The podcast was good. Magnesium is clearly essential. Ditto for dumping iron. I’m more convinced about copper .
Why copper only 3 days a week?
To be honest I’m still learning/researching about copper. I may increase dose as my understanding of iron metabolism improves. Like any metabolic system its incredibly complex.
My serum copper is in a good range (by labcorp ranges) but I’m considering taking the “full monty” panel to get the full picture. If you scroll down a bit on this website it describes that panel along with their proposed optimal ranges: "Ideal" Values for Lab Tests - The Root Cause Protocol
I like to understand and therefore research how metabolic systems work in order to form an opinion about which medical advice (or standards) to believe. I believe a lot of standard medical care is wrong or antiquated or profit driven. However, a lot is right. Same is true for functional medicine, or integrative medicine. My goal is to wade through the firehose of information and form an opinion for myself.
This post is brilliant! I’m studying iron metabolism which is really complex. This post was very helpful, thanks!!!
Too much copper is toxic.
Certainly you wouldn’t want more than 10mg per day.
Also each mg of copper should be balanced with 10mg of zinc.
My ferritin levels dumped after rapamycin.
I’ll investigate other possible causes, but taking into account that I am feeling very well and that it was fast, I tend to think it might be rapa.
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https://synapse.koreamed.org/articles/1045750#T2
Based on this study some would say hair tests are unreliable. I think the study says they are pretty consistent.
I spend thousands of dollars on soil tests for my farms and they tell me something. I once saw a talk from the ISU extension soil scientist who talked all about splitting tests and sending them to the same lab or to different labs and the different results. Also he would sample the soil, then turn around and sample again. Different results. Still, he thinks they tell you something objective about the soil and the results, while not exact and repeatable are somewhere in the ball park. And I think they are better than nothing. Nothing is what you have if you don’t give it a try.
When I got my hair test Uranium was way high and ditto with Zirconium. I puzzled about it and spent time on the internet and found out these results come from having a Radon problem. Bought a test and sure enough levels were pretty high. Raised 5 kids here and lived here 40 years.
My sodium was way high because I like salt, and potassium was pretty low. I got away from chips around then and started using potassium salt on food.
People scoff about the hair test. We have a couple doctors in the family (in laws) and they shake their heads, but I think this is useful stuff for $100.
Also my brother’s doc sent a split sample of his blood (for hba1c) to 2 different labs and got 4.8 at one and 5.5 at the other. My brother was steaming. Lol. I don’t think it means you stop testing, but now I see how Theranos got by with it for so long.
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I read that copper and zinc use the same channel for uptake so they compete. I don’t want them to compete so I just take copper 3 days a week and zinc for the other 4. I was using 50 mg zinc and 2mg copper chelate. Do not know whether this is smart or even makes sense but is better than nothing. I’m thinking now that I should be using bigger numbers for both.
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If rapamycin chelates iron, that wouldn’t necessary be a bad thing. Lower levels of iron are associated with reduced incidence of heart disease and cancer. Bill Sardi wrote of his belief that over mineralization contributed to aging.
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It’s not chelation, see post up in this thread. It’s a dysregulation of iron metabolism.
Completely separate from rapamycin, dumping iron is one of my main longevity hacks.
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That’s a great post. Thank you for that. As far as my iron level goes, I occasionally take IP6 to lower my levels. Also, I’ve recently had 2 doctors question me about my low (compared to what’s considered normal) iron. When I explained my reason to control iron, neither one continued that line of questioning.
What are your Iron levels in most recent labs vegasallen1?
It’s 21. The range is 24 to 380.
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With regard to iron…
Ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic form of cell death marked by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation1, has a key role in organ injury, degenerative disease and vulnerability of therapy-resistant cancers2. Although substantial progress has been made in understanding the molecular processes relevant to ferroptosis, additional cell-extrinsic and cell-intrinsic processes that determine cell sensitivity toward ferroptosis remain unknown. Here we show that the fully reduced forms of vitamin K—a group of naphthoquinones that includes menaquinone and phylloquinone3—confer a strong anti-ferroptotic function, in addition to the conventional function linked to blood clotting by acting as a cofactor for γ-glutamyl carboxylase.
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Here’s a quick listen with Gordon Lithgow talking about excess iron and accelerated aging.
Go to 32:30 in the podcast.
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I took genetic testing and was found to have an HFE gene and thalassemia trait gene. Italian and Irish parents who both had carried the traits.Since taking Rapa for almost a year my percentage of iron saturation and iron serum are in the normal range and have not had to have any in-house phlebotomy’s. I still have blood markers of thalassemia gene however the iron overload seems to be at bay for now! Encouraging for me, in addition fatigue and joint pain seemed to subsided!
I would like to see evidence for this, and for much else in this post.
Is that 21 number Ferritin?
Yes, but I have slacked off taking IP6 lately. I would expect that the number has risen somewhat.
So another question for you. I had a Ferritin number of 22 my last labs as well (that is below normal). I don’t eat much iron and I donate blood every three months. My PCP felt I should get it up some but I do not have any negative symptoms such as low energy, not sleeping well, etc. Just curious if you and any negative effects of such a low Ferritin?
No, not any symptoms and I have donated blood too. But Bill Faloon of Life Extension has told me that he suspects that one might be losing some of their immune system donating plasma or blood. So he can’t prove it but I respect his opinion.
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