A note while reading this article: IP6 (phytic acid) is the best chelator of iron that I know of.
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Malaria is a life-threatening condition that exposes approximately half of the world's population to the risk of developing a severe and often lethal form of disease. In a study published in the latest issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe*, Miguel Soares and his team at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci�ncia (IGC), Portugal, discovered that the development of severe forms of malaria can be prevented by a simple mechanism that controls the accumulation of iron in tissues of the infected host. They found that expression of a gene that neutralizes iron inside cells, named H Ferritin, reduces oxidative stress preventing tissue damage and death of the infected host. This protective mechanism provides a new therapeutic strategy against malaria.
Malaria is the disease caused by infection with the parasite Plasmodium through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Infected individuals activate a series of defence mechanisms that aim at eliminating the parasite. However, this is not totally efficient in terms of avoiding severe forms of the disease and eventually death. There is another defence strategy that provides disease tolerance to malaria, reducing disease severity without targeting the parasite, as recently highlighted by Miguel Soares and collaborators in the journal Science**. The study now published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe* shows that this defence strategy acts via the regulation of iron metabolism in the infected host.
It was known that restricting iron availability to pathogens can reduce their virulence, that is, their capacity to cause disease. However, this defence strategy has a price, namely the accumulation of toxic iron in tissues and organs of the infected host. This can lead to tissue damage, enhancing rather than preventing disease severity. In the experimental work now conducted Raffaella Gozzelino, a senior researcher in Miguel Soares' laboratory, demonstrates that the infected host overcomes this problem by inducing the expression of H-Ferritin, which detoxifies iron. The protective effect of H-Ferritin prevents the development of severe and often lethal forms of malaria in mice.
The researchers also investigated if there is a correlation between the severity of malaria and the expression of ferritin in humans. Together with Bruno Bezerril Andrade (currently at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, USA), Nivea Luz and Manoel Barral-Netto (at Funda��o Oswaldo Cruz and Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil) they analyzed samples from individuals infected with Plasmodium in Rond�nia, a state in the north-western part of Brazil. Their results showed that, among the infected individuals, those with higher levels of ferritin presented reduced tissue damage. Together with the experimental data obtained in mice, these observations reveal that ferritin confers protection against malaria, without interfering directly with the parasite causing the disease, that is, that ferritin confers disease tolerance to malaria.
Miguel Soares says: 'Our work suggests that individuals that express lower levels of Ferritin and hence are not so efficient at sequestering toxic iron in their tissues might be at a higher risk of developing severe forms of malaria. Furthermore, our study also supports a theory that explains how protection against malaria, as well as other infectious diseases, can operate without targeting directly the causative agent of disease, namely Plasmodium. Instead, this defence strategy works by protecting cells, tissue and organs in the infected host from dysfunction, thus limiting the severity of disease.'
This study opens the way to new therapeutics that could confer tolerance to malaria.
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- Jim
�Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.� Sir Winston Churchill
IP6 chelates several other minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. However, it has a higher affinity with iron. The bottle labels, that I've seen, indicate that you should take separate mineral supplement. Definitely do this. I know from experience that it is necessary.
When you consume phytic acid in grains, the phytic acid is already bound to existing minerals. For it to chelate anything else, it would have to give up (release) some other mineral. This typically does not happen. This is why you need an IP6 supplement to do whatever health protocol you need. But then take a mineral supplement a few hours later. Actually you should take IP6 on an empty stomach.
IP6 is not a maintenance supplement. You should only do it for about 2-3 weeks. I do it twice a year for 2 weeks each time.
IP6 also has been studied for other diseases besides cancer as IP6 increases Natural Killer immune cells besides chelating iron. You can download a free ebook about IP6 here:
IP6 is not a maintenance supplement. You should only do it for about 2-3 weeks. I do it twice a year for 2 weeks each time.
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Ok, thanks. Currently I have been taking the odd capsule between meals, once every seven days.
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Originally Posted by liverock
IP6 also has been studied for other diseases besides cancer as IP6 increases Natural Killer immune cells besides chelating iron. You can download a free ebook about IP6 here:
The issue I have with phytic acid is that it inhibits digestion by inhibiting enzymes as well as chelating minerals, but maybe that's okay if you don't take it with food...?
Another great chelator of iron is wheatgrass juice, which is interesting because it is also a great blood builder. Supplements like IP6 can only work in one direction (chelate iron), but the beauty of nature is that real foods bring the body into equilabrium and so work in both directions - need higher Ferritin levels? Wheatgrass juice helps. Need lower Ferritin levels? Wheatgrass juice helps. It also has dozens of other compounds that help fight disease and kill pathogens.
If you're going to take IP6, also avoid taking vitamin A or beta-carotene for a few hours because they both inhibit the iron-chelating effects of phytic acid [which is normally a good thing].
The issue I have with phytic acid is that it inhibits digestion by inhibiting enzymes as well as chelating minerals, but maybe that's okay if you don't take it with food...?
Another great chelator of iron is wheatgrass juice, which is interesting because it is also a great blood builder. Supplements like IP6 can only work in one direction (chelate iron), but the beauty of nature is that real foods bring the body into equilabrium and so work in both directions - need higher Ferritin levels? Wheatgrass juice helps. Need lower Ferritin levels? Wheatgrass juice helps. It also has dozens of other compounds that help fight disease and kill pathogens.
Hmmm, I got the wheatgrass juicing attachment for my Kitchen Aid; it was in the year end closeout bargain bin.
Control Iron - control malaria
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