Good points blood... Most males with metabolic syndrome (as well as adult males in general) do have elevated iron (ferritin well above 50), but always good to have the lab done. Ferritin is a dirt cheap lab and your doctor shouldn't object.
What ferritin level do you have (or aim for), synesthesia?
My ferritin recently tested at 50. That was after several weeks of eating beef or chicken flesh every day. Prior to that I'd been eating a mostly vegetarian diet for a decade or so.
Most normally menstruating females maintain ferritin around 25 until they reach menopause and do fairly well at that level, though many suffer some anemia along the way. I figure around double that, or about 50 is plenty of stored iron for optimal health.
The Iron Disorders Institute has a wonderful opinion on "Optimal Levels" for ferritin here: http://www.irondisor...org/iron-tests/
About half way down the page under the title: "Serum Farritin (SF)", the fourth and fifth paragraphs say it best:
"Serum ferritin measurements range from about 15 - 200 ng/ml for women and 20 - 300 ng/ml for men. Although laboratory ranges vary, most are close to these values. Approximately 95% of the population will fall within "normal" population range simply because ranges are calculated using standard statistical methodology. Except for the lower ends of these ranges, which can predict anemia or iron deficiency anemia, the ranges per se do not define optimal or even healthy iron levels. Optimal SF ranges for men and women are 25 - 75 ng/ml. Individuals with risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stoke, liver diseases and cancer face amplified risks proportional to the amount of stored body iron over and above the optimal range.
Numerous medical research studies have demonstrated that serum ferritin above 100 ng/ml has been associated with decreased cardio vascular fitness and increased incidences of: atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes, cancer gout and accelerated aging including osteoporosis and sarcopenia (muscle wasting) due to oxidative stress. Fortunately this does not pertain to everyone; ferritin levels and stored iron can remain safely contained, even when ferritin exceeds 150 ng/ml, if the body's natural antioxidant defenses are working properly (see section on GGT)."
-----------------------------------
I donate blood and cycle on and off IP6 to keep my ferritin right around 50, and this has resulted in a dramatic improvement in my insulin sensitivity and overall health.
Edited by synesthesia, 10 May 2014 - 06:58 AM.