Iron deficiency: what the labs are not telling you
- Grazie Prokopetz
- Apr 26, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 3
According to the laboratory levels, the minimum ferritin levels in women is 6, but having ferritin levels anywhere below 30-50* for most women can be extremely debilitating and detrimental to mental, bone and cardiovascular health in the long term. In this post we will not talk about anemia exclusively due to red blood cell deficiency, as this is covered in another post. (read here)
*Levels vary from one person to another, but overall reference levels is 70–150
🩸Iron: iron circulating in body
🩸Ferritin: iron storage in body
Unfortunately most doctors look at the “normal” ferritin levels and take it as being average—since women lose blood during their periods—and it’s absolutely NOT.
Have you checked your Iron AND Ferritin levels lately? If you feeling/experiencing the following, it might indicate you have anemia:
💤 Fatigue, energy loss
🧠 Forgetful, difficulty concentrating, dizziness
👩🏻 Hair loss
💨 Shortness or breath
👁 Sunken eyes (also check for paleness inside the bottom eyelid)
✋🏻Paler skin than usual
💅🏾 Pale under nails (press on it and see if color doesn’t comes back quickly, it’s pale)
💩 Very pale feces
🧊 Pica (weird cravings like for ice, sand)
🥬There are TONS of foods that are rich in iron, so do your research and include your favorites in your diet.
🍊 Eating iron rich foods with vitamin C rich foods help its absorption
☕️ Polyphenols (like tannins) in coffee and tea can inhibit iron absorption, especially non-heme iron, so it's best to avoid these beverages with meals, or wait an hour after consuming them to eat.
Oral iron supplements can also be an option but they are really harsh on the stomach and gut microbiome, causing other problems, like leaky gut syndrome, in the mid-long term. Therefore, some doctors may recommend an intravenous infusion depending on the case.
⚠️ Ferritin levels that are TOO high: is ONE of the markers for low grade inflammation.
Take charge of your own health. 👊🏾💁🏽♀️
To a balanced life!
Namaste,
Grazie Prokopetz, Doctor of Ayurveda
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