Leisha Iron is one of the most paradoxical minerals in the human body.
When I sit with clients and look at their live blood on the screen, and I see codocytes, ghost cells, tiny microcytes or other stressed red blood cells, I do not just think “you need more iron.” I see clues that iron is not being held properly. Your terrain is telling us that this reactive metal has slipped out of its safe containers and is now irritating tissues, feeding inflammation, and confusing the system. T
his introduction is my way of explaining that story in simple, human language. The deeper, step by step support is in the Mineral Regulation Protocol I have created for clients and students.
Iron is essential. Every cell depends on it. You need it to carry oxygen, to make energy in your mitochondria, to build blood, to run enzymes, to think clearly and to move through your day.
Life slows down without it. At the same time, when iron escapes its proper boundaries and is left unbound, it behaves like a tiny piece of rusting metal inside living tissue. It can spark inflammation, oxidative stress, damage to membranes and DNA, and over time it can contribute to chronic illness, faster aging, hormone imbalance and changes in the nervous system.
So iron is not simply “good” or “bad.” It is powerful. The real question is whether your terrain is handling it wisely or letting it roam wild.
Your body actually has a very elegant system for managing iron. It uses a whole team of proteins and enzymes to bind it, move it and store it safely. You do not need to memorize their names, but it helps to know they exist.
- There is transferrin, the main taxi in the blood, that picks up oxidized iron and delivers it to cells that ask for it.
- There is ferritin, the storage vault inside cells, that tucks iron away so it does not spark damage.
- There is ceruloplasmin, a copper based enzyme made in the liver that gently oxidizes iron so it can be loaded onto transferrin.
- There is hephaestin, another copper helper in the gut that helps move iron from the intestinal lining into circulation.
- There is ferroportin, the export door that lets iron in and out of cells, and a hormone called hepcidin that tells the body when to open or shut that door.
When this little community is doing its job, most of your iron is bound, buffered and quietly cycling. It is recycled, reused and rarely wasted.
Trouble begins when this network is stressed or depleted. One of the biggest players in this story is copper.
Copper is like the conductor in the background. It activates ceruloplasmin and hephaestin, which in turn help move iron where it needs to go. When copper is low, iron tends to build up silently in the liver and tissues. It gets stuck. It cannot be moved or exported properly. More and more of it slips into reactive, unbound forms that irritate and oxidize sensitive tissues. Modern life depletes copper easily through high zinc intake without balance, low intake of copper rich foods like liver and bee products, overuse of isolated vitamin C powders, soil depletion and chemical farming that alters mineral patterns.
This is one of the most common patterns I see behind clients who feel “tired but wired.”
The liver is also central in this story. It makes ceruloplasmin and transferrin, stores and recycles iron from old red blood cells, and produces hepcidin to guide where iron should go. When the liver is congested or overburdened by poor bile flow, pesticides, mold, medications, alcohol, hormone overload, heavy metals or simply years of stress, its iron work becomes clumsy. Iron begins to leak and irritate nearby tissues. It can feed the wrong microbes. It can show up in the blood as elevated ferritin while you still feel “anemic” and exhausted.
Chronic inflammation and hidden infections add another layer. Any ongoing infection, even a quiet one in the mouth, gut or tissues, will stimulate the liver to raise hepcidin. This is the body’s attempt to hide iron away from microbes by trapping it inside cells. Unfortunately, when this goes on for too long, it can create a pattern called anemia of chronic inflammation. Blood looks low in iron while tissues are overloaded. You can feel weak, foggy and drained while iron is actually stuck in the wrong places. Inflammation itself also oxidizes iron, creating more of the unbound, reactive forms that cause trouble.
On top of this, we live in a culture that loves to throw iron pills at fatigue. High dose iron supplements are often given without a full assessment. Women are handed iron for tiredness. Vegans try to correct low intake with metallic forms of iron. Children eat iron fortified cereals and snacks. Pregnant women are given prenatals loaded with iron salts. Without the partners that help iron behave, like copper, magnesium, boron and retinol, that iron often cannot be used properly. It sits, rusts and irritates.
Iron never works alone. It is shaped and buffered by other nutrients.
- Zinc helps regulate metal handling proteins and gene expression and shapes immune responses.
- Boron helps regulate mineral relationships and antioxidant enzymes that protect against iron driven stress.
- Retinol, true vitamin A from animal sources such as liver and egg yolk, supports hemoglobin building and copper movement.
- Magnesium stabilizes cell membranes and fuels enzymes that repair oxidative damage..
When these supporting minerals are chronically low, iron becomes clumsy and misdirected, just as a strong worker becomes destructive without guidance or structure.
Once iron is unbound, it can participate in reactions that generate extremely reactive radicals. These tear through fats, proteins and DNA and disturb the electrical field inside the cell. Mitochondria are some of the first victims. Iron driven radicals damage mitochondrial membranes and genetic material. This shows up as low energy, poor repair, “burnout” and accelerated aging.
In the brain, iron can build up in areas involved in movement, memory and mood. Over time this fuels neuroinflammation and contributes to patterns we label Parkinsons, Alzheimers, anxiety and depression. In the blood vessels and heart, unbound iron oxidizes LDL cholesterol and irritates vessel walls, encouraging plaque formation, stiff arteries, blood pressure changes and higher cardiovascular risk.
In joints and connective tissue, iron oxidizes collagen and the gel like matrix of cartilage and fascia, leading to stiffness, pain and early degenerative changes.
In the gut and tissues, excess iron feeds the wrong microbes and suppresses healthy immunity, allowing chronic low grade infections to persist. In the cancer terrain, rapidly dividing cells often hoard iron, and unbound iron increases DNA damage and supports their growth patterns.
You can have iron dysregulation even when basic lab tests look “normal.” In live blood I often see codocytes, ghost cells and microcytes as visual clues that iron handling is off.
In your day to day life, signs can include fatigue that does not improve or even worsens with iron pills, brain fog and memory slips, hair loss or skin changes with “fine” ferritin, chronic infections or gut issues that never resolve, a sense of liver heaviness or poor tolerance of fats, hormonal patterns with high estrogen and, in some people, a bronzed or golden tone to the skin. Most conventional panels look at hemoglobin or ferritin alone. That is only a small part of the picture. A more complete view includes serum iron, TIBC and transferrin saturation, ferritin in context, serum copper and ceruloplasmin, hemoglobin, and sometimes zinc and retinol status. We then place those numbers alongside what we see in your live blood and how you actually feel.
In my work with you, the goal is not to fight iron or simply push it lower. The goal is to restore the system that knows how to hold it, move it and recycle it. Unbound iron is a symptom. The deeper issue is the state of your minerals, your liver and bile flow, your drainage pathways, your microbial balance and your bioelectrical field.
This is why I talk about terrain rather than single nutrients. We work in layers and we go gently.
First, we rebuild the mineral team that tames iron. Before we try to move or lower iron, we support the cofactors that tell it where to go. That means bringing in food based copper, true vitamin A, zinc in balance, boron and magnesium in ways that feel nourishing and sustainable.
In the Mineral Regulation Protocol I have created, I describe the “stops” and “starts” that help you restore this mineral harmony without shocking the system. We take it step by step.
Next, we open the drainage pathways. Even with better minerals, excess iron will not leave gracefully if your exits are blocked. We support bile flow and liver detoxification, lymph circulation, colon regularity, healthy sweating, kidney flow and fluid movement in fascia. This can look like castor oil packs over the liver, bitter foods and herbs to stimulate bile, and gentle movement, fascia work and sauna to keep things flowing. When the body can actually move waste, iron has somewhere to go.
We also work on recharging the bioelectrical terrain. Minerals like iron respond to charge. Low voltage, stagnant tissues tend to accumulate iron. A more charged, coherent field holds minerals in better order. Simple practices like time with bare feet on the earth, morning sunlight on the skin and eyes, deep hydration with clean, mineral rich water and fresh plant infusions, and sometimes gentle red or near infrared light on tired tissues all help the body remember its own electrical rhythm.
At the same time, we stop feeding the fire with extra synthetic iron. We look carefully at your diet and supplements and remove hidden iron sources such as fortified processed foods, multivitamins and prenatals with cheap iron salts, unnecessary iron supplements taken “just in case,” and sometimes water or cookware that quietly add inorganic iron to your meals. We respect your body enough to test rather than guess.
Then we invite plant allies that help modulate iron gently. Herbs like turmeric, green tea, nettle, dandelion root, milk thistle and others can support liver, bile and antioxidant capacity while helping buffer and redirect iron without stripping it away from places where it is truly needed. These are always used in context, not as magic bullets.
Iron is not the villain here. It is a mineral that carries oxygen, moves electrons and powers life. It becomes destructive when the deeper systems that regulate it have been worn down by years of stress, depletion and modern exposures. When I talk with you about iron dysregulation, I am not saying your body is broken. I am saying your terrain has lost some of its rhythm and needs support.
The work we do together and the Mineral Regulation Protocol I have created are designed to help your body remember how to hold iron in a safer, wiser way so it can go back to doing what it does best: quietly feeding your cells and not rusting your machinery.
