Give up iron supplements, including the ferrous fumarate in gluten free bread.

[Mathri]

I know exactly how you feel, even if you are eating gluten-free bread.

Unfortunately, most if not all gluten free breads (like most other breads) contain ferrous fumarate to boost their iron concentration. But, unfortunately, the ferrous ion can undergo the Fenton reaction in which the hydrogen peroxide formed naturally in our bodies is converted to the very damaging hydroxyl free radical.

This will make holes in the membranes of the gut lining, which can let all sorts of toxins through, including gluten. So, if you were just intolerant to gluten, if you eat this iron fortified bread it will increase your risk of becoming a full blown coeliac.

My advice would be to avoid all foods supplemented with ferrous fumarate (including gluten free bread) and concentrate on foods that are naturally free of gluten and do not themselves contain inorganic iron.

Red meat would be a good choice, where the iron is firmly bound to the heme in its myoglobin.

Fermented foods such as soy-based yogurt and tempeh are also rich in organic iron, and may be more acceptable if you are a vegetarian or vegan.

[Researchfan]

Thanks for this info!

[MTCee]

I’ve always avoided shop bought gf bread because of all the additives in general but didn’t know about this particular issue. Do you have a source for this? I know that iron is also added to commercial wheat flour bread. It would be interesting to know the pros and cons of such an additive.

[Mathri in reply to MTCee]

Hi,

Perhaps this may help.

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac...

The Fenton reaction in living tissues is still under investigation but the effect seem to be the production of the hydroxyl free radical that can damage many biologically important molecules.

The overall message is that it is unwise to add ferrous ions (e.g. as ferrous fumarate) to any foods intended for human consumption.

It's far better to use organic sources of iron that do not support the Fenton reaction.

These include fermented foods, where the iron is bound in the cytochromes needed for their respiration and growth.

A compromise may be to eat sourdough bread, where the prolonged fermentation process produces many more microbes with more organically bound ions.

At the other end of the scale, we have bread made by the much cheaper Chorley Wood method, where fermentation time is very much reduced and much less organic iron generated.

Regular sourdough may be quite sufficient to reduce the levels of toxic inorganic iron for someone who is not yet a coeliac. But it is not OK if you are a coeliac, because the gluten it still contains would upset you very badly. For you, gluten free sourdough may be the best solution short of giving up bread altogether.

Unfortunately many supermarkets make cheap fake sourdough bread by adding vinegar (acetic acid) to the Chorley Wood product and compound this by saying that it contains an unspecified amount of sourdough. This is a blatant misrepresentation of the facts, but that's what supermarkets do.

[Hidden]

"if you eat this iron fortified bread it will increase your risk of becoming a full blown coeliac." - do you have any actual research information to back this up? I've never heard of this before and have checked a bread I have used and it has iron in it. Never thought to check.

How does this also work, if you know, for doctors giving ferrous fumarate if a person is low in iron. Asking from my own interest as this has been prescribed to me in that past.