low ferritin.

[mmmfood]

Hi everyone,
I just got a blood test back and I have very low ferritin. I am SO confused! How can I have low ferritin when I eat like 20 mg a day WITH tons of vitamin C?! I'm not 100 percent raw as I eat the occasional cooked starch or things like chickpeas..but wouldn't these even increase iron? I eat a lot of dandelioin greens as well.


What should I do? I don't want to eat cows or supplements..

[Tenuho]

Where are you gettin your vitamin c from?

im just curious....sorry i dont know the answer to your question....

i find raw food eating to be more complicated than some make it out to be....i dont think thats a bad thing it just needs some ''fine-tunning'' by more people participating in this kind of diet and experimenting with what does and doesnt work....which collectively we're all doing

[Thick]

Do you have any previous bloodwork you can reference? Are you low, dangerously low, or just low normal? I'd try the suggestions people will suggest below and then retest in a couple of weeks. If you are female, have you just had a period?

[mmmfood]

Tenuho, I get my vitamin c from things like oranges, grapefruits, greens, peppers, papaya and almost everything else I eat, haha.

Thick- I'm below the reference numbers, and am considered iron defecient. And no, I didn't just have a period. I've actually only had my period three times this year.

[carlye]

firstly, i love your name mmmfood :)

I did a quick google and according to the link I posted the blood only has small amounts of ferritin in it to start with, as most of it is stored in the liver, bone marrow, spleen and muscles.

did you have this blood test done cos you are feeling extrra fatigued and iron deficiency was suspected, or was it just a general blood test and that happens to be the result.

It would be wise to put it into perspective and remember that most of these reference numbers are based on meat eaters and not vegans/vegetarians.
well, that's what I learned from listening to T Colin Campbell yesterday.

if you feel just great I wouldn't be too worried about it, but if you do start to see some other symptoms develop I would investigate further.


http://labtestsonline.org.au/understanding/analytes/ferritin/sample.html

[mmmfood]

Hi Carlye,
I like your name too!
That makes me feel a little better that it is based on meat eaters. Where did you hear Colin Campbell speaking about this?
I actually never suspected iron deficiency. I do have symptoms of hair loss, feeling tired and I thought it was B12, but the doc decided to test iron as well and that seems to be the problem.