Both Japanese and Italian studies have recently confirmed what I have long observed. Hepatitis C patients with high iron have higher levels of liver enzymes. Reducing iron levels for these patients bring down these enzymes.

I often image Hepatitis C as a smoldering or awakened fire. Prehistorically in the Paleozoic Era, oxygen levels were much higher than they are today, making fires much more frequent. Excess iron feeds the fire by generating oxidative stress.

Anemia is a deficiency of hemoglobin in the blood. It is theorized that because iron deficient anemia was highly problematic in our evolution, our bodies were crafted to conserve iron. Except for menstruation/ blood loss as well as breast feeding there are no control mechanisms for high iron levels. Breast milk contains lactoferrin (milk iron) which regulates iron levels.

The liver is the major storage organ for iron. In hemochromatosis, a hereditary genetic condition that causes excess iron levels the liver can become cirrhotic simply by high iron levels. For patients with Hepatitis C and iron overload this puts double stress on the liver. High iron fuels oxidative stress by generating free radicals.

HCV does not directly damage hepatocytes. The cellular response to try to kill the invading virus generates reactive oxygen species (ROS). The lysosomes, which are the little chemical factories found in each cell are what produce the ROS. Both excess iron and other heavy metals such as lead and mercury share this primary mechanism as well, they all generate oxidative stress. I have also observed that Hepatitis C patients who have had their lead and mercury chelated from their bodies, their liver enzymes went down.

Calcium and Lithium Orotates stabilize lysosomes membranes and quiet down ROS productions. Many anti-oxidants are also very important in treating Hepatitis C to mitigate the liver damage, these include Glutathione, Lipoic Acid, Milk Thistle, Resveratrol, Selenium among others. Glutathione is the major intracellular anti-oxidant found in the liver.

Let’s talk about iron tests, so you can correctly understand your bloodwork:
Serum iron measures the level of iron in your blood.
Serum ferritin indicates the amount of stored iron in your body.
Ferritin is the main storage protein for iron inside of cells.

Total Iron Binding Capacity TIBC measures the amount of transferrin that you have. Transferrin is a blood protein that transports iron from the gut, where it is absorbed from food. When iron stores arelow, the body will make more transferrin. If there is too much iron being absorbed, the body will reduce production of transferrin. On average about 1/3 of the transferrin in the body is being used to transport iron. Our bodies have an excess iron-binding capacity. This is called the Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity (UIBC). UIBC plus serum iron equal TIBC.

How do we naturally regulate excess iron? The first key is lactoferrin. Here at Alchemist Lab we use Apolactoferrin which is iron reduced. Lactoferrin naturally both regulates and contains iron. I only recommend the iron reduced form!! I have seen enormous success in using Apolactoferrin for high iron in Hep C patients. IP6 did not work for my patients, though I have been told by some people that it worked for them. I no longer use it. If something does not produce tangible results I discard it.

Lactoferrin has a further virtue in that also acts as a direct anti-viral. It interferes with E2, a protein found on the lipid coat of HCV that allows it to dock onto hepatocytes.