Ferritin: By which circumstances can this protein be harmful for well being?

Manufactured by the liver, ferritin has a vital perform: this protein ensures the storage of iron inside our cells. However care have to be taken that its focus within the blood is neither too low nor too excessive.

Ferritin is a protein accountable for storing iron within the physique and whose focus is measured by way of a blood take a look at. As a sign, in grownup women and men after menopause, the speed is often between 20 and 200 ug / L (microgram per liter), and in grownup girls earlier than menopause, between 10 and 120 ug / L.

As physician and nutritionist Jean-Michel Cohen explains, too low and too excessive ferritin ought to alert us. When the ferritin degree is low, “it signifies that we have now no iron reserve”. On this case, the precedence is to search out the reason for this deficiency.

Figuring out that the drop in ferritin is usually linked to bleeding or food plan. “An individual who eats nearly no animal flesh can have a deficiency if it isn’t compensated by different meals,” he says, stating that extreme tea consumption also can result in a drop in ferritin. .

And “gravity is launched when this results in anemia (lack of purple blood cells), which can lead to pallor, extreme fatigue, and issue concentrating,” continues the specialist, creator of the e-book “The Cohen Methodology” ( First ed.).

To boost its ferritin degree, he advises to devour “purple meat, legumes (chickpeas and lentils particularly), a little bit oilseeds, and even darkish chocolate”.

What about too excessive ferritin?

When the ferritin degree is just too excessive and exceeds 200 ug/L, it “indicators a illness”. Such a end result can specifically reveal an issue with the liver. “When the liver doesn’t work, the cells of the organ die and launch iron into the blood,” explains Jean-Michel Cohen.

An iron overload may also be brought on by “a genetic illness referred to as hemochromatosis, massive transfusions, but in addition by infections, inflammations, and even alcoholism”. In case of excessive ferritin, it’s subsequently essential to deal with the pathology which is on the origin of this enhance.