Lack of iron is a serious problem, but many people (particularly men) may have too much (even if they don't have hemochromatosis). Iron depletion has been hypot

Lack of iron is a serious problem, but many people (particularly men) may have too much (even if they don't have hemochromatosis). Iron depletion has been hypothesized as the reason that blood donation may be good for your heart, although the evidence is still inconclusive. At the very least, it's not something everyone needs to be concerned about. Random biased selection of sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12430669 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12430669 - A historical cohort study of the effect of lowering body iron through blood donation on incident cardiac events. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18619522 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18619522 - Iron in arterial plaque: modifiable risk factor for atherosclerosis.