Ray Peat on iron

January 29, 2026

The role of lipofuscin in plaque inflammation and calcification

"The age pigment ceroid, or lipofuscin, which is largely derived from PUFAs and associated with the foamy macrophage cells in the plaque, accumulates iron (Lee et al., 1998) and, by catalyzing oxidation, creates local hypoxia, leading to the formation of lactic acid and contributing to an inflammatory process. The products of lipid peroxidation, such as azelaic acid (Riad et al., 2018), together with lactate, lead to tissue calcification."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Vitamin E alleviates iron-related stress and arthritis in animals

"Hans Selye sometimes used an injected metal, such as iron salts, to experimentally sensitize animals to stress and thus more easily trigger arthritis. He found that vitamin E could weaken this effect of iron."

Nutrition For Women

Link between psychological problems and hormonal and metal imbalances

"The high levels of copper, iron and lead found in many people with mental health problems could be a secondary result of a hormonal disorder."

Nutrition For Women

Changes in nutritional needs due to estrogen for blood sugar and a healthy pregnancy

"Vitamin E, vitamin A, and magnesium are other nutrients that help maintain blood sugar levels. Vitamin B12 is needed to utilize vitamin A. Folic acid, vitamin B6, and zinc are depleted by increased estrogen and are particularly important for a healthy pregnancy. Too much copper can lower blood sugar; too much iron can destroy vitamin E, and a vitamin E deficiency can lead to jaundice, which can affect the baby's brain."

Nutrition For Women

Mechanisms of iron accumulation in the liver

"It is known that excess iron accumulates in the liver because there is no mechanism to excrete it."

Nutrition For Women

Harmful effects of iron on antibodies and immune response

"In in-vitro tests, iron impairs the ability of antibodies to destroy germs. In the body, iron therefore seems to be 'hidden' during infections because of this effect on the immune system."

Nutrition For Women

Destruction of vitamin E by iron salts in animal feed

"Around 1940, laboratory animals fed a commercially produced feed showed signs of vitamin E deficiency and died of softening of the brain. The manufacturers knew they had added vitamin E to the mixture, but when they tested it, they found none at all. It turned out that the iron salts added to the feed had destroyed the vitamin E."

Nutrition For Women

Natural iron sources and their compatibility with vitamin E

"Natural sources of iron such as red meat, wheat bran, wheat germ, or molasses do not appear to have this destructive effect on vitamin E. Therefore, if an iron supplement is needed during pregnancy, these foods would likely reduce the risk of vitamin E deficiency and dangers such as miscarriage."

Nutrition For Women

The role of vitamin E in the prevention of hemolytic anemia

"In a vitamin E deficiency, red blood cells become fragile and break down. This type of hemolytic anemia is quite common in premature infants and is now treated with vitamin E. However, in adults, anemia is too often routinely treated with iron pills without considering whether the anemia is related to red blood cell fragility, which could be exacerbated by iron pills that destroy vitamin E."

Nutrition For Women

Stress-induced carbon monoxide and markers of chronic conditions

"When carbon monoxide is produced during stress, the breakdown of the heme molecule also releases iron and biliverdin, which is quickly converted into bilirubin. Increases in bilirubin and carbon monoxide in body fluids or in exhaled air can be observed in many chronic conditions – along with changes in tissue iron content."

November 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Iron accumulation: Stress, aging and oxidative damage

"The accumulation of iron in tissues during stress and aging makes it increasingly likely that they will suffer severe damage in moments of oxygen deficiency, because the iron atoms catalyze reactions such as lipid peroxidation."

November 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress-induced metabolic shifts and the formation of reactive toxins

"When stress shifts the metabolism towards reduction – with the formation of lactic acid – iron atoms react cyclically with oxygen and the reducing agents, producing hydroxyl radicals and other highly reactive toxins."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related changes in the brain, exacerbated by estrogen

"With age, iron and polyunsaturated fats accumulate in the brain. Estrogen slows the removal of dopamine, thereby increasing the possibility of it reacting toxically with iron and highly unsaturated fats, especially arachidonic acid and DHA; it also tends to increase the production of prostaglandins and nitric oxide. The opposing effects of progesterone likely explain the lower incidence of Parkinson's disease in women compared to men."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hydroxyl radicals from divalent iron ions under stress

"The most important source of hydroxyl radicals during stress is the divalent iron ion, a reduced form of iron – for example, the iron that is released when heme oxygenase breaks down heme and produces carbon monoxide."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of vitamin C as a reducing agent in cellular states

"When the cell is in a reduced state, vitamin C is one of the reducing agents that reacts with iron to form hydroxyl radicals."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of oxygen and iron in aging and tissue degradation

"I think oxygen waste is a key event in aging. Just as a cut potato needs oxygen to produce melanin, so do our tissues. With age, iron tends to accumulate more and more in our tissues, and iron appears to be a factor in oxygen waste (especially in age pigment)."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The role of vitamins in protecting against iron-induced toxicity

"Excess vitamin C can contribute to iron toxicity, but in the right amount, vitamin C is metabolically linked to vitamin E and helps protect against the toxic free radicals produced by iron. Vitamin A also acts as an antioxidant when very little oxygen is present – that is, when iron toxicity is at its worst."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Analysis of the seemingly paradoxical properties of older blood

“Two clear differences have been found between old blood and young blood. The albumin in old blood is in a more oxidized state. (I believe it was the famous gerontologist Verzar who first reported this.) Although—at least in aging individuals—there is much less oxygen in the blood, something causes the albumin in older blood to be more oxidized. The other striking feature of older blood also seems paradoxical at first: the red blood cells are younger. That is to say, in an old individual, the red blood cells are more fragile—possibly because they are more quickly damaged by oxidation—and are replaced earlier; therefore, they are, on average, many weeks younger than the cells of a healthy young individual. None of these properties is paradoxical. Poor oxygenation is stressful and leads to the waste of glucose and the compensatory mobilization of fat from stores, and the relatively reducing environment in the cytoplasm leads to the mobilization of iron from stores—in the toxic reduced (divalent) form. Products of the peroxidative interaction of iron with unsaturated fats are detectable in the blood (and other tissues) during stress, and especially in older animals.”

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Calcium and iron deposits in the mitochondria and diseases

"Calcium and iron tend to be deposited together, and the mitochondria are usually the starting points for this deposition. Iron overload is associated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and many other degenerative diseases, including brain disorders."

February 2001

The role of iron and calcium accumulation in aging and stress

"Iron and calcium both tend to accumulate with age or under stress, and both promote excitation-related damage; bicarbonate helps to keep iron in its inactive state and is thought to have a similar effect against a broad spectrum of excitatory substances."

December 1999 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Link between iron overload and leukemia as well as immunodeficiency

"Maria de Sousa's work on thymus-derived cells and their relationship to the body's iron balance has alerted people to the possibility that iron-fortified flour and other foods could contribute to the incidence of leukemia and other cancers – as well as to immunodeficiency resulting from a misdistribution of lymphocytes."