Is It Really Anemia? Root Causes of Iron Issues

Do you have iron issues?  Maybe you have been told you have anemia or have had ferritin come back abnormal on a blood test? What if there were actually other root causes of iron issues?

This is all too common and many of my clients at one point or another often have one of the above.

The common scenario…low ferritin on a blood test and iron supplements are recommended.

But the truth is that a lot of detective work is required to understand what may be causing your low iron and root causes are rarely addressed.  And taking iron may not fix the problem or can make things much worse.

There can be many possible reasons for iron issues but I wanted to highlight a few today that are less talked about but often the most common.

In this post you will learn:

It is estimated that around 25% of our population has iron deficiency anemia. The traditional approach to addressing this is by taking iron supplements. What if low iron isn’t the actual problem? And what if taking iron supplements without understanding what is really going on can actually be dangerous and contribute to more problems?

Other Root Causes of Iron Issues including Low Ferritin

Microbes in the gut love iron like candy 

Pathogens like bacteria, fungus, and viruses can “eat” iron or the body might hide iron to protect you from them worsening.  Not only that but taking iron supplements might actually be feeding bad bugs in your gut and make digestion worse.

Iron overload is actually much more common than low iron

Iron can look low on a lab but it is being dysregulated and is not available in the body.  Even in cases of what appears to be iron deficiency, the body might actually want low iron to protect it from other things.

Copper toxicity can create iron issues

Copper toxicity (or biounavailability) prevents iron from attaching to hemoglobin. Bioavailable copper is required for the conversion of iron from the ferric to the ferrous form, and back again, to produce hemoglobin. Adequate copper is required to help recycle iron in the body.  Taking an iron supplement when copper imbalance is present often just contributes to iron toxicity!

Related Post: The Complete Guide to Copper Toxicity

Is it anemia of chronic disease or anemia of inflammation?

Anemia of chronic disease is also called anemia of inflammation.  You may have a normal or sometimes increased amount of iron stored in your body tissues, but a low level of iron in your blood.  Inflammation may prevent your body from using stored iron to make enough healthy red blood cells, leading to anemia.

Related Post: 4 Root Causes of Chronic Inflammation

So if you are experiencing iron issues or have abnormal ferritin we should be asking WHY! 

Other Facts to Know Before Supplementing with Iron

We actually only need about 1mg per day of iron by mouth every day however we are often exposed to a great deal more than that in part due to iron fortification in food.

Take a look at your box of cereal, flour, bread, or grains.  Even birth control can contain iron in the inactive pills.  Using cast iron, in tap water, in the soil and more are all ways we can have increased iron exposure.

Our bodies aren’t able to eliminate large amounts of iron daily, in fact only about 1 mg is lost daily via nails and dead skin. Or during our periods.

When we take in more iron than we can eliminate.  When other minerals like copper, zinc, magnesium, molybdenum are deficient, out of balance, or bio-unavailable this creates even more iron problems.

When we are stressed, have adrenal insufficiency, our livers are congested, our gut is toxic or has a hard time absorbing nutrients this can also create more iron problems.

This perfect storm can actually create iron toxicity (or high levels of bio-unavailable iron) which can actually be one root factor for anemia or ferritin problems.

Iron overload has also been linked to over a hundred autoimmune conditions including endometriosis, fast aging, osteoporosis, liver issues, cancers, heart disease, gray hair, dementia, and more.

Are your iron issues, anemia, or ferritin problems actually copper toxicity (aka copper bio-unavailability)?

So how do copper problems lead to iron problems? 

In a few different ways but let’s talk about one of them.

1. Exposure to copper from birth control (not just a copper IUD), it is passed in utero, vegan/vegetarian diet high in copper and low in bioavailable zinc, poor bile, stress/adrenal insufficiency, taking supplements that contain copper, anything that raises estrogen including xenoestrogens from environmental chemicals, copper pipes and more.  GUT ISSUES can also prevent adequate zinc absorption which can cause copper to rise too (you know I had to throw a gut connection in there).
2. Adrenal insufficiency can be the start of copper issues but copper is also excitatory on the adrenal glands which further stresses the adrenals and lowers important adrenal minerals like sodium and potassium.  
3. Strong adrenals are required to help the liver make ceruloplasmin (Cp) which helps move copper out of the body.  Chronic stress = low Cp = more copper retention.
4. Without enough Cp any copper we are exposed to can get pushed into storage.  First in the liver and then in the brain.  Stored copper is not usable and becomes bio-unavailable.
5. Copper and Cp are also required to help recycle/mobilize iron in the body.  Without these, iron can also start to build up in the liver and other tissues/joints.  Which can further lower Cp.
6. Storage of iron can create bio-unavailability, becoming toxic and oxidizing.

My message here is that when we are experiencing issues there is often more to the story.  Answers are rarely cut and dry so the more we can understand the more chance we have at long term solutions.

Feel like you are chasing symptoms?

Iron issues are no different.  Copper imbalances and adrenal function could be parts of the root cause story.  It may not be a direct iron issue rather a metabolic problem in using iron.

If iron, ferritin, anemia is an issue for you then where do you even start getting things back into balance?

As with anything, it isn’t super simple, cut and dry,  black and white, or one size fits all situations.  Working with a skilled practitioner that understands these steps to help guide you is super critical.  This is why I created my Heal Your Gut for Good program!

Supporting Healthy Iron

Now that you know a bit more about other root causes of iron issues, let’s talk about a few basics about what is required.  This will take TIME and a step by step approach.

Adequate adrenals are required.  Stress impairs so much including digestion, detoxification, ceruloplasmin production (required for adequate copper which is necessary for adequate iron), and your mineral status.

Related Post: How to Know if you Have Adrenal Fatigue: Signs and Symptoms

Optimal gut health is required for proper breakdown and absorption of nutrients including adequate stomach acid to aid in this process.  

Related Post: Beyond Probiotics: 10 Key Factors in Healing Your Gut

Inflammation can contribute to ferritin issues as well.  Common sources of inflammation include the gut, diet, toxins, stress.

Liver support is important too (the gut is the biggest source of toxicity in the body).

Related Post: Keep Your Liver Healthy with These 5 Support Tools

Reduce excess exposure to higher iron from fortified foods, birth control pills, cast iron, tap water including well water, supplements, etc.

Know your nutrient status including your minerals.  Retinol vitamin A, whole food vitamin C, B12/B6, molybdenum, bioavailable copper, magnesium, zinc, sodium, potassium all need to be considered. I prefer to use a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) to assess minerals with my clients.

So you see it is important to just consider more than your iron status or looking at ferritin because there are other root causes of iron issues.  Digging deeper and looking at the whole picture is key if you want something more than just a bandaid approach.