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Marker · Educational ranges, not diagnosis

Iron panel

Also called serum iron, TIBC, transferrin saturation.

The set that sits beside ferritin: serum iron, transferrin or TIBC, and transferrin saturation. Together they say whether the ferritin story is empty stores, blocked stores, or overload.

Read this first

  • Coach, not doctor. Aaron Cuha is a coach, not a doctor. No clinical credential is claimed for him, or for these pages. A number on a panel is a conversation starter with a clinician, not a DIY diagnosis. Nothing here is a prescription, a protocol, or a reason to start or stop a medicine. Educational use only. This database summarizes published research and is not medical advice. Where a dose appears it is a record of what a trial or clinic ran, or what people describe doing, with its source attached. Nothing here is a recommendation for personal use.
  • Affiliate disclosure. Knowledge stays free. Every page, every guide and every tool is free to read and stays free. Lab-panel affiliate links, when they exist, live on /bloodwork/partners and print what is earned on the row, or that nothing is earned today. This glossary does not sell panels. The Archive does not order labs.
  • Three lab stories stay separate. /bloodwork is the human panel. /testing and /prices/labs are peptide certificate chemistry. /supplements/quality is what is in the bottle.

Why a longevity audience asks

Ferritin alone can lie. Saturation helps a clinician tell low stores from inflammation, and very high saturation is part of the iron-overload conversation.

How a coach reads it

Fasting morning draws are easier to compare. Saturation in the teens can go with low stores. Saturation that stays high with high ferritin is a clinician problem. This page will not print a DIY treatment table.

Units on this page: ug/dL, percent saturation

When it is low

Low iron and low saturation with low ferritin is the usual empty-store pattern. The next step is a clinician, not a random iron salt from a grocery aisle.

When it is high

High saturation plus high ferritin is where self-supplementation does harm. Stop hidden iron and get help.

Easy ways to misread it

  • A recent iron pill or a meat-heavy meal can move serum iron.
  • Do not read saturation without ferritin, or ferritin without saturation.

What to ask a clinician

Ask for serum iron, TIBC or transferrin, transferrin saturation, ferritin, and a CBC on the same draw.

Related supplements

Related when-playbooks

Sources on this page