Page 19 - Fall2020

Toxic Iron and Ferroxidase,

the Master Antioxidant

By Ben Edwards, MD

n modern times, we have lost traditional wisdom and
lost our resiliency to disease. In line with Occam’s razor

I(“All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to
be the best one”), I believe that one of the principal com-

mon denominators responsible for our lack of resiliency is

toxic iron. Many people have too much iron in their body,
and that iron lacks an excretory pathway, making us more

susceptible to stressors and compromising our ability to
heal.

Obviously, iron is important; we especially need it to deliver oxygen.
Eighty percent of our iron is in hemoglobin, the protein component of red
blood cells, which carries the oxygen to the cells. However, as Paracelsus

said, “The dose makes the poison.” In the wrong form, the wrong dose or,
most importantly, if it’s not properly escorted, iron is highly toxic. Iron must
be properly chaperoned around the body, and when it’s not, it will react with
oxygen in a negative way and “rust” you from the inside out. Those who
eat a standard American diet (SAD)—full of iron-fortified foods—for any
period of time are likely to end up with excess iron; and the SAD tends to
create deficiencies in copper and vitamin A, which are needed to recycle the
iron appropriately.

FALL 2020 Wise Traditions 17