Can anyone say whether this is ferritin or iron? If you open the link the label says ferritin but the back says something else

[Noelnoel]

The link below says: Iron (from bovine ferritin and as aspartate). I’ve trawled the internet and as usual, it’s not that simple. I’ve tried to understand what aspartate is in relation to iron/ferritin but can’t. Do any of you good people know. I’ve emailed them and await a reply

nutricentral.co.uk/search.p...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Noelnoel

It is confusing!

However, it does say "Iron (from bovine Ferritin... 5mg) so I take that as it's iron.

[Noelnoel in reply to SeasideSusie]

Terribly misleading don’t you think, to say ferritin on the front? However, thank you

Can I ask for a recommendation for ferritin?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Noelnoel]

Noelnoel

I don't know of any Ferritin supplements, could do with one myself as my iron panel is good but Ferritin could be better, so I can't take iron tablets to raise my ferritin level without raising my serum iron too high. So I eat iron rich foods as eating liver regularly helped raise my ferritin level before.

[LAHs in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes, I have that problem, adequate iron but low Ferritin.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Noelnoel]

On the other hand, if you get a reply to your query about the Cardiovascular Research Ferritin supplement, and they confirm that it actually is Ferritin, perhaps you'll let us know, I don't know with absolute certainty that it is iron or not.

[Noelnoel in reply to SeasideSusie]

Of course I will, thank you

One thing I don’t understand though, is, if liver is iron-rich - and I know it is - why is that different to taking iron supplements. I’m not being deliberately obtuse, I really don’t understand

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Noelnoel]

if liver is iron-rich - and I know it is - why is that different to taking iron supplements.

No idea, but it worked for me.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

Ferritin is a protein found in blood which can store and carry iron. In this case, the ferritin has been extracted from cattle.

Ferrous aspartate is just another one of the many iron compounds which have been used to supplement iron intake - see here:

drugs.ncats.io/substance/Z5...

In that sense, it is just like ferrous gluconate, ferrous lactate, ferrous fumarate, even ferrous sulphate.

The supplement contains 5 milligrams of iron in each serving.

It is unclear why they refer to both ferritin and ferrous aspartate. Also, unclear how much is as ferritin and how much as ferrous aspartate.

However, humans do have a specific pathway for absorbing ferritin in our intestines. Whereas the ferrous aspartate will be absorbed by a different pathway. Therefore, you could (at least in theory) absorb more iron if it is present in both those forms than if it were just ferritin.

[LAHs in reply to helvella]

Thanks for that explanation. I tried to understand iron/ferritin once and found it more complicated than the thyroid system. I gave up on trying to understand iron and boiled it down to taking an iron supplement, looking at the inside of my lower eyelid in the mirror and hoping for the best.

[Noelnoel in reply to helvella]

Thank you very much hellvella, I think you’ll find the link below very interesting and informative. My grip on the difference between ferritin and iron is in its infancy still and I have some way to go before I can say I understand. What makes it more difficult for me is the terminology and the similarity of it. With every article I read, new terms are introduced that sound similar to ones I already know but have different definitions

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/I...