I guess you can avoid foods that interfere with iron absorption. So you would want to avoid foods with phytic acid, oxalic acid and/or tannic acid. Also you can incorporate foods that enhance iron absorption. These foods will be high in vitamin C, citrate, and amino acids.

Do you have celiac? I am just trying to understand why you have a normal serum level for iron but a low ferritin level.

Have you had liver and thyroid function tests? Liver makes ferritin and thyroid is involved in its production. Aside from that, I can't think of a single medical condition in which serum iron is high, but ferritin low ... ferritin is a ubiquitous protein in nearly all cellular life, whose only function is to transport ferrous iron.

@coffeesnob is right that celiac and Vit C deficiency are associated with low ferritin, but both are also associated with low serum iron.

Lastly, do you have any lead exposure? Lead binds hemoglobin, displaces iron (free serum iron), and can damage liver (though most famously kidney). But typically one doesn't see a reduction in ferritin with lead poisoning. If your transferrin/TIBC levels are rather low, that might be your culprit.

If not, maybe try eating blood sausage with a blood orange? Best of luck.

Ugh. I have the same problem. Honestly I was not able to resolve this with diet. I ingest a ton of iron and like you my serum levels were great. I had to take Poly Iron 150, no other iron supplement helped. I hope you find what works for you.

I know Chris Kresser talks about this quite a bit on his podcasts. I'd go check his site.

Herbal infusions of nettle and oatstraw and try the Floradix iron supplement, its an herbal iron, more absorbable then other forms.

Actually it is very common for serum iron to be in the normal range while ferritin is low particularly in women. My nurse practitioner says she sees this often. It just means that iron intake and or absorption are marginal and so there is only enough for the body to use for the most highly prioritize things but not enough to have much storage iron which is is used for functions lower in priority for survival. According to her, just low ferritin can lower energy and she sees women feel better when ferritin is brought up.

I had a son who was anemic and for us the key was wild caught clams. He would eat them with tomato sauce and it really helped him. You can buy cans of wild caught clams and check the label because I believe they are the food with the most iron. The farmed ones are not that high. You also need to eat them with something acidic like tomato sauce and do not eat them with dairy.

This pretty interesting my new doctor is a genuis a super brillant person who speaks all over the world. When I had my first appointment with the dr I said I'm an anemic and the dr goes did you ask you old doctor what causing the anemia ? ??? The doctor goes onto it could be internal bleeding it could be fungus in your blood that is eating all of your iron, so you take more iron so the parasite/fungus eats more of it it is a cycle. The fungus issue would be the first matter to be treated ! My symptoms were; exhausted felt dizzy; light headed , dry eyes felt and like I going to fall down; shortness of breath and my skin itched like crazy. The the doctor goes something is causing the low iron. So a doctor was actually looking at the cause of the problem wow that was amazing Let's not mask the problem here. Anyhow I have been reading about some cases of people that had shortness of breath and they get diagnosed with asthma and started inhaler Only later to find out it is a vitamin defieciency . Also shortness of breath, rapid heart may be anemic or low ferritin or it could be sinus infection or outer or inner ear infection but many times doctors may not think of it, they are looking for something acute

Blockquote try the Floradix iron supplement, its an herbal iron,

Floradix is regular iron, it has some herbs in it, but the iron in it is still the regular stuff.

They don't like to advertise it, and they try to keep an image of "herbal", and "natural" iron, but they will tell you what it is in an e-mail. That's how I found about it.

I would recommend trying out Spatone, but I don't know if it's possible to get your hands on it in the US. I know it has helped a lot of people, including me.

what was the name of the fungus in the blood? How did they test for it?

I am male, 53. I am told for optimal thyroid function, my serum ferritin needs to be @ 150-200. I have never been more than 90 no matter how much I supplement or what foods I eat. My latest test showed my serum iron elevated (193) and my ferritin actualy decreased (45) despite taking a liquid (Spatone) and capsule iron supplement. If I take more than this, I get bound up pretty quickly.

So, my serum iron is saturated, but I am low in storage. Anyone assist in interpreting what this means and why?

I am also having an issue with my serum iron being very high and my ferritin being very low, my hemoglobin and hematocrit are both low as well? I cannot figure it out? Anyone have a clue what the culprit could be? THanks