Iron

Iron overload is a condition characterized by high levels of ferritin, a protein that stores iron in cells, which can lead to various health problems. Georgi Dinkov notes that anemia of chronic disease, a condition characterized by low serum iron but high ferritin levels, cannot be treated with iron supplements, as this can worsen the condition 1.

Iron supplementation may not cure anemia unless overall nutrition is also improved, as multiple studies have shown that in a good portion of people treated with oral iron supplements, anemia either does not resolve or rapidly returns upon stopping the supplements 2. This is likely due to insufficient production of the iron-carrying protein ferritin, which is produced in the liver and its synthesis depends on thyroid hormone, protein availability, and estrogenic load.

Ray Peat suggests that free iron is associated with infections, parasites, fungus, bacteria, viruses, and cancer, and that cancer acts like an invading pathogen in its hunger for iron 4. He also notes that ferritin should be an intracellular storage form that is invisible to anything in the blood, but as you get stressed and overloaded, it starts leaking out of the cells 5.

Georgi Dinkov and Ray Peat discuss the association between iron overload and anemia, with Peat stating that anemia is low blood, low hematopoietin, and low hemoglobin, and that low ferritin and low iron saturation are not necessarily indicative of anemia 6.

To prevent the toxic effects of iron, Ray Peat recommends drinking coffee with iron-rich foods, using shrimp and oysters to prevent copper deficiency, avoiding food supplements that contain iron, and taking about 100 units of vitamin E daily 8.