The necessity of lowering iron levels

So I just got a blood test in, and my results are actually WORSE than what they were last year, even though I've been on the top 6 for a few months! My HemoH1C level went from 5.3 to 5.5 (not much but I was expecting it to be a lower since I've been taking all the supplements like alphalipoic acid) , my triglicerides went up (51 to 63), cholesterol went up (LDL-153, HDL 93) probably because i've been eating a lot of fish trying to avoid sugars and grains), TSH went up (from 2.15 to 3.79).

I have no idea why my health has gotten worse in the past year, my diet has been better. I think the reason why might be because my iron levels are still really high (Ferritin 160). I just found this study today showing the necessity of lowering iron levels, the vegetarians in the study were found to have half the iron stores as the meat eaters, and when the meat eaters went on phlebotomy to lower their iron levels, their insulin sensititvy increased by 40%. Going to try giving blood as soon as possible.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=891720

Low iron status and enhanced insulin sensitivity in lacto-ovo vegetarians

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Nancy W. Huaa1a2, Riccardo A. Stoohsa3 and Francesco S. Facchinia1a2a3 c1


a1 Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, CA, USA
a2 Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
a3 Zentrum für Schlafmedizin und Stoffwechselstörungen, Dortmund, Germany
Article author query
hua nw
stoohs ra
facchini fs


Abstract
The efficacy of insulin in stimulating whole-body glucose disposal (insulin sensitivity) was quantified using direct methodology in thirty lacto-ovo vegetarians and in thirty meat-eaters. All subjects were adult, lean (BMI <23 kg/m2), healthy and glucose tolerant. Lacto-ovo vegetarians were more insulin sensitive than meat-eaters, with a steady-state plasma glucose (mmol/l) of 4·1 (95 % CI 3·5, 5·0) v. 6·9 (95 % CI 5·2, 7·5; P=0·0028) respectively. In addition, lacto-ovo vegetarians had lower body Fe stores, as indicated by a serum ferritin concentration (μg/l) of 35 (95 % CI 21, 49) compared with 72 (95 % CI 45, 100) for meat-eaters (P=0·0012). To test whether or not Fe status might modulate insulin sensitivity, body Fe was lowered by phlebotomy in six male meat-eaters to levels similar to that seen in vegetarians, with a resultant approximately 40 % enhancement of insulin-mediated glucose disposal (P=0·0008). Our results demonstrate that lacto-ovo vegetarians are more insulin sensitive and have lower Fe stores than meat-eaters. In addition, it seems that reduced insulin sensitivity in meat-eaters is amenable to improvement by reducing body Fe. The latter finding is in agreement with results from animal studies where, no matter how induced, Fe depletion consistently enhanced glucose disposal.

Espio - Your HDL is pretty damn good!

There's two ways to lower your iron levels. IP6 (Inositol hexaphosphate) or blood donation a few times per year.

I've been taking IP6 for about a month, gone through about 150 pills of 500 mg each. Usually take about 3 at a time before I go to sleep. So my ferritin reading of 160 was after going through a bottle and a half of the Jarrow IP6. So i imagine my iron stores must of been a lot worse before I started taking it.

I'm considering experimenting with a vegetarian diet again, see if I can get my triglicerides back down to 50 like they were last year (when I ate a lot of grains). Because I have a suspicion that the high meat diet I've been on has caused my triglicerides, cholesterol, hemoA1C, and iron to go up. You mentoined mercola as being a good site for a metabolic typing test, I found a free one right here, or is this test a bit too simple to be trusted?

http://www.natpro.net/metabolic-typing.html

Espio - Your Triglyceride readings are extremely good, both of them. Anything below a 100 is exceptional.

Also your Ferritin levels are perfectly normal.

I'm not sure about the Metabolic typing page, but will check it out.

Espio - This metabolic test page is a nice find. It may not be 100% accurate for everyone, but I think it's a good test.

Okay, thanks!

Espio--

Many docs will tell you that you have to have such-and-such a level of cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. or you're not healthy. This is not true, and is information fed to them by the pharm. industry that manipulates the medical field. Alternative Med. folks like IH would know best in this regard as they realize that everybody's body types are different.

Is your goal to take triglycerides to Zero?

I mean at some point you need some of the stuff to remain functional. Just curious why you think few points up on TG is that big of a deal? May be your body is trying to normalize the levels for these to remain at a needed level. I would think as long as you are in a Very healthy range, it could be a sign of further normalization - getting the body to balance is the goal, is not it?

I mean you cannot hope to get to body fat of zero - everyone needs some amount of fat, does not matter how much we hate it.

I know it's normal to have some fats and cholesterol, I'm just down because I thought that by taking the lipoic acid and other supplements, that my blood test would have improved in some way. I was surprised that my hemoA1c actually went up, though it was a little (5.3 to 5.5). And my TSH shot up from 2.15 to 3.79, so I'm just worried maybe one of the supplements I'm using is having a negative effect. I was thinking, if it's not iron then maybe the flax lignans are reducing my free testosterone, which is causing some changes in blood sugar and a higher hemoA1c.