Ray Peat on Iron

Short answer: Ray Peat called iron a potentially toxic heavy metal. He wrote that it builds up in the tissues with age, reacts with unsaturated fats to destroy cells, and that most people should worry about getting too much, not too little.

What Ray Peat wrote about iron

He wrote that iron in excess can cause cancer, heart disease and other illnesses. Source: Iron's Dangers

Iron accumulates in tissues with aging. He connected that to the low-energy state of the cell, which retains both iron and calcium and produces age pigment. Source: Multiple Sclerosis and other hormone related brain syndromes, Aging Eyes, Infant Eyes, and Excitable Tissues

The damage comes from its reaction with unsaturated fats under stress, producing lipid peroxides. Source: Aging Eyes, Infant Eyes, and Excitable Tissues, Mitochondria and mortality

High body iron stores go with more atherosclerosis. Source: Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health

Iron destroys vitamin E, so the vitamin E requirement rises with iron intake and with age. Source: Iron's Dangers

He warned about iron added to food, which destroys vitamins in the food and can be toxic itself, and about iron from cookware, especially with acidic sauces. Source: Iron's Dangers

Milk is naturally low in iron, because the newborn arrives with a large store. He treats that as normal, not as a defect of milk. Source: Milk in context: allergies, ecology, and some myths

What he suggested in practice

• Drink coffee with iron-rich meals. He writes that he always tries to have coffee with meat.
• About 100 units of vitamin E a day, not at the same moment as iron-rich food.
• Avoid iron supplements and iron-fortified foods unless there is a real need.
• Cook in glass or good stainless steel.
• Less unsaturated fat makes the iron you have less harmful.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 31 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

• Iron's Dangers · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 2 · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Osteoporosis, harmful calcification, and nerve/muscle malfunctions · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Multiple sclerosis, protein, fats, and progesterone · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Diabetes, scleroderma, oils and hormones · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Aging Eyes, Infant Eyes, and Excitable Tissues · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Milk in context: allergies, ecology, and some myths · original on raypeat.com ↗

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about iron?

That it is a potentially toxic heavy metal that accumulates with age and reacts with unsaturated fats, contributing to cancer, heart disease and aging.

How did Ray Peat reduce iron absorption?

By drinking coffee with iron-rich meals such as meat, avoiding fortified foods and supplements, and taking vitamin E.