WHY IS FERRITIN SO IMPORTANT?

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I have never worried about my iron levels before.  Have you?

By providing my body a regular amount of meat in my diet I figured my body would do what it was meant to do.  It was never a concern of mine until I had my ferritin levels checked and found that I had low iron. What a surprise!

Iron is so important in our bodies.  Iron is a building block for hemoglobin.  Hemoglobin is used by red blood cells to move oxygen from your lungs and deliver it throughout your body.  

Without enough iron our bodies cannot make enough healthy oxygen rich red blood cells.

WHAT IS FERRITIN?

Ferritin is a protein within a cell that is used to store iron.  Ferritin outside the cell transfers iron throughout our bodies and helps to modulate our iron levels.  

If you have low ferritin levels this can indicate that you may have an iron deficiency.  Commonly, this is known to happen when there is not enough iron consumed in your diet although other issues can also cause this problem.  

Why is so ferritin important?  Ferritin is an indicator of the total amount of iron stored in your body.

Low ferritin levels can indicate many different ailments such as restless leg syndrome, anemia, and many intestinal autoimmune issues such as celiac disease.

Interestingly, a common symptom of gluten intolerance is low ferritin levels.  Intestinal inflammation can cause low ferritin by impairing the body’s ability to absorb iron.  

MY EXPERIENCE

Why is ferritin so important?  After being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s autoimmune disease, I found that I had low ferritin levels most likely due to intestinal inflammation and my impaired ability to absorb iron.  

Along with following a gluten free diet to help my body heal (Part 6: The Leaky Gut Connection to Hashimoto’s), I found that I needed to take a supplement to restore my iron levels.  

I took Pure Encapsulation Optiferin-C supplements to help raise my ferritin and iron level because they include vitamin C that helps with absorption.  

These were a good choice because they are hypoallergenic and do not contain ingredients (such as gluten) that will irritate an already struggling intestinal structure.

You can likely take another kind, however, keep in mind that vitamin C helps with iron absorption so try to take vitamin C with your iron supplement.  Also, don’t take iron on an empty stomach- always take it with a meal.

SIGNS OF LOW FERRITIN

Why is ferritin so important?  If your ferritin is low, the following symptoms may occur:

• • Confusion

• • Long, heavy menstrual cycle in women

• • Palpitations

• • Restless Leg Syndrome

• • Tingling or numbness in fingers or toes (neuropathy)
  • Weakness

If your ferritin stays low, you may begin experiencing the following low ferritin and low iron symptoms:

• • Pale skin or eyes

• • Brittle nails

• • Bruising easily
  • Anemia

NORMAL FERRITIN LEVELS

Blood ferritin reference ranges fluctuate based on laboratories, but generally levels of 30 to 300 ng/ml are considered normal for men, and 10 to 200 ng/ml for women.  

These numbers may be considered normal, however, optimal numbers tend to be toward the upper middle of the range.

Generally, you are looking for this number to be above 70 ug/L.  Below is the detailed guideline to optimal iron stores.

Serum Ferritin (ug/L)	Interpretation
<15	Iron deficiency
15-50	Depletion of stored iron, probable iron deficiency
52-100	Reduces iron stores, possible iron deficiency
100-300	Likely sufficient iron stores

Source: Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories (OAML)

GOOD SOURCES OF IRON

Animal meats and fish provide an easily absorbed iron known as heme iron.  Vegetables and fruits provide good sources of dietary iron that is not as easily absorbed known as non-heme iron.  

Below is a wonderful chart that provides the amount of iron in common foods.  I find myself referencing this chart regularly to find foods with high iron content.  Enjoy!

Food	Serving size	Iron (mg)
Vegetables and Fruits
Spinach, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	2.0-3.4
Tomato puree	125 mL (½ cup)	2.4
Edamame/baby soybeans, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	1.9-2.4
Lima beans, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	2.2
Asparagus, raw	6 spears	2.1
Hearts of palm, canned	125 mL (½ cup)	2.0
Potato, with skin, cooked	1 medium	1.3-1.9
Snow peas, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	1.7
Turnip or beet greens, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	1.5-1.7
Prune juice	125 mL (½ cup)	1.6
Apricots, dried	60 mL (¼ cup)	1.6
Beets, canned	125 mL (½ cup)	1.6
Kale, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	1.3
Green peas, cooked	125 mL (½ cup)	1.3
Tomato sauce	125 mL (½ cup)	1.2
Meats and Alternatives
Meat and Poultry
Beef, various cuts, cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	1.4-3.3
Ground meat (beef, lamb), cooked	75 g (2 ½  oz)	1.3-2.1
Chicken, various cuts, cooked	75 g (2 ½  oz)	0.4-2.0
Pork, various cuts, cooked	75 g (2 ½  oz)	0.5-1.5
Ground meat (turkey, chicken, pork), cooked	75 g (2 ½  oz)	0.7-0.8
Turkey, various cuts, cooked	75 g (2 ½  oz)	0.3-0.8
Organ Meats
Liver, pork ,cooked*	75 g (2 ½ oz)	13.4
Liver (chicken, turkey, lamb), cooked*	75 g (2 ½ oz)	6.2-9.7
Liver, beef ,cooked*	75 g (2 ½ oz)	4.9
Fish and Seafood
Octopus, cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	7.2
Oysters, cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	3.3-9.0
Seafood (shrimp, scallops, crab), cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	0.2-0.4
Crab, cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	0.6-2.2
Clams, canned	75 g (2 ½ oz)	2.0
Fish (mackerel, trout, bass), cooked	75 g (2 ½ oz)	1.4-1.7
Tuna, light, canned in water	75 g (2 ½ oz)	1.2
Meat Alternatives
Tofu, cooked	150 g (¾ cup)	2.4-8.0
Soybeans, mature, cooked	175 mL (¾ cup)	6.5
Lentils, cooked	175 mL (¾ cup)	4.1-4.9
Beans (white, kidney, navy, pinto, black, roman/cranberry, adzuki), cooked	175 mL (¾ cup)	2.6-4.9
Pumpkin or squash seeds, roasted	60 mL (¼ cup)	1.4-4.7
Peas (chickpeas/garbanzo, black-eyed, split), cooked	175 mL (¾ cup)	1.9-3.5
Baked beans, canned	175 mL (¾ cup)	2.2
Nuts (cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia, pistachio nuts), without shell	60 ml (¼ cup)	1.3-2.2
Eggs, cooked	2 large	1.2-1.8
Sesame seeds, roasted	15 mL (1 Tbsp)	1.4
Hummus	60 mL (¼ cup)	1.5
Almond butter	30 mL (2 Tbsp)	1.1
Miscellaneous
Blackstrap molasses	15 mL (1 Tbsp)	3.6