat..??
My story too ...
That's what happened to me but now 5 years vegan its flipped back again. Have had to take iron and not vegan at this point due to other issues.
It was the opposite for me but hey 🤷♀️
Fyi, Your doctor can diagnose hemochromatosis by sequencing the HFE gene from a blood sample. They did that on me, found a heterozygous mutation at a secondary site, and said that was hemochromatosis. At that time, about 15 years ago, the treatment was blood letting, but the red cross did not accept blood from hemochromatosis patients, so I had to go to a cancer clinic multiple times to have my blood drawn and discarded. Rules might be different now... fyi, I turned vegetarian at about that time, and didn't need blood letting to keep iron in check for the past 10 years or so.
Fascinating! Thank you and congrats on getting it under control.
My iron levels were always low. I found after a C-section that I had Thalassemia minor. I talk to my grandma and she said “oh, Mediterranean anemia. I have it, my mother had it etc. “ We always talk about Mediterranean diet and how people live longer. So many, Mediterraneans have Thalassemia. I understood that what I had to do is try to keep eating what my family has been eating for generations and not fall for trends and supplements. I eat beef only when I’m on my period and eat seasonal fruit and vegetables. Lots of soups with beans in the winter. My iron levels on my blood test have been normal ever since. I work at a daycare and I’m the only staff that hasn’t been sick this winter. When I was breastfeeding, I kept hearing people talking about breastmilk having less iron than formula and that there was no iron after 6 months. It’s ridiculous. Iron is lower but better absorbed and at 6 months, you are supposed to introduce your baby to food so it still has iron but food is supposed to supplement it.
So what happens leading up to fatal iron malnourishment? I recall scurvy there’s a bunch of symptoms of bleeding gums and oral health troubles. What happens when iron is actually severely lacking from the diet?
Considering that iron is the most abundant mineral in earth, I'd assume it would be a hard one to not get enough of.
Always enjoy your videos. I perceive the body is self healing and regulating. It is my limited understanding that Iron is utilized by cancer, inflammation and bacteria/viral loads, and when the body is overcome by these attacks will respond by a temporary withholding of iron to weaken the attack. So to address the iron deficiency one would look for the cause being one of those mentioned rather than increasing iron which is the opposite of what the body is attempting to overcome. Iron is important but the body's strategy is temporary in order to overcome the immediate attack. I think that this same principle also applies to deficiency in Vit B12 and Vit D. As I trust and respect your awesome ability and depth of research I look forward to one day you may consider researching and making a video about these 3 deficiencies from this view point as I am sure many of the world population have one of these deficiencies and they seem to be the common ones that often appear on blood test results. Thank you for your work.
From Montréal, 16:59 that's a local show with famous actors from Quebec which I don't know the name :) very happy to see them internationally. You've become my favorite UA-camr
Awesome! I got a big laugh out of that skit. Turns out all the monetization from this video is going to them, and I'm happy about it. It's a UA-cam thing for copyrighted material.
@@Viva-Longevity Oh they claimed it that's crazy! I want you to make money too :(((
It's okay. If I had my way, I wouldn't monetize these videos at all but UA-cam now runs ads on them no matter what. It's quite the corrupting influence. For example, the UA-cam channel What I've Learned just did an episode comparing meat protein favorably to plant protein, and already has a million views in a few weeks. He's not a scientist, it's full of misinformation, but it's a great way to ring the cash register if you're a UA-cam creator - anything pro meat gets big views.
And that explains a lot about the struggles social media companies have. Their business models depend on content like that. Scientists get a few hundred or thousand views because they have to say meat is unhealthy, and you don't get views for that.
@@Viva-Longevity That's so true! I feel like meat-eaters think they are compromising taste when giving up meat but it's so untrue!!!
I've watched some of What I've Learned stuff, I only liked the sleep video because I'm passionate about sleep from reading Why We Sleep book, but other than that he sounds too much like brogan for me, happily expanded out of that mentality. I wish videos saying how beetroots, broccoli, and potatoes are better for us had as many views D: our specie is still so barbaric, but I still have hopes for younger generations.
Keep up the awesome work! I love what you're doing. You and all the plant-based scientists make me want to study more of the impact of our nutrition on health, morale and environmental issues.
Have a wonder-full day
The show is called "LOL". It's a non verbal humour show that is often featured in airplanes, just like those "Just for laughs" skits for those who may know this show.
Super nice to see fellow Quebec actors here. The name of the guy in the chair is Martin Drainville. The 3 actors are well know in French speaking Quebec (Canada).
By the way, i enjoy all your clips. You're the best! Thanks for your work!
I recently had need of iron . Iron Fumerate , was found , and 1 tablet taken . It was the last as well , the rest of the bottle went down the toilet , as that 1 tablet , gave really bad constipation .
An alternative iron , was found in one of the 12 essential minerals , called "IRON PHOSPHATE" , Which had provided no adverse reaction , though a decrease in inflammation was noticed , which is one thing I was after , the other was easier breathing , and oxygen uptake , as my walking speed is the same , up hill or down , and a mile on the flat , will be cut out n approx , 10 minuets . It's still used daily , to reduce inflamation , as any pharmacutical is bad news for myself , with unwanted reactions .
I have haemochromatosis. The fatigue involved in iron overload is very real. I feel better after giving a blood donation.
My ex husband was a meat eater. I had surgery. He donated his blood for my surgery. I was 24 and after I got his blood in me I felt better than ever in my life! So, your blood may work the same for some anemic person. Everyone wins.
I have been a donor (in Australia we don't get paid) since I was about 18. The mad cow disease thing stopped me from donating and that is when I found out that I had haemochromatosis. The excess iron made me so fatigued it was investigated. I still had to be bled but my blood could not be used. Now they are using my blood again and I couldn't be happier about it. I have also not had cytomegalovirus which makes my blood particularly valuable for children.
A great resource book on this subject is called “dumping iron “
Iron beyond its necessary levels is extremely toxic in the human body!
Well, thanks for this video! Inherited Hemachromatosis here...can't get rid or iron naturally so must give blood every 3 months minimum. At first, i had a phlebotomy every two weeks for a few months. Apparently 25% of Gaelic people have it. Men can suffer more and earlier because they dont menstruate as do women. Imagine too much iron creating fatigue! Anyhow, it's a cheap test, easily done, but it took me 10 years (after menopause) to convince a doctor to test for it. With 25% of Gaels having it, it shouldn't be so challenging to get tested. Personally, i think an easy fix like phlebotomies ruins the chances of medical professionals from cashing in on the many serious diseases and conditions that can arise from Hemachromotosis iron overload going too long undiagnosed. Me...cynical? Maybe just a little.
Would plasma donation help as well?
13:36 Yes! PD Mangan's Dumping Iron is a great reference also. I eat meat and eggs only. Ferritin went from 112 to 324. I gave blood and it's back down to 92. Just give more blood. I'll keep doing that, thank you.
Kudos for giving blood. My understanding is only 38% of people qualify to give blood and only 5% of the population does. I wonder what that means for the other 95% who have skyrocketing iron levels from their diets.
@@Viva-Longevity Seeing as how all the processed food is iron fortified, I figured the FDA was trying to kill everybody. I think only pure vegans and pure carnivores are able to avoid all the processed stuff. One is eating from the garden and the other is eating animals that ate from the garden. Everybody else is getting some slop created by people that just need a job/money and are robots. And they can add whatever they want to those products during inflationary times to cut down on costs...
Good luck going back to the 🚒 every single day of the month depleting your body of needed blood sir. Why not just go plant-based? It's easier - cheaper and healthier.
When I committed to plant based back in 2016, naturally the energy came about to run and run and run. I found the action of running 30km+ a week really took a toll on my iron levels, so I too take Gentle Iron a couple of times a week to avoid low ferritin (where I find I can’t even run one kilometre (as opposed to comfortably running 10km) and the lunch time naps start to creep in).
That was another thing from Dr. Shatzel's book on iron deficiency: endurance athletes, especially women, get very low iron levels. That quote of his I displayed near the end about Ava getting a 1,000 mg infusion, the backstory is she is on Oregon State's track team and if I remember her distance is 10K.
Try well sourced Spirulina or Chlorella, they're both loaded in non heme iron
Same thing happened to me after kicking veganism and now I'm carnivore. Plants are good for most people but causes all kinds of autoimmune issues due to the anti nutrients and allergens in plants for me.
You put in words everything you are doing wrong plant based diet for a start and then running 30km+ a week both are not what humans are designed for.
@@nicmonberg5974 cool. What were we designed for?
Great video. Learned a lot and it was amusing.
As always, THANK YOU! I trust you to present "the other opinion".
Also your humor hits just right!
This is fantastic content i wish more of youtube was like this. Thanks for the wel weighted logic, bludy good work !
Information like this saves lives like mine
Anemia is no joke
Male, whole plant vegan for 20 years, extremely fit, age 51. Low ferritin. Really low (24). Had to take ferritin supps with vitamin c according to doc. Got levels to 79. Hematocrit still at point between low and normal. Didn't take supps for 6 months and it fell back to 60. 🤷♂️
Fascinating, FearZero. How active are you? My Ferritin is 79 too but I give blood and do a lot of biking and running, which tends to lower it. One reason I ask is the hematology books warn about slight blood loss from a polyp in your colon or something like that. 😬 But your doctor is far more qualified to know whether that's a concern than I am.
@@Viva-Longevity I had a colonoscopy after finding out about low ferritin. All normal. I do work out with heavy weights several times a week and cardio on other days. Doc says it might be a hereditary thing. Anyway thanks for videos, I enjoy your content!
Found your channel today and you make very interesting videos with well researched content sir!! Subscribed 😊
Great video! The most surprising for me is that high iron levels has similar side effects like low iron levels. After years of marketing it is the common knowledge to recommend iron supplement when someone feels low. In my case (34 yo) I have high iron (233) but low ferritin (34) and I'm vegan, so the results are kind of counterintuitive to me. I plan to do gene test for hemochromatosis. In this case it is better to be safe than sorry.
You’re my favorite UA-cam nutrition channel
Restless Leg Syndrome is often a sign of low iron levels in the brain. My RLS was getting worse after I became a regular blood donor. Once I started taking a 27 mg iron supplement, my RLS vanished. I slack off on taking iron when all is well, but if I experience RLS, I go back to taking the supplement for a while. Also before and after my blood donations. But I’m also requesting iron testing with my annual blood tests, just to make sure I don’t overdo it.
Don't know how you do it, but you make all your videos very interesting 😇
Thank you! When I had my blood work done just to be sure I wasn't missing anything, doc said they didn't run a B12 test because I wasn't anemic so highly unlikely lacking B12. Wondering how many people with anemia could have their issues sorted if they took B12
Thanks, Beth. I'm working on an episode about that! Should be done in a couple of days.
I remember those ridiculous Geritol commercials. LOL. Actually some people actually are anemic because of a very low red blood cell count. It's not from not eating enough iron, it's because of not having a balance diet and very low vit C intake. Others like my mom was told after her blood work to avoid cooking in her cast iron skillet! She had too much iron. Even though she didn't have a very good balanced diet. She never took any vitamin supplement in her life and still her blood work showed too much iron. It didn't make her tired, just hurt her stomach. Myself, when young my blood work always showed I was anemic with way to low red blood cell count. My doc told my mom to let me have all the raisins I want and eat a lot of split pea soup. Both high in iron and since raisins also have Vit C it solved the problem.
You are amazing!
Thank you a million times,love every single well spent minute listening to you.
Switching from omnivore to pescatarian made me iron deficient for a couple weeks. It was the most fatigue I've ever felt. After a few days of iron supplementation I felt normal again. Now I just use a multivitamin and feel fine a year later.
I do enjoy these walk and talks! Thanks for the art!
Excellent as an overview to combat the ignorant prescriptions the majority of GP's are giving with respect to fatigue and reflexive responses to Hg without the sensitive consideration of ferritin as you point out. For example just this morning a 62 year old Mediterranean diet Jesuit devotee was told by his doctor "the iron levels were to low." At 103lbs he looks frail, but has 16 hour robust energy, never gets cold, has great digestion, constantly walking or cycling and a charming attitude to boot. I pronounced him as needing just few more calories and to pump the iron, not eat it. With low WBC's, Lymphocytes and inflammatory markers, I am betting on 95+ years without road accidents..Will see next year how he fares ?
Oh BTW, potato, bean and kale stew... yum. Mandarin for dessert.
Hi Chris, great video! 44YO male (5;7, 119 lbs, lean, fit, active), WFPB since late August 2023 , and an avid blood donor. Just got my Hemoglobin, Iron, Ferratin checked for the first time in a long time and they came back 11.2, 14 and 12, respectively. Nurse was surprised, and I mentioned the blood donation as the likely cause (last donation was 5 weeks before labs were drawn, and every two months prior to that).
She's recommending iron supplementation and recheck in 90 days. and I'm hesitant (prefer food solution). In your wife's case with her ferratin low due to blood donation, did she fix with diet, supplements, or both? I can't remember if you specified that in the video, and I can't seem to find that little section of the video without again rewatching.
Thanks for all the great work you do!
Wow, great for you donating like that! 👏 Iron is such a tricky nutrient... I am 200 pounds so I must eat a lot more than you and I show up at the Red Cross with my iron levels slightly out of range high every two months. Disturbing. I don't eat any animal products. Must be genetic.
Toni is 120 pounds and she just can't donate as often as me or her iron gets too low. When it has, she has had to supplement to bring it back into range. The types of food we eat is largely the same, so... 🤷♂️
@@Viva-Longevity Thanks kindly for the prompt response, Chris! Yeah, I'm 2K+ calories/day, and per Cronometer I'm usually around 30mg iron and 200mg vitamin C (for what it's worth). I'll supplement for a few months, get retested, and if good I'll probably get off the supplements for a few months and see if my dietary pattern is enough for me to sustain the elevated levels.
You said it right...Iron is a tricky one, for sure...especially when you factor in body size and blood loss habits. Regardless, personal nutrition is a blast to play with. 😁 Anyway, thank you again, and keep up the great work that you do (your latest work on Framingham was just top-notch!).
I'm grateful that my dad donates blood regularly. I know it's protecting his health.
love your videos - your edits are so good too!
I love your videography (and of course, adore the content!!!)!!!
New to this channel and disappointed that it appears to be biased towards veganism in cherry picking the facts presented. I fully support veganismn - was vegan for 7-8 years in the 90s, am still mostly plant-based, and would like to go vegan again, primarily for animals and the planet. But if the information to be presented is going to be limited only to what will work for vegans, it should be titled accordingly (Eg “Iron for vegans”) to avoid unintentionally misleading viewers. There was no discussion in this video of iron protein succinylate (IPS) despite it being listed as one of the best tolerated. As someone who chronically becomes anemic with supplementation, I’ve found it to be absolutely the most tolerable and effective at low doses. I will soon be trying higher doses for a bigger boost more quickly. Would have liked to learn more about it and would have been helpful for your viewers to at least know about it as well, particularly those not vegan who could benefit from it. Or ar the least to hear that you wouldn’t be covering the benefits and harms because it’s nonvegan.
Also, the vegan doctor shouldn’t be giving advice on nutrition. A squeeze of lemon juice isn’t going to add hardly any vitamin c to your kale or help with iron absorption. Even a full ounce of lemon juice only has 11-12 mg of vitamin c. Straight up bad info. Stick with navel orange slices or some kiwi or strawberries to add a high dose of vitamin c and really get a boost in absorption.
Thanks for making this video. I know it was hard work. Please continue.
Iron can cause LDL oxidation at certain pH that exists within lysosomes of macrophages. These macrophages consume trapped LDL and oxidise it within an iron rich environment 😊
This info is really incredible, thank you
my ferritin level is normally low, at low end of ref. range. After about 18 months of frequent platelet and plasma donation level went to 7 ng/ml. Turns out that during each donation they also take 50 mls of whole blood for testing. So, with last whole blood donation Feb 2021, and 20 platelet and plasma donations from then until mid 2022 I off loaded about 1.4 liters of whole blood. Supplementing with a low dose iron supplement a few days per week and slowing donations to 1x/month instead of 2x got me back to high 20s over 3 months. Hemoglobin was fine throughout. Platelet donation is a great help for cancer patients and is often in low supply in my area. recommend you consider, but get an iron panel on occasion
👏👏👏
Absolutely correct! Most American seniors suffer from iron overload. I have never taken any iron supplement in my life. I have donated blood to reduce my iron load (primarily as a paid donor for research). People need to wake up and stop taking iron supplements unless they are pregnant.
My Ferritin levels are just below 400.
I was a massive meat eater until jan 2022 when I went low fat vegan.However I'm having trouble trying to get my ferritin levels lower.I'm going to increase the time between meals also decrease the volume.This way my A1C can come down as well.I'm 53.
Love your videos!
People that donate blood have success in reducing their ferritin levels.
Thanks so much for making this video. I really appreciate all the work that goes into all your videos, and I appreciate the information they convey. Very educational and even life changing. Thanks again.
I have a ferritin level of 30 (up from 22). Anything below 50 is considered too low in my country. Did I hear correctly that in the US above 20 is acceptable? My doctor wants me to supplement, that's why I'm wondering.
Fascinating. Yes, the Mayo clinic has it as above 12 for women and UCSF has it as above 11. But in the book I quoted from the hematologist Joseph Shatzel, he says in his experience, women feel their best around 50. I also noticed a couple of sites who say for athletes, 60 is optimum. Iron is a tricky mineral, no? 🤔
My ferritin was at a 4 and Iron at a 3, hovering in the single digits for nearly a decade. I felt slowed down but not super tired, i was still able to enjoy life without hinderance. When i switched to a new GP she was floored at how low my Iron had been and wanted me to do infusions right away, I rejected it as she couldnt fully answer my questions about the who what why of my anemia. I started taking the Blood Builder supplement, shown in this video, every other day and my ferritin increased to 17 and Iron to 12 in 6 months. It felt positive about the result but as someone who loves to dig into things, im still on the journey to discover the reason behind my anemia.
Having moved i then switched to another GP, she had run several tests to rule out the cause of the anemia but everything came back negative. My periods are normal, no blood in the stool, not celiac, no H polari or other parasites. I even did a hair mineral analysis which shown my iron levels to actually be normal along with copper. I think the next step is to test my methylation, it’s the only thing that i believe could be a factor here!
How does methylation affect iron?
Such a great presentation. Thank you for making this!
My brother has hemochromatosis he has to occasionally have get blood drawn to lower his iron. Since the condition is genetic our whole family was checked non of us have the condition or have high iron and we all eat meat. We were told our body can eliminate the iron since we don't have hemochromatosis.
If it helps anyone, when pregnant, I asked my doctors to test my iron levels and used that to determine if I should supplement. I'm still confused as to why they wanted me to supplement iron when mine was high. Felt so much better when I didn't! A doctor also mistakenly told me to give my baby cows milk before he was a year old--glad I got a second opinion there! Was told to give dairy to my child who always throws it up, basically "push through that until it's tollerated". Goat's milk was fine. Curious if anyone understands the difference.
Another great video! Thank you 🔩
Ok, seriously. No one (in the EU at least) gives their baby cows milk. They have breast milk or formula milk.
As for the ferritin problems, my ferritin usually is between 2 and 10. That's it, for my whole life. I have heavy cycles and the only time I've seen my ferritin above 20 is when I was pregnant and not bleeding for 9 months.
My boyfriend had cancer. And when it was diagnosed, his ferritin was 400 +.
Thank you! I really enjoy watching your videos!
There is a massive difference between iron supplements and iron from meat.
You posted! Can’t wait to watch.
That comment you made about me in the episode, that I needed help, came off as a little too sincere, mister. 😂
You nailed it with the apple snack! Another great video. Thanks for sharing.
12:15 Can you give a reputable source showing that the body cannot down-regulate the absorption of heme iron? I'm curious to know where you found this information as I cannot very easily find it on the internet. Thanks!
One source is the book by E.D. Weinberg, Exposing The Hidden Dangers If Iron, which has quite a lot of references. I made an iPhone snappy for you of one of the paragraphs and here’s a link (lemme know if you can’t open heic and I’ll convert it): drive.google.com/file/d/1-GxNIiel4CxElXvco_zv8W1J4CnWEtS9/view?usp=drivesdk
@@Viva-Longevity Thanks for sharing and for replying so fast on an older video! It shows you really care. So the book says "investigators have noted", is there specific research that the book references to support this statement?
Hi Chris - My recent ferritin test was 9.14 and has been low since I had cancer and cancer treatments 3 years ago. I have been NED for 2 years, but still low ferritin, though my iron levels are normal. I know you are not a medical doctor (you are very aware of speaking "above your pay grade" which I appreciate), but when you mentioned that your wife's ferritin had hit 9, I became curious if she took any specific actions to address her low ferritin level? Thank you. And I LOVE your highly informative, well-researched videos, thank you for all you do!!
Thanks! Toni had to limit her blood donations and take supplements. Several pre-menopausal women in my extended family have to supplement, as well.
I give blood every 2 months and my ferritin is out of range high each time. 🤷♂️
@PlantChompers Thanks, Chris. In regards to supplements, have you come across any informative research on the effectiveness of Floradix? As it is plant-based and appears free of artificial additives, I was thinking it could be a valid option. Any info you may have on this is appreciated!
My daughter swears by Floradix! It seems to be the only supplement she’s found that reliably gets her ferritin in range.
@@Viva-Longevity That is so great to hear, thank you🙂
Is the answer to just drink fresh green, and other vegetable juices?
Eat beef and, once in a while, lamb liver.