Modern agriculture and processing of grains and other foods strips most of the organic nutrients out of the food, including organic iron which humans should be getting in their natural diet.

Most iron supplements contain inorganic iron, which is the same iron filings that is added to fortified grain, supplements and water. They are not metabolized by your body the same way that organic iron found in nature is, and are usually coupled with Vitamin C, fructose and HFCS which enhance iron absorption and poison you even more.

It is now known that anemia can also manifest as anemia of chronic disease where the body intentionally stops absorbing iron and stores it in tissues in order to keep iron levels low in the bloodstream—to avoid feeding iron-loving pathogens and cancer. It can be counterproductive to give iron to someone who has anemia of chronic disease.

The countries that fortify their foods with iron are the very countries that have the most problems with their wheat and carbohydrates. The demand for “gluten free” has skyrocketed in these iron-fortified nations. Mysteriously, other developed, non-fortified countries don’t seem to have problems with their carbohydrates.

One recent study connected fortification trends to obesity, but overlooked iron as the culprit.

Gluten sensitivity was rare in the US before 1950, when widespread fortification was instituted. Sweden and Finland had voluntary fortification up until 1995, and Denmark fortified until 1987, when they banned it due to health concerns and low bioavailability. After de-fortification, iron deficiency anemia was virtually unchanged in those countries, proving that the iron fortification actually did very little to prevent anemia.

Coincidentally Sweden’s gluten sensitivity epidemic ended in 1996, within one year after they stopped fortifying flour. The Netherlands doesn’t fortify their flour and has virtually no issues with gluten. France does not fortify their flour and gluten sensitivity is very rare there.

The French are technically “undernourished” by modern standards; they eat roughly 40% more wheat than Americans do—a tradition dating to at least the 1800s—they’re “addicted” to antibiotics, have no interest in exercise, and yet they have 1/3 the obesity.

While iron is an essential trace element, it’s not a safe one. Iron easily oxidizes—it rusts—and excess iron has been strongly linked to virtually every major chronic disease that has plagued developed nations over the 20th century: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, AMD, arthritis, chronic liver diseases, and endocrine disorders. Even heart disease markers, such as homocysteine, may simply be an indirect marker of iron stores.

Whatever isn’t absorbed passes directly to the colon and causes damage and disrupts the microbiota, ushering in a host of downstream health consequences.

Iron can affect the structural and immunological integrity of the gastrointestinal tract and its microflora, potentially promoting invasion by pathogenic enteric bacteria, as well as increasing gastrointestinal inflammation. [4] For developing countries, iron supplementation resulted in higher incidence of or higher mortality from infections.

When iron is added to food, they have to add a significant amount because only a fraction of fortification iron is absorbed and most of the given dose passes into the lower small intestine and colon. Iron negatively affect crypts in the colon, increases free radical production in fecal material, and increases lipid peroxidation in the mucosa of the large intestine. Phytic acid, which inhibits iron absorption, suppresses colonic cancer, which has been linked to iron.

The high levels of iron in baby formula appears to have negative consequences on development.

It has been hypothesized that the extreme levels of iron in baby formula, combined with the high levels of iron in the food supply may be a direct cause to the rise in autism. Autistic children have decreased levels of major antioxidant serum proteins, namely transferrin (iron-binding protein) and ceruloplasmin (copper-binding protein), which lead to increased oxidative stress. Incidentally, the French, who do not fortify flour, have very low incidence of autism and ADHD.

• Why did heart disease deaths rise in Tunisia after their diet shifted from wheat to meat while smoking and inactivity declined? The diet likely promoted iron overload.

• Why does Northern Ireland have a CHD death rate 4 times higher than Toulouse, France, despite almost identical coronary risk factors? Northern Ireland fortifies its foods, but France does not.

• Why did the Pima Indians stay healthy for millennia eating beans, squash and maize but quickly became obese and diabetic from government-supplied flour? The government gave them white flour fortified with iron.

• Why is Nauru one of the most obese nations on Earth? They eat excessive quantities of meat and rely on fortified foods imported from their trading partners. Their entire lifestyle promotes iron overload.

• Why is obesity a major problem in New Zealand? They eat excessive quantities of meat and they have very low dairy consumption. Dairy is one of the only inhibitors of heme iron found in meat. Their diet promotes iron overload.

• Finland, Sweden and Sardinia are lean, but have very high incidence of diabetes and Finland has the highest levels of Alzheimer’s in the world, with very high levels of CHD. How is this possible? Scandinavian populations have high incidence of hereditary hemochromatosis and high levels of stored iron have been linked to heart attacks in Finnish men. High iron and copper in Scandinavian drinking water has been linked to heart attacks. However, one hypothesis speculates that airborne metals from finely ground high-latitude glaciation and mining soil heaps are easily inhaled and bypass the liver, allowing them to directly harm organs. This would appear to explain these paradoxes.

• Why are the Japanese, who eat lots of fish, slender with such great longevity? Fish is a low-iron meat and they balance their iron intake with sources of manganese. They also drink plenty of green tea, which chelates iron. Recent increases in diabetes in Japan are attributed to increased meat and fat consumption which promotes increased iron absorption.

• Why does South Africa have a terrible obesity problem despite having relatively low meat consumption? They have mandatory flour fortification of iron. Some Africans may also be more susceptible to iron overload.

• Why are fad diets popular in some countries? Countries where fad diets are popular tend to have fortified flour. In all cases, these fad diets all have one thing in common: avoidance of fortified flour. The diets invariably stop working the moment people return to a diet that includes fortified foods.

• Why did Sir Robert McCarrison observe extremely healthy cultures thriving on a diet high in whole wheat while some modern countries cannot tolerate gluten? The wheat McCarrison’s cultures consumed was not fortified. The countries that have trouble with gluten and the ones that fortify their flour.

• Why does beer promote beer bellies? Excessive alcohol consumption increases iron absorption, while red wine has iron inhibitors and antioxidants to scavenge free radicals.

• Why do excessive fruit juice consumption promote metabolic disfunction in US children but children in Germany have no issues with excessive fruit juice consumption? In the US, the schoolchildren eat their lunches with iron-fortified flour. The Vitamin C, fructose and HFCS all enhance the absorption of the high levels of iron and thereby promote metabolic issues. In Germany they don’t fortify their food with iron, so the fructose, HFCS and Vitamin C have no such effect.

• Why were chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes much rarer 100 years ago? Flour fortification was invented in the 1920s and became widespread after WWII—promoting iron overload and chronic disease.

• What caused diseases of civilization before fortification existed? If iron overload is the culprit, than a combination of refined sugar, high fat and high muscle meat consumption would have promoted iron overload. Incidentally, sugar used to be boiled in cast iron kettles during the refining process. Queen Elizabeth I’s teeth turned black from excess sugar consumption, which is a telltale sign of iron overload.

• What causes the Northern Ireland paradox where Belfast has a coronary artery disease death rate that is more than 4 times higher than in Toulouse, France, despite almost identical coronary ‘risk factors’. Northern Ireland fortifies flour with Iron and France does not.

• Why did CHD and mortality increased by more than 100% in Beijing between 1984 and 1999? The great majority of the increase was explained by a five-fold increase in intake of meat. That would have contributed to iron overload.

• Why do Blue Zones, have low chronic disease and increased longevity? Their diets are low in heme iron and they practice iron inhibition of non-heme iron. They consume low levels of meat, no fortification, high manganese intake, and high levels of anti-nutrients such as legumes and moderate wine phenolics. Their diets tend to have lots of fiber, which binds to and inhibits iron absorption. Some Blue Zones have very high levels of calcium in their drinking water, which inhibits both heme and non-heme iron absorption.

• How did this individual lose 50kg eating whole grains, fibers and herbs? Every aspect of the diet inhibited and chelated iron.

• Why are high fiber diets therapeutic and health promoting? Fiber is fermented by our microbiota into health-promoting metabolites. Some fibers binds to iron, and have the ability to inhibit and chelate iron.

• Alzheimer’s is far less prevalent in countries with unsanitary conditions. How does this relate to iron? Alzheimer’s has been linked to iron. Hookworms, which protect against iron overload, are ubiquitous in countries with poor sanitation.

You can find even more evidence to support Iron Theory here: https://www.freetheanimal.com/2015/06/enrichment-theory-everything.html (you need to make a free account to see it)