Copper is one of my favorite topics because:
Its supports energy production
It prevents iron deficient anemia
Iron deficiency anemia is a condition where a lack of iron in the body leads to a reduction in the number of red blood cells. Iron is used to produce red blood cells, which help store and carry oxygen in the blood.
All minerals are complex team workers inside our body. They all work in harmony. They all need each other to make the world go round.
For energy production we need to sustain cellular mineral balance. This is the root cause of virtually all health challenges.
Let’s take a look at the Iron pathways in the body:
Iron is absorbed via food and transported throughout the body.
It does so by binding to transferrin, a protein produced by the liver.
The majority of iron is incorporated into your red blood cell production, hemoglobin.
The remainder is stored in the tissues as ferritin.
It is also used to produce some enzymes.
Iron contributes to proper production of thyroid hormones.
Low iron levels can lead to anemia.
High iron levels can be toxic to the body.
Ok, lets step back for a minute. If you have been told you are anemic there is a large likelihood that that is not true. In order to assess your iron status you need to look at the bigger picture.
A simple hemoglobin/iron blood test is not going to give you the full picture. Here are all the markers that need to be looked at to evaluate your cellular iron/red blood cell status.
Iron total
Iron Saturation
Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
Ferritin
Transferring
Hemoglobin
Magnesium
Copper
Ceruloplasmin
These are all indirect markers since science has not created a true way to measure your body's total amount of available nutrients, because blood is not the only place where minerals are stored! Minerals are stored, produced, converted in all sorts of places inside our bodies. Organs, tissues, bones, glands …
So if your doctor has only checked one or two markers you actually don’t know if you have enough, or too little iron and hemoglobin.
For all we know, if you show LOW total serum iron and haven’t checked the other markers, it may actually be sitting somewhere in your body not being able to be utilized because it is lacking other nutrients.
Other factors play a role too: If your total iron is LOW but your ferritin is HIGH it may indicated chronic disease which is often caused by an infection. Because pathogens utilize iron to proliferate and grow, the body may shuttle iron to ferritin to be sequestered, thereby limiting the availability of iron to the microbes. Iron supplements should NOT be used in this situation.
High ferritin but NORMAL serum iron levels indicates liver disease, chronic inflammatory disease, hypothyroidism or type 2 diabetes.
You can see it is very important to check the big picture. I have found it valuable to “triangulate” from results based on several blood and hair-tissue markers, as well as overall function and symptoms.
But let’s say you do have low iron, low iron saturation, and low ferritin.
What if it’s actually not a lack of iron in your diet but inaccurate iron absorption which is catalyzed by other minerals?
Maybe you have heard that Vitamin C in fact helps absorb iron from your diet.
Let's take a deeper look into Iron absorption and utilization:
The power of bioavailable Copper
I am drawing extensively from Morley Robbins' research, who since 2009 has poured over books, manuals, and thousands of scholarly articles in the pursuit of understanding the balance of key minerals in the body. After he realized the powerful role magnesium plays in all metabolic systems, he went on to learn that copper partners with magnesium to produce energy and manage iron.
When magnesium and bioavailable copper are lacking, iron is not properly recycled into new red blood cells to circulate oxygen throughout the body. Instead, the excess iron gets stored in tissues. This dysregulation causes systemic oxidative stress, inflammation and symptoms of disease.
Magnesium and copper are also needed to create enzymes (DAO) to break down histamines, but they are easily depleted due to stress.
Copper, in the form of the enzyme ferroxidase is the escort to get iron to and from where it needs to go to support iron functions in the body.
When there is a lack of bioavailable copper to utilize iron, there is less iron available to carry oxygen, leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, reduced energy, and disease.
Copper Metabolism
Vitamin A (aka. Retinol) makes Copper “bioavailable.” 1855, Dr. Theophilus Thompson
A well-established, but often overlooked fact, is that Inflammation CAUSES Iron to present low in Iron blood tests. (Roy, Andrews, 2005; Wessling-Resnick, 2010).
Ferroportin - A copper-dependant protein that acts as the “doorman” and allows Iron to exit the cell. When this “doorman” is properly loaded with bioavailable Copper, it works correctly, and Iron can exit the cell and complete its Circulation around the body. When Copper is NOT bioavailable, Iron builds up in the cells/tissue, which generates Oxidative Stress.
Ceruloplasmin (Cp) is a copper dependent protein that in a healthy body enables ferroxidase function.
Ferroxidase (FOX), the “active” form of ceruloplasmin, is the enzyme that regulates or chaperones iron and prevents it from “rusting" i.e. oxidizing. Ferroxidase is the master antioxidant enzyme that regulates iron status in the body.
Increasing Energy with proper iron absorption is made possible by:
Increasing bioavailable copper in order to…
Decrease unbound iron and…
Decrease the magnesium burn rate (MBR) in order to…protect the REDOX (Reduction-Oxidation) reactions that run the homeostasis of the body.
When magnesium is not constantly being lost, the body is better able to regulate and preserve oxygen. We ultimately want to support the body’s desire to harness the energy of oxygen. To Activate oxygen to create energy in the mitochondria we need to deactivate oxidants (accidents with oxygen) to clear exhaust.
Excess Iron is bad news:
A liver that’s loaded with excess unbound iron cannot make the conversion from T4 to T3 well. The body’s built-in plan to keep iron in circulation requires the action of copper via ceruloplasmin and its ferroxidase enzyme function. The conversion of iodide to iodine is also copper dependent.
Here's what you can do to improve Iron/Copper absorption and activation:
STOP: taking iron supplements, iron fortified foods, anything with ‘added iron’.
It’s important to understand that processed foods create advanced glycation end products (AGEs) because of the properties that preservatives and synthetic ingredients produce. These byproducts of food processing are highly inflammatory and destabilize the digestive system. Furthermore, AGEs are known to block the doorway that allows for copper uptake. This is rarely documented in dietary research circles. AGEs are a metabolic gateway to all forms of chronic disease.
START :
Beef liver provides a balance of copper and iron that is closest to that found in the human liver and is an excellent source of retinol. Both copper and retinol are essential for regulating iron in the body. Beef liver also provides the ideal ratio of copper to zinc and is a good source of B vitamins, especially B12. The emphasis on organically raised, grass-fed, pastured animals is due to the advantage of eating grasses from sun-drenched copper-rich soils that are not depleted due to chemicals. The copper is then passed on to the animal, and eventually, to the consumer.
Bee Pollen and Fruits offer a lot of bioavailable copper as well.
Boron is an important trace mineral that plays a key role in enhancing liver function. It helps to keep copper and iron in proper balance and is a co-factor for magnesium absorption. Boron also provides antioxidant and antifungal benefits, and supports bone and joint health along with hormone balance.
Taurine is a sulfur amino acid that supports liver copper metabolism. It is critical for the synthesis of bile/bile salts, which aid in the digestion of fatty acids and support retinol absorption. Retinol, in turn, optimizes ceruloplasmin. In ideal situations, we make at least some of our own taurine, but a body lacking key minerals may not produce enough, and children require it as they grow.
Reduce the pathogen load. Since parasites live, replicate, and thrive in low-pH conditions created by excess iron, they also create a drain on bioavailable copper which reduces the immune system’s ability to keep them in check.
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