Is it possible to lower high ferritin and inflammation by 60% in three months or less? That’s something we’re going to discuss today. I’m Dr. Tom Rofrano from The Natural Medicine Clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and author of The FreeDiet®.
From High Ferritin to Normal in Three Months
I had a patient with high ferritin levels of almost 600. He had symptoms of fatigue and brain fog. He was overweight, had insomnia, and gut symptoms. After three months, his ferritin dropped from almost 600 to 236.
His marker of vascular inflammation called MPO or myeloperoxidase improved 78% in just one month as did the inflammatory homocysteine and PLAC markers improved to normal, his cholesterol ratios and uric acid improved to optimal levels, and he dropped 12 pounds in the first two months.
He was feeling much better, had more energy, was sleeping better, and his gut symptoms improved after just one month.
What Causes High Ferritin?
If you have high ferritin, the first thing you need to figure out is what’s causing it. I refer to what I call “The Five I’s of High Ferritin”: insulin resistance, inflammation, infection, illness, and iron overload. These are all possible causes of high ferritin.
How do you discover what is your root cause of high ferritin? Doctor will typically run a CBC, chemistry panel, lipids, and TSH. In addition to that, I recommend testing ferritin, iron, TIBC, % saturation, CRP, GGT, LDH, and ANA, insulin, A1C, and uric acid.
Additional Functional Lab Tests for Root Causes
The above labs are the minimum because then you have an idea if it’s iron overload, inflammation, or insulin resistance, and you can start to figure out what is causing the high ferritin.
Beyond those tests, I like to do functional testing to determine the root causes. That includes deficiencies, toxins, infections, hormonal imbalance, and food reactions (including gluten, celiac, and leaky gut markers).
Discovering the Root Causes
We discovered this patient had numerous deficiencies, toxins (high mercury), infections (Epstein Barr Virus), hormonal imbalances (low DHEA), and many food reactions, including gluten sensitivity and leaky gut. I almost always see gluten sensitivity and leaky gut with high ferritin levels. How do we treat all this? The first step of treatment is an anti-inflammatory diet.
Step 1 is an anti-inflammatory diet: The FreeDiet®
I developed an anti-inflammatory diet called The FreeDiet® over the last 37 years of practice, and specifically when I was dealing with my own health issues. I had Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid condition, rheumatoid arthritis, IBS, fatigue, brain fog, and skin issues.
I developed the FreeDiet® over time, through trial and error, and research. This diet is not only free of gluten, but it is free of gluten, grains, sugar, yeast, dairy, eggs, soy, legumes, nightshades, and processed foods. All those foods are most commonly responsible for inflammation, gut, thyroid and other chronic health issues.
While using The FreeDiet®, I was able to get better from all these health issues I was dealing with and in turn have been able to help many other people as well.
Here is a copy of the FreeDiet® Phase One Free Chart.
Step 2: Supplements
The next step is that I start patients on supplements. I recommend what I call The Functional Five: ActivMulti™, OmegaSorb™3X fish oil, D3 5000 +K2, Magnesium Malate, and PriobioXtreme™.
Often, I’ll recommend curcumin to support healthy inflammation and iron levels. Cardio Metabolics, Berberine, Alpha Lipoic Acid, liver support supplements, and gut support supplements were all recommended to this patient.
He had nutrient deficiencies including vitamin C and yes, his ferritin still went down 60% even though he was taking vitamin C. He was deficient in copper, vitamin A, and these are two important nutrients that you need for iron metabolism.
We added in CoQ10, B complex, and some other nutrients he needed. He was high in mercury and iron, and we added Metal Cleanse™ to support those areas.
Step 3: Additional Support
Besides that, infrared saunas can be very helpful for excreting out toxins including metals like mercury and iron.
If you have high iron levels and your red blood count and hemoglobin are high enough, donating blood can be very helpful.
So with all that, he was not only able to reduce his ferritin by 60% and his vascular inflammation marker 78% in one month, he dropped twelve pounds and is feeling so much better.
Healing with Proper Support
If you get the proper testing and are provided the right solutions, I believe almost anyone can get better.
Here is a copy of the FreeDiet® Phase One Free Chart, and if you need help with this, feel to contact us at info@nmcwellness.com.
