For those of you who have never heard, ferritin is a protein that stores iron for the body to use when there is not enough of this element available in the bloodstream from food.
Low ferritin is very rarely a problem for men, unless they have experienced severe loss of blood.
Loss of blood – yes, you got it – low ferritin is a massive problem for women who lose blood every month and the first symptoms of low ferritin stores in them can occur very early after the first period.
Hair loss
In my case, it was less than two years after that milestone when I started experiencing something worrying – my hair was shedding like mad. It got me freaked out obviously. I thought I was going bald.
It was the late 1990s, post-communist Czechoslovakia, and everyone including my mother (well, my mother in the first place), just kept telling me that I was being paranoid and that I had plenty of hair.
I did have plenty of hair, a tonne of hair, everyone used to comment on how beautiful my hair was – but it wasn’t meant to last.
In the years that followed, the quality of my hair would change drastically and I had to go with shorter and shorter cuts. Gone were the days when I could wash my hair every two weeks and cut it every two years and it would look great at every stage.
No one would believe me that I had a problem (including dermatologists) because they clearly had no recollection of how my hair used to look like in the first place.
It took me something like 17 years to figure out what was going on and reversing the problem has by no means been a straightforward journey.
GPs have no clue
The range of ferritin levels considered normal by the general medical practitioners is rather broad: 14 to 148 milligrams per litre of blood in pre-menopausal women. And that’s the problem. You come to your GP. Your level is 30, which means you are not severely anaemic but your hair is not happy. And you are told to go home and not bother them.
I am not sure whether there is scientific consensus on this but one theory says that hair follicles actually store ferritin and that this is the first place from where the body takes it if you don’t have enough iron in your diet (makes sense right? Gorgeous hair is not essential for survival, red blood cells are.)
So what happens? Your body is using up the ferritin and you start shedding hair. The growth cycle gets shorter and shorter, the follicle gets smaller and smaller and the hair gets thinner and thinner. While in the past you used to have most of the hair in the same and pretty decent length, now it’s all different lengths, lot of short hairs sticking out and most of it falls out before reaching the length you want. It’s called chronic telogen effluvium and it’s by far the single most common cause of hair thinning in women.
So please, don’t ask your GP to interpret your ferritin results for you. He will tell you that it’s OK. Trichologists know that for healthy hair growth, your ferritin levels need to be at around 70 preferably 100 milligrams per litre.
Fatigue in early thirties? IT’S NOT AGING!
And hair loss is not the only way low ferritin makes your life miserable. You have accepted the shedding. You see that you are actually not getting bald. Your hair is just not what it used to be. You accepted that this is what happens with age (with age? Really? At 20? Or 25?). You continue to have periods. You continue eating the way you always have. You don’t really pay that much attention to how much of what you consume because you believe that your diet is balanced, sort of. You are not starving like children in Africa, are you? So why should you worry?
You hit your early 30s and you notice that most of the time you feel drained, you struggle to focus and the only thing you like doing is lying in front of the TV or napping. Coffee is your best friend. ‘Aging’, you think. ‘Or maybe the strains of juggling a family and a full time job?’
Well… not really. There is no reason for life to be over by the mid-30s and you can actually have more energy in your mid-30s than in your mid-20s if you get your nutrition and ferritin levels right.
The journey
My journey towards fixing my ferritin stores has by no means been straightforward. I was 31 when I finally learned the truth about ferritin after visiting a trichologist and doing a lot of online reading. My ferritin levels were at around 30 at that time – enough for a GP but clearly not enough for my hair (there were other problems such as low Vitamin D but I will leave that out for now). Over the next years, I would trial various approaches with various results and do a lot of reading to finally elevate my ferritin levels to above the 70 miligramms per litre mark.
Pills?
The trichologist prescribed florisene iron tablets for me to take three times a day. Florisene contains what the maker describes as a golden mix of iron, vitamin C and the amino acid L-lysin, which is supposed to optimise the absorption of iron and creation of ferritin. After four months, I was supposed to have my ferritin levels re-checked, which I had, only to learn that they increased to barely 40. But the trichologist told me the process of increasing ferritin is slow so I continued. I started eating red meet regularly. Before that I had been vegetarian for about five years and I knew that was a thin ice for the body’s iron stores.
I had another blood test done in about a year and the situation was pretty much the same. I was still taking the tablets.
Beware of green tea and other iron absorption blockers
It wasn’t making sense to me. Why wasn’t my ferritin going up despite the massive amounts of iron I was consuming in those pills? At about this time, a friend of mine mentioned a study that found that green tea blocks the absorption of iron and can even lead to anaemia. I was drinking about five cups of green tea per day at this stage.
I looked into it further and found that quite many foods and beverages do contain chemicals that prevent iron absorption. It’s very well described in this article on the website of the Iron Disorders Institute.
It’s not only green tea, black tea and most herbal teas such as mint contain polyphenols that block the absorption of iron and should not be consumed within two hours from your iron-reach meal or tablet. The same goes for coffee and cocoa.
Calcium also blocks the absorption of iron and so do eggs. Spinach, the alleged vegetable iron champion contains oxalates that largely prevent absorption. Soy has the same problem due to the presence of phytates.
That also makes you see why vegetarians tend to have low ferritin levels.
Levels finally up, too up
I ditched green tea and other teas and continued taking my tablets, eating red meet and liver and occasionally black strap molasses. If you think I was eating a lot of iron, you are right. About six months after quitting green tea, I had another test. My ferritin went up to 66. Still a bit below my 70 milligrams per litre goal but close enough.
Beware of iron overload – no more pills
But there was another problem – my iron serum levels were too high and my transferrin saturation index was 90 per cent (40 per cent is the upper limit for what is considered normal).
Such a situation is called iron overload and is not good for your health either. Iron in large amounts is toxic and can harm many organs including the liver and the heart (oops… yes, my journey towards health wasn’t straightforward)
I ditched the pills. I saw that if I focus on fine-tuning my diet towards iron absorption and eat the right combinations of food, my ferritin would most likely achieve optimum levels naturally.
My current ferritin protocol
Since I embarked on the holistic healing journey three years ago, many things in my body have changed. I have managed to heal my endometriosis-related cysts and my periods have generally gotten lighter and shorter, which means losing less blood and less iron by that matter.
I am still concerned about my iron intake. I take one tablespoon of blackstrap molasses every morning together with a vitamin C tablet. Many people in the female hairloss community swear by blackstrap molasses. Some say it can even reverse hair greying. 100 grams of blackstrap molasses contains 730 per cent of the recommended daily dose of iron, 760 per cent of the recommended daily dose of calcium, 1000 per cent of the recommended daily dose of chromium and 390 per cent of the recommended daily dose of copper. Since it contains both calcium and iron it is highly likely that not all of this iron gets absorbed. As I mentioned above, calcium is a known iron-absorption blocker. But even if just 30 per cent of that iron makes it into the bloodstream, that would still be good enough.
My iron insurance policy is organic chicken liver. I buy a 400-gram pack from Waitrose every two weeks. It’s pretty cheap and lasts me for three days. I don’t think that eating liver more often would be safe due to not only the high content of iron but also the high content of vitamin A, which also can be toxic in high amounts.
I have reduced my green tea consumption to one cup a day (bar those miserable days when I haven’t had enough sleep) and I make sure there is a substantial gap between my cup of green tea and my chicken liver and blackstrap molasses.
After six months on this regime my ferritin increased to 73 (hooray) and my serum iron levels and my transferrin saturation index dropped to almost within normal.
Results
While I am still shedding more hair than I should, it has certainly improved. I am not saying that is is just because of the ferritin. What I can say for sure is that I do have much more energy than I used to have in my twenties and most likely even in my teens. I have perfected my lifestyle on many levels over the past few years but I do think that my increased iron intake has certainly helped together with the rest of my diet and my stress management practice.
Risk factors for low ferritin
While all women have periods not all women start losing hair and not all suffer from low ferritin and fatigue by their early 30s.
Women with hormonal imbalances and related conditions such as endometrioses and fibroids (I had/have both) are more likely to develop problems since their periods are heavier. They lose blood faster and unless they pay close attention to their dietary intake of iron they are bound to deplete their reserves.
Disclaimer: I am not saying that if you fix your ferritin, your hair will immediately stop shedding (mine has not, although it has improved). There are many other variables at play such as adequate protein intake, stress and the overall hormonal health.
Low-glycaemic diets with sufficient protein intake are believed by some to be able to reverse hair loss even in men so following an advanced dietary protocol such as Wahls might be a good thing. Not only for your hair but also for everything else.
And I would for sure recommend having a blood test done before even thinking of starting to take iron pills, which I don’t think is necessary in the first place.
Has your hair regrown that you lost. You say sheddin has lessened but has it started to fill in
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Hi Kay, yes, I do have a lot of regrowth and my hair is certainly better than where it was at its worst. It hasn’t returned to where it was when I was 14 or 24 but I see it is slowly getting better. The follicles were getting weaker and weaker for 17 years. I am following a hair growth perfecting diet and regime for the past nearly two years and I hope it will keep improving. It does need patience.
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Thanks for this article. Did the pills cause you any type of comstipation when you were taking them?
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Hi Aisha, no, it did not, but I went into iron overload. I stopped the pills and am only using natural sources – organic chicken liver, blackstrap molasses
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Thanks for this… my ferritin is at 6 … it’s been months, but I think it’s the tea drinking that’s not helping…. my heart palpitates and I can’t catch my breath…. will have to try the molasses
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Ferritin at 6 does sound very low 😦 Like anaemia level low. I am not surprised you can’t catch your breath. Try molases and have with vitamin C. That increases absorbtion. And avoid tea, coffee and dairy two hours within having it at least…
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mine is also at 6. i’m only newly diagnosed with low ferritin…2 weeks…so i’m not sure what is working but here is what i’m trying. i too am having a T of bsm each morning. i have been vegetarian for about 5 years but as of 2 weeks ago i began adding bone broth to my morning regimen as well. i make a protein shake…plant based…no soy…and add mct oil..cacao..bone broth..and bsm to it. i take an iron supplement that is a liquid…the directions say to take a T each day so what i do is take 3 tsp 3 times a day. im going to incorporate salmon as well. ive also been more observant to eating more plant based foods with iron…pumpkin seeds…pistachios…spinach…etc… and with the right combinations of foods…no dairy with them and a vitamin c heavy food or drink. i obviously have no idea what the outcome of this will be but it’s where im starting. i have already noticed less hair falling out and my heart palpitations stopped completely already! also…i had restless leg during the night and that has also already stopped. so im definitely getting much better sleep. yay! i dont know if any of this will help you but if you have anything youre trying id love to hear about it! take care…tina
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that was to say 1 tsp 3 times a day…sorry!!
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Definitely take your iron with vitamin C and avoid coffee, green tea, black tea (some herbal teas do it as well) at least two hours before and after. When I cut out green tea, my iron went up really fast. Before that I was taking sups and no effect…
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that is absolutely no problem for me…while i like my matcha…i have no problem giving it up at the moment and i do not like coffee at all. my doctor actually wants me retested in a month…just called earlier today. we’ll see!!! i’ll letcha know!
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O, I think you need iron supplements. Not only molasses.
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Hiya – really interesting article, thanks! I’ve been trying to raise my ferritin levels up from 4.5 but in 4 years have only managed to get up to 12, despite supplementing and lots of vitamin C! GP is not interested. Do you think I should give up trying and just accept my condition?
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Thank you for your comment. My ferritin really only went up when I quit the green tea and it went up fast. Before that it wouldn’t go up despite supplements. I would recommend really trying to eliminate the foods that block absorption of iron. Or at least minimise that – that includes coffee and dairy products since calcium blocks absorption of iron too…
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Thank you for posting this information. I’ve been doing tons of research to figure out why I’m so tired all the time. I also have chronic sinus issues, and keep a close watch on that. The problem is, I’ve come to realize that I don’t know wheat I’m watching for! Went to see a functional medicine Dr. And my ferritin was 5. Dr. didn’t seem to find it alarming, but I certainly did! Any blood value that far out of range must have some impact on my health.
I’ve been taking iron several times a day, assuming that I’m only absorbing a small amount. My periods are ridiculously heavy, and I can feel the life drain out of me when I’m bleeding. Research has led me to fibroids, and that led me to Iodine deficiency (which can result in fibroids, ovarian cysts, low energy due to under active thyroid, all of which lead to heavy bleeding, culminating in low iron… whew!). Untangling the cause/effect has been a real challenge.
I’m taking iodine regularly, with great success, but feel I need to know more about iron, since overload can be toxic. What have you learned about supplementing with Cod Liver Oil, Vitamin A, and various forms of Vitamin C? What about food sources? experience with beets? Beans? Would love to know what you’ve found.
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Hi, thank you for your comments. Fibroids are a frequent cause of heavy bleeding and low iron. I recommend Susan Lark’s book the Fibroid Cure (or something like this)- it’s a holistic protocol that really works. You need to get your estrogen in balance to eliminate the fibroids. Use DIM, enzymes and a tonne of other vitamins as well dietary changes. It can and will improve. Make sure you don’t take your iron with coffee and green tea since that prevents absorption. Good luck on your journey!
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Thank you for the article, it was very informative.
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Thank you for your comment. I am glad if you found my article useful 🙂
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Hi Tereza 🙂
Quick question, how many times a week do you eat chicken liver?
I’ve been trying to get my ferritin up for years but it seems to stay around 16, and it used to be at 9.
I am really grateful I stumbled upon your article!
Hopefully I can get my ferritin up higher 🙂
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Hi, I am glad you found my blog. Chicken liver, and all types of liver has a lot of vitamin A, which is the one you can get too much of. I buy a 500g pack of organic chicken liver (organic is really much better and is still pretty cheap) every two weeks and eat it over three days. Then I have a pause of two weeks before buying another pack. I might have some minced beef as well. Definitely make sure to avoid green tea and anything with caffeine at least two hours before and after – that was a biggie for me – I used to drink too much green tea and it apparently can deplete iron. Now I drink one cup a day maximum. That made a massive difference. Have your iron with vitamin C and also avoid dairy and stuff with calcium around your iron-rich meal as it also prevents absorption. Once I stopped the green tea, my ferritin shot up…. Hope it helps 🙂
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Hi there! I’m also trying to get my ferritin up. I’m stuck at 39, and managed to get it up to 60 last year with a good multivitamin, but my total iron and saturation also shot up and were almost above normal range. I started with blackstrap molasses + vitamin C + lemon water and then a green smoothie (romaine, not spinach) after. I’m thinking of tweaking to just doing the molasses and vitamin C then waiting a couple hours before my smoothie breakfast.
Do you still eat raw greens and other veggies/nuts seeds? Thanks so much! Glad I found this :). Hopefully with a couple of tweaks, I can get mine up as well. I also eat dark chocolate throughout the day.
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Hi, thanks for your comment. Good to hear your ferritin went up. I do eat a lot of greens – boiled, steamed or raw. And I eat organic chicken liver and sometimes organic beef… with just the molasses it might take longer since it absorbs slower…
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Ok, I’ll add in the chicken liver! Do you eat it with anything else? Or try to eat it away from certain foods? Thanks for replying!
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I do eat it with my greens and definitely try to eat it away from anything with caffein, green tea… and calcium (dairy etc). Get organic ones. They are still cheap and taste much better…
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Ok, will do. Thanks so much!
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Oh wow my ferritin is 5 and the doc said nothing but my hair is thinning like crazy. I appreciate you sharing! I’ve been exhausted and not understanding why
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5 is really very low. I hope you get it up soon!
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So as a result of my March blood donation, I recieved a confedential letter from Red Cross that stated my Ferritin is below eight. I plan on bringing this up when I see my GP in December, but I’d like to know, did your chest hurt and did you ever shake, or feel shaky?
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8 is really low. Mine wasn’t that low so my symptoms weren’t that bad. But I remember being tired and not having energy and feeling weak.
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Hi! My ferritin was a 6. I felt as though my chest ached…not necessarily hurt but like an achy feeling. I breathed in heavy a lot…like a big yawn and sigh to get my breath. I didn’t realize really that I was doing it as much as I apparently was so I believe I just became accustom to it. Do you feel as though you might be doing this? I think I wasn’t getting enough oxygen?? Since I’ve taken steps to help correct the ferritin issue it has definitely helped. I do not know my current level…I need to get in and get it checked again to see if it’s up or not. It’s been a few months Iv’e been working on it and quite a few things have improved to I think I’m headed in the right direction! Good luck to you!!!
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My ferritin wasn’t that low so I didn’t have this problem.
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Hi Teresa
Thank you for sharing your experience .
My ferritin level is 5.8 which is pathetic . Its been decreasing every year which is shocking to me . I have been taking iron rich foods with vitamin C (only for breakfast ) and lunch and evenings I don’t take vitamin C wen i consume beans and other healthy food.
My hemoglobin is normal 12.5 but ferritin is very disturbing . I take only vegetarian food and dislike non veg . Can you help me what should I do to increase my ferritin levels ?
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Hi Meera, I am afraid there is not much more what I can tell then what is written in that article. I hope you find the right solutions for you…
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Hi , I read your article and I have been suffering with what you did in many ways – heavy periods went vegan cold turkey had gum surgery – perfect storm of things . It wasn’t until many months later I got a correct diagnosis – my hair was shedding thin and very weak quality , I was panicked . I had ditched the vegan thing after about 5 weeks and went back to meat . My ferretin level was considered normal but sub optimal for hair growth so my Dr. Had me take a iron supplement and I read about black strap molasses and I have been consuming that as well – i also have trichodynia ugh because of all the shedding . My hair quality is better but I still shed and it’s much thinner . I had ferretin checked again after 3 months and waiting to hear results and follow up with my Dr – I hope I get my hair back to normal as it has affected my life and confidence majorly – any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated
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My ferretin level was 36 and I read in order to stop the shedding it needs to 50 and to regrow it needs to reach 70
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Hair shedding is frequently a multi-factor problem. It can have to do with stress, hormonal imbalances. I am still trying to work this out…
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Thank you Tereza for your article. I stopped taking ferrous sulfate tablets because it screwed up my thyroid levels! I have not tried blackstrap molasses although I have started to eat meat (I too was a vegetarian) plus taking Vit C. My ferritin level was at 15. I’m tired all the time and my hair has been falling out in clumps. It’s articles like yours that are very encouraging!
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Hi Barb, and sorry for the late response. 15 is really low. I am now taking Florisene. I had problems absorbing iron when I was drinking a lot of green tea. But to tell you the truth, my progress is not great either. Another one to check is vitamin D. Many people are deficient. Not sure where you live and how much natural sun exposure you get…
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