Japanese researchers said Wednesday they may have figured out why high iron levels in the blood are linked with heart disease, and it may all boil down to rust.
They found evidence that iron can increase so-called oxidative stress on the lining of blood vessels.
Oxidation is the same process that causes standard iron to rust.
This could mean that the Western diet, rich in red meat, causes heart disease not only because it has so much fat but because it is too rich in iron, said Hidehiro Matsuoka, chief of the hypertension division at Kurume Medical School in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture.