Do you realise we’re often giving our patients Crabs? Stay with me 🙄 We’re all BIG fans of polyphenols right, but did you know that one of the key ways they qualify as antioxidants is that they chelate metals? Chemically speaking that means that polyphenols (flavonoids, isoflavones, tannins, stilbenes etc) have a structure that looks and works like two ‘crab claws’ 🦀 the ends of each claw attracting and binding metal ions, following which, the claws kind of ‘close’ around the metals and trap them within. 🦀
Now sometimes the closing of those claws results in a clear ‘stop & block’ effect – the metal will remain trapped and be lost from the gut or other parts of the body along with the polyphenol but not always…other polyphenols can be favourable chelators just temporarily binding a metal but ultimately making it bioacccessible to us and increasing its bioavailability & bioefficacy. So polyphenol prescriptions, aka ‘crab medicine’, need to be precise. Every different class of chelator or ‘binder’ e.g. MCP, zeolites etc will have different metal affinities. Our beloved polyphenols have a predilection for one metal above all…and that happens to be iron!
As clinicians, we can harness their polyphenol power to either enhance iron uptake or block it.
🦀 Both actions, of course, well indicated in different patients & presentations 🦀
In the latest Update in Under 30 we write a polyphenol program for those individuals ‘on the road to iron overload’, who simply ‘can’t close the door to more’! Knowing how to perfect this prescription and still allow for personalisation & preferences etc is the key to sustainable essential everyday iron mitigation between blood removals and to minimise the need for these. And if your bigger challenge is the issue of iron deficient patients who are refractory to your well-reasoned remedies then take a listen and a look at the accompanying resource and ensure they are doing the exact opposite! I am being completely serious. I don’t think many people realise the power of the polyphenols & how pervasive they are in our herbal & dietary recommendations 🤓😲🤯
For those individuals with HFE mutations on the road to iron overload, whether they ultimately reach that destination of absolute hyperferritinaemia or not, excess iron mitigation ‘every day & in every way’ is key to better outcomes. While avoidance of dietary haem iron and, where indicated, therapeutic phlebotomy, are cornerstone treatments, patients are increasingly being offered add-ons such as PPIs and pharmaceutical chelators. However our polyphenol prescriptions (both food form and nutritional & herbal supplements) offer additional novel actions to address excess iron mitigation, while also providing patients with improved cardiovascular protection, immune system support etc. This recording comes with an incredible resource for both you and your patients. Packed with evidence-based options they can choose from at each meal & across the day, it offers them their own tailored treatment plan by identifying options as (un) favourable, & therapeutic in each category of food, beverage, even cooking methods.
You can purchase The Power of Polyphenols In Iron Excess here. If you are an Update in Under 30 Subscriber, you will find it waiting for you in your online account. You can become an Update in Under 30 Subscriber to access this episode and the entire library of Update in Under 30 audios and resources here.