Iron is important. It promotes proper physical and mental development in children; helps ensure healthy pregnancies and combats anemia which will decrease blood hemoglobin and zap oxygen levels needed for optimal growth and cellular functions. But surprisingly, Americans who need extra iron are outnumbered nearly 20 to one by those who don't.

The reason is that unlike third world countries, Americans have access to an abundant supply of foods rich in organic iron. These include unprocessed meats such as liver; seafood such as clams, oysters, and mussels; leafy greens and vegetables; pumpkin, squash and sunflower seeds; apricots and raisins; blackstrap molasses; wheat bran; Brewer's yeast and kelp.

And ever since the FDA moved to iron-enrich all refined flour products in the early 1940s, supermarket shelves have swelled with fortified breakfast cereals and processed goods that are high in iron. As Mt. Sinai hematologist Victor Herbert said in a 1995 issue of Hippocrates magazine, "In this country you can't trip over a Twinkie without getting metal shavings on your sneakers."

"Anyone who eats refined foods – white flour, commercial cereals, white pasta – can develop an iron overload because all the nutrition is removed and iron is then re-added. It's called ‘enriched,’ but it's a terrible misnomer," says Dr. Lita Lee, author of The Enzyme Cure (available on Amazon.com), who practices in Lowell, Oregon and Sunnyvale, California.

"Organic sources of iron are safe and won't cause toxicity," she says. But with the current iron RDA pegged at 10mg a day for men of all ages and women over 50; 30mg for pregnant women, and 15mg for younger women, Lee says supplemental inorganic iron is not only too much of good thing, but unsafe.

Since the body can only expel iron through the menstrual cycle or sloughing off of dead skin cells, excesses permeate tissues and vital organs such as the heart, liver, and pancreas. As a result, iron overload leaves the body more susceptible to infection and triggers a host of diseases, among them liver dysfunction, increased risk of colon, esophageal and bladder cancer.

Too much iron can also lead to chronic fatigue from hypothyroidism, migraines, ulcers, diarrhea, hair loss and changes in skin color that leave it grayish white or deep bronze.

Yet iron overload is easily overlooked by physicians.

"The only people I've seen who are iron anemic are women who bleed excessively and people who are sick. But in this case of sickness, giving people iron shots or inorganic iron supplements exacerbates the condition by increasing infection and promoting free radical activity. I've witnessed this many times in the 2,000 patients I've treated," says Lee.

Pointing to a book by Adeena Robinson titled Iron, A Doubled Edged Sword (available from The Arthritis Trust, 615-799-1002), which explains how iron levels which in the past were thought to be normal are now considered to be toxic by many researchers, she says, "Sometimes all that's necessary to reverse their condition is to get rid of the excess iron. In Germany, it's common to donate blood to get rid of the iron excess," Lee explains. "But it's a practice that's much more recognized in Europe than in the United States."

Vitamin E is a good choice to counter iron overload. But the bottom line is don't self diagnose. Get tested before you start pumping iron.