In this episode of The Thermo Diet Podcast Jayton Miller sits down with Loren Delacruz. Loren is a function Nutrition Therapy Practitioner and Root Cause Protocol Practitioner. She has a unique perspective on different areas of the metabolic theory of health, and in this episode, you hear her speak about iron, why we need to get rid of iron, zinc, copper, and so much more. Check it out and let us know what you think!
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Thermo Diet Community Group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/16721... ) - Thermo Diet Fan Page ( https://www.facebook.com/thermodiet/ ) Youtube
Channels: - Christopher Walker ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTA1... ) - UMZU Health ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2IE... )
Instagram: -
@_christopherwalker ( https://www.instagram.com/_christophe... ) - @researchcowboy ( https://www.instagram.com/researchcow... )
Loren's Website - https://www.innate-nutrition.com/
https://umzu.com/
Studies Mentioned -
- Deiodinase:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/8116544/ - From my notes: Deiodinase enzyme is selenoenzyme, doesn't work unless copper is present < I can't find anything about selenium binding to copper, but would be very curious if you end up finding something!
- Male Fertility:
- Anemia of Chronic Inflammation:
- I believe this is the study actually calling it ACI...
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC4115203/ - Iron Chelation for Covid - https://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC7366458/
Full Transcript:
Jayton Miller:
Welcome back to the ThermoDiet Podcast. I'm your host, Jayton Miller. And today, I have on the podcast, Loren De La Cruz. So Loren is filled with information. And today, she takes us through all of the details on iron, zinc, copper, vitamin A, and how they play a role with each other. So I'm really looking forward to being able to let you all listen to this episode. So let's get into it.
Jayton Miller:
How's it going today, guys? I am here with Loren De La Cruz from Innate. It's Innate Functional Nutrition, correct?
Loren De La Cruz:
That's my Instagram handle, but my business is Innate Nutrition.
Jayton Miller:
Okay. Awesome. How are you doing today?
Loren De La Cruz:
I'm doing well. Thank you. Thanks for having me Jayton.
Jayton Miller:
Yes, ma'am.
Loren De La Cruz:
Super excited to be here.
Jayton Miller:
Definitely. So for the listeners out there, could you tell them your background story and how you got to where you are?
Loren De La Cruz:
Of course, yes. So I guess my path to nutrition is what you're looking for, right? So yes, I first started my foray into nutrition was actually after my experience with the birth control pill. I had been on the birth control pill for about eight years. And I actually started the birth control pill, and you know hindsight is 2020, from getting cystic acne, because I got such terrible cystic acne after being vegan.
Loren De La Cruz:
So now I know that there was a lot of mineral deficiencies and nutrient deficiencies, vitamin deficiencies that spurred that hormonal imbalance. But I was on the birth control pill for about eight years, and it stopped working. I also had terrible health while I was on it. So I knew that there was something wrong. It wasn't working for me. There was definitely some downsides to it. And the more I started researching, the more I realized I didn't know much about it at all. And I started getting really informed.
Loren De La Cruz:
And when I came off the birth control pill, I had terrible symptoms as well. While I was on the birth control pill, I had candida, I developed an autoimmune skin condition, I was prediabetic. I had all of these health issues and no doctor ever connected the dots. So when I came off of it, I also had a slew of issues. I started losing my hair, the cystic acne came back 10 times worse. And no doctor that I had, whose care I was under, so my dermatologist, primary care physician and my gynecologist as well, no, they couldn't offer me any other solution other than to get back on the pill or to get on a different one such as spironolactone.
Loren De La Cruz:
So I started taking things into my own hands, doing even more research and really experimenting with nutrition and lifestyle. And I ended up healing myself through some smart changes with lifestyle, some really smart changes with nutrition. I also had ended up healing my lifelong asthma, which was a icing on the cake when it came to my healing process. And after that, I knew that there had to be a better way than the ways that we were approaching these issues, like prediabetes, like post-birth control syndrome, like cystic acne, like asthma. And I really wanted to get in, dig in even more and get some schooling, and really help people look for an alternative approach to their ailments.
Jayton Miller:
Definitely. That's awesome. So one area that you talk really well on is iron. So can you go into what iron's role is and why we usually have too much of it?
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah, of course. So iron's role, it performs a couple of functions in the body. It's mostly known for its involvement, and I should say that's a keyword, involved in the transfer of oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, and the creation of red blood cells. So that's where it gets its fame. Energy production as well, but it's involved in those functions, not necessarily responsible for is what I want to clarify.
Loren De La Cruz:
So we get iron from our food. And usually, there's heme iron, there's non-heme iron. So heme iron is going to be animal-based iron. And then there's plant iron, which is non-heme iron. And the heme iron is more readily absorbed and is more stable in the body versus non-heme iron. We absorb maybe 30%, but it's more volatile I should say.
Loren De La Cruz:
So essentially, we get a lot of iron already in our food system. We get it through animal foods, we get it through plant foods, but our food system has actually been fortified since the 1940s with iron shavings. So supplemental iron. And this was very misguided. It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason why we started fortifying the food system, but now you also have enriched flours and iron being added to a lot of other things in our food system, not just the natural sources that we get that we usually eat day to day.
Loren De La Cruz:
So we're getting a lot. And I think the percentage is something like it's increased almost 400% since the 1940s, the iron content in our food system. So it's really prevalent in our food system. We get plenty, plenty, plenty every day. So we're getting lots of it. And it's actually creating a lot of problems. One being, we have this very sophisticated iron recycling system that most researchers tend to overlook. It's called the reticuloendothelial system, the RES. I'm just going to call it the iron recycling system.
Loren De La Cruz:
And it involves the small intestine, the spleen, the bone marrow, the liver, a bunch of other organs. And it's a sophisticated system that helps recycle 24 milligrams of iron every day, all by itself. So when red blood cells go to die, we actually reuse the iron that was in those red blood cells. We don't necessarily need extra. So we have a really sophisticated iron recycling system. So those dietary recommendations are actually quite inaccurate, because taken into account 24 milligrams, we only need one milligram perhaps per day.
Loren De La Cruz:
And I should mention also that our recycling system, I say 24 minimum. So there's other people that say that it's upwards of 30 milligrams per day that we can recycle all by ourselves. So we have our reticuloendothelial iron recycling system, really sophisticated, helping us recycle all the red blood cells, all the iron in our body, but we're also adding more of it. And that's where we are getting really in a sticky situation.
Loren De La Cruz:
And so when we talk about copper too, and our food system's impact on copper, the supplements that we're taking, the daily practices that we have every day, that plays a huge role into why iron has gotten so out of control. But I'll let you continue asking questions because we'll definitely come back to that.
Jayton Miller:
All right. Sounds good. Yeah, that's really interesting. And so by having this excess iron, that's why we start to get deposits in the different tissues around the body, correct?
Loren De La Cruz:
That's absolutely correct. So when we have excess iron, I mentioned copper, and this is really important to understand why; copper is what helps manage iron. So in the world of minerals and vitamins, there's virtually none that work alone. There's always a partner or multiple partners. And for iron, that partner is copper. So copper is what actually helps manage the mineral itself, iron itself.
Loren De La Cruz:
So wherever there's iron, there's always copper because if you just have iron alone and it interacts with oxygen, which is very likely in our bodies, it's going to create rust. And you have cast iron pans probably, or one cast iron pan or you've seen one, and maybe you've seen a not so well taken care of one, and it starts creating rust just by being exposed to air. That's why we have to cure it. So copper is what helps cure iron, and helps it interact with oxygen safely in the body.
Loren De La Cruz:
So when it's carrying oxygen to go make energy, or to go make new red blood cells, copper is always there to help really protect the iron and protect the oxygen from creating rust. So it's like a buffer. So what happens when we don't have enough copper, or what happens when we have too much iron, the ratio is just completely imbalanced. The body knows that iron is very toxic in the body. It's very reactive. It's going to create a lot of free radicals; rust, reactive oxygen species. And so the body will take it out of the bloodstream and sequester it into the tissues.
Loren De La Cruz:
And this could be the liver, this could be the muscle tissue, this could be other organs. So it sequesters it into organs. And it's kind of a protective mechanism, although that in itself is not ideal either, because sequestering iron can create things like autoimmune disease and arthritis, and just a bunch of other issues.
Jayton Miller:
The biggest one that I see is pituitary issues. The iron deposition in the pituitary is a big one.
Loren De La Cruz:
That is a very real thing. Yep, yep. And that can create a lot of problems. So basically, any disease really can be traced back to iron. That is a very good point. It's just so reactive and is such a trigger for the immune system inflammation. So the body knows how reactive iron is. So it'll take it out of the bloodstream, sequester it. And that's why people, when they have too much iron, actually it's called anemia.
Loren De La Cruz:
And so the body has taken the iron out of the bloodstream, but we only test for serum ferritin when we test for iron levels, which is also a very inaccurate way to test for iron. So we don't get a true reading of what's actually happening. We could have no iron in the blood or very little, but tons of it in the tissues, up to 10 times more. So it's really backwards in the way that we test for iron, and the way we treat anemia, which is usually more iron, which causes the body to sequester it even more. That's why iron therapy doesn't really work, or creates worse problems.
Loren De La Cruz:
It'll work for a temporary timeframe in terms of getting the serum ferritin up or hemoglobin up. But then you see people, that's why they have to get iron infusions multiple times. That's why they said, "Oh yeah, I started taking iron pills. They worked for a little while, but then my anemia came back." It's because iron therapy in the body is trying to protect itself from the excess iron that you're giving it with the iron therapy.
Jayton Miller:
So-
Loren De La Cruz:
And it's very well ... I'm sorry.
Jayton Miller:
It just ramps up the storage of the iron. So by supplementing with iron, it's just making the body speed up the storage of it?
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah.
Jayton Miller:
Okay.
Loren De La Cruz:
So we're not solving the problem by taking more iron. And the problem is usually 99% of the time, copper deficiency or retinol deficiency; so that's a vitamin A. So either one can really create sequestration of iron because we need copper to manage iron. We need copper to help create new red blood cells with the iron. We need copper for so many other things in the body.
Loren De La Cruz:
And so the reason I say retinol, vitamin A, that's actually what activates "copper". So copper itself, it's a great mineral, but copper needs to be in the form called ceruloplasmin, which is a very ... an easy way to think about this is saying it's activated copper. And retinol, so vitamin A, real vitamin A, not from plants, not beta carotene from animal fats, from things like beef tallow and butter, and high quality dairy and liver. That's what loads copper into the ceruloplasmin enzyme. And ceruloplasmin is really what's carrying out all of these functions, and allowing iron to interact with oxygen very safely. So totally, it could be either of those things.
Loren De La Cruz:
I should also mention too, that infection can also cause anemia. And we have to, also, when we think about infection, we have to think about the strength of the host, because it's not just the infection that's causing the iron sequestration. It's the strength of the host. How's their stomach acid? Are they really resilient to infection? And copper is needed for the immune system as well. It's very well-documented there. But if you have an infection like a parasite or a virus or bacteria, that's what feeds on iron. It's like their favorite food.
Loren De La Cruz:
So the body also will take iron from the blood and store in the tissue, so that these infections, these pathogens cannot consume and proliferate off of the iron that's in the blood. So that could be another alternative reason. But that said, there's always a reason for the weakness of the host and why it got to that place in the first place.
Jayton Miller:
Wow. That's really interesting. So, how does zinc play a role in this? So isn't there a ratio between copper and zinc that we need to take into consideration?
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah, there definitely is. And they share the same receptor sites. So this is why the kind of ratio is important because if the receptor sites are all like, I think of it as a parking lot, if the parking lot is all full with copper cars or the parking lot is all full with zinc cars, then we're not going to be able to absorb the other mineral. So it's important in a sense, because then we're not recreating an imbalance in a sense.
Loren De La Cruz:
So I don't over index on the ratio too much in my practice, but it is important because it tells us a little bit about hormones. With hair tissue and mineral analysis, which is one of the lab tests that I offer to my clients, the copper ratio is more correlated with an estrogen effect, whereas the zinc ratio is correlated with a more progesterone, which is an anabolic hormone, and testosterone, which is also an anabolic hormone effect. So if there's too much copper or too much zinc, we're going to have a bit of an imbalance.
Loren De La Cruz:
And usually if copper is too high, it's not that there's too much. It's not a bad thing per se. It just means that it's probably unbound from ceruloplasmin, which is that copper protein that allows it to work safely in the body. So we have to think about why that might be, and it's probably due to, again, retinol deficiency. So we need that retinol to load copper into that protein. And we don't necessarily need to do anything to get rid of the copper. We just need to allow it, give it the tools to function properly in the body and get loaded into that protein properly to reestablish balance.
Loren De La Cruz:
So, yes, the ratio is important, but I also, like I mentioned, I don't condone trying to shift it too much by supplementing copper or zinc either. And the reason being, again, they compete for receptor sites. So it can push you into another extreme. But also, if you do supplement zinc, it triggers a synthesis of this protein called metallothionein. And metallothionein binds up zinc and copper, but it binds up copper at 1,000 times strength compared to zinc. So it creates an even more strong imbalance, and it can have pretty bad ramifications down the line.
Loren De La Cruz:
I've seen a lot of zinc supplementers pretty imbalanced in their ability to recycle iron because of their zinc supplementation. So it all has a trickle-down effect. Again, minerals and vitamins don't operate in isolation. There's always some consequence if you do supplement one thing or another.
Jayton Miller:
So a lot of athletes are told they need to supplement zinc because they run through it faster during times of extreme exercise. What's your recommendation for that?
Loren De La Cruz:
Oh, that's interesting. I would argue that they run through copper probably just as quickly or more, because copper is so critical for creating energy. You can't create energy without copper. And so zinc is not present in that chain, from my understanding. So to support an immense amount of exercise, you obviously need energy. And of course, we burn through tons of other minerals like magnesium, potassium, sodium.
Loren De La Cruz:
Sure, zinc. I bet we're burning through a bunch of vitamin C, a bunch of B vitamins as well. So to say that, or to look at exercise as a depletion of zinc is just one, or tunnel visioned, I guess. There's a lot more going on. And again, minerals and vitamins act synergistically. So to be supplementing one is shortchanging the immense impact and importance of magnesium, potassium, sodium, which are arguably even more important for athletic performance.
Jayton Miller:
Wow. So, do you notice that whenever people are in an anemic state, it's just a copper deficiency or a vitamin A deficiency?
Loren De La Cruz:
It depends. And that's why I don't like to use serum ferritin as a marker for iron status. It's because serum ferritin is actually a sign of pathophysiology. So ferritin should be inside of the protein, not outside. And so when we're measuring serum ferritin, something's wrong. And that got started in the '80s when a Spanish doctor discovered this marker and everyone hopped on it, because it was a new, bright, shiny thing. But we actually used to measure iron status via hemoglobin, before that. And that's a much more accurate marker.
Loren De La Cruz:
So I personally like to use the Full Monty Iron Panel, which has a bunch of iron markers. It includes ceruloplasmin, which is the really important copper protein that I just mentioned. Copper, it does include ferritin, so you would get that as well. It includes hemoglobin, iron, total iron binding capacity, magnesium, red blood cell count, transferrin. You get vitamin A, you get vitamin D, and you get zinc. So you get this really big picture of all the factors that could be levers in iron status. And so it really depends, to answer your question, because there are people that have plenty of copper, but not enough ceruloplasmin. So in that case, we would need to work on getting them a little more retinol, figuring out why they have too much copper in the first place.
Loren De La Cruz:
So it's more of like a ratio thing. Or if maybe they might have enough ceruloplasmin, but just a ton of iron and a ton of iron saturation, and so maybe we need to look at zinc. Are there other supplements that they're taking, or what they're eating, to really figure out okay, why do you have so much iron in the body? Or is it just that you need time to rebalance? Because once you have enough ceruloplasmin, that's when all the magic really starts to happen.
Jayton Miller:
Definitely. So if someone does have iron overload, what are some of the ways that they can get rid of it?
Loren De La Cruz:
That's a great question. So figuring out if you have iron overload, it's tough, but you can pretty much assume that almost everyone in the United States, at least, has iron overload just due to the fact that we've been so bombarded with iron throughout our entire lives, since the 1940s. But there's also this other aspect of other compounds or supplements, or things that can also negatively impact copper and ceruloplasmin status, which also impact our ability to manage iron. And so we end up iron overloaded.
Loren De La Cruz:
These are things like vitamin D supplements, ascorbic acid, zinc supplements, which we talked about already, refined foods because they're usually fortified foods and can contribute to extra imbalance, zeolite supplements. So there's a couple of multivitamins, prenatals. There's a long list of things that can impact the status of ceruloplasmin. And that in itself can impact our ability to recycle iron properly. So we have to first, stop taking those things. And that can be ... it makes a huge impact.
Loren De La Cruz:
And that can be honestly, sometimes enough. But if you start to look at your food ingredient labels and see, okay, ascorbic acid is acid added to this, okay, my milk has synthetic vitamin D added to it, am I taking vitamin D? Am I taking zinc? Things like that. Start to really look at the labels of the things that you're taking, the things that you're eating, and start removing those negative compounds. And then the next stage I would say, or phase would be to get nutrients that support the production of ceruloplasmin. So make sure you're getting enough copper in your diet, make sure you're getting enough retinol in your diet.
Loren De La Cruz:
So low fat diets or diets that are mostly unsaturated fats, that's not going to help with ceruloplasmin production. So we need to be getting a lot of animal fats through beef liver, through high quality dairy, through butter, ghee, beef tallow. So those really, really yummy foods and fats, and not skimping on the fat when you do have a nice fatty piece of meat, just eating it. And then getting enough copper-rich foods as well. So copper-rich foods include beef liver, which usually copper-rich foods are also iron-rich foods. That's the way nature intended. It puts these co-factors all in one food.
Loren De La Cruz:
That's why mother nature is so beautiful and whole foods are so beautiful. So beef liver, oysters, huge amount of copper, vitamin C-rich foods. So that actually has copper inside of it because it has an enzyme called tyrosinase, which contains copper inside of it. And I think this is why copper is so important for collagen formation and structural formation as well, structural fortification and myelin sheath creation too, is because it operates in an enzyme called lysyl oxidase. So making sure you're getting enough vitamin C-rich foods.
Loren De La Cruz:
I definitely love shellfish as well. So like lobster, crab, shrimp if you have access to it or can afford it. These things don't have to be super fresh either. They can be canned. So if you want oysters, don't worry. You can have canned oysters, or you can even take desiccated oyster. And that's fine. So getting a lot of retinol-rich foods, getting a lot of copper-rich foods and yeah, that's the next step, I would say in terms of being able to manage your iron better.
Jayton Miller:
That's awesome. So, do you take any steps towards chelating iron?
Loren De La Cruz:
Sometimes. It depends on the person. Blood donations for example, are really non-invasive. Well, I shouldn't say non-invasive, but really a gentle way to chelate iron. So we lose quite a bit of iron during a blood donation, and that reignites the iron recycling system that we have in our body, so all those organs, the bone marrow to create more red blood cells. And so it needs to release the iron that's stored in our tissues in order to do that. It kind of coaxes it out, because it's like, "Hey, we need more." Okay. It's okay to release it. It's not going to be eaten by an infection or bacteria. So that's a really great way to restart, or I should say supercharge your iron recycling system.
Loren De La Cruz:
If you're a female, making sure you're cycling. So your monthly cycle, your monthly period is a great way to detoxify iron as well. So I would fight for that cycle. If you're not someone that's cycling or if you have gone through menopause, scheduling a quarterly blood donation is just like I recommend for meals. Quarterly blood donations are a great way to really gently get rid of excess iron in the body. There are of course, other therapies. There's apolactoferrin, there's IP6, there's curcumin, but those therapies I would use probably in a case by case basis, depending on how they're tracking, how my client is tracking towards creating ceruloplasmin and their iron saturation and all that stuff.
Jayton Miller:
Do you ever do salicylic acid, or making sure to drink coffee after meals, stuff like that?
Loren De La Cruz:
Oh, yeah. That's a really, really great and easy way to do that, chelate iron as well. So coffee has really amazing properties. I think it's the caffeic acid in the coffee beans plus any some kind of polyphenols. It's not just the caffeine, it's the polyphenols as well that really help block iron from being absorbed in the digestive system. Caster oil actually, also has really amazing iron chelating properties due to quercetin. So that's another iron chelater that's actually pretty gentle to take as well.
Loren De La Cruz:
Iron chelation is also ... there's a study by Perricone that you can probably find online. I can share that with you after the show, but iron chelation therapy is actually a really great way to combat this virus that's going around.
Jayton Miller:
Wow.
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah, it's super effective. So also, that's what hydroxychloroquine is, too, which is the controversial, but also star that's being touted as a helpful protectant. So, yeah.
Jayton Miller:
That's awesome. Do you ever use activated charcoal?
Loren De La Cruz:
Not too much. I don't use it as much unless I'm experiencing some kind of digestive distress or anything like that, which is not very often. But I do like it. I prefer to use other therapies just because it has to be taken in a very specific way, and it can bind to not just iron, but other minerals when going through.
Loren De La Cruz:
So that's especially if you eat it in your food. But if not, it's pretty great. But I do really like that, especially for mold, when people have experienced mold illness as well, which that can also really tank someone's copper and ceruloplasmin as well, and lead to iron overload.
Jayton Miller:
Definitely. So, what are some of the signs that someone can look for if they have either an excess of iron? And then what are some of the signs that they can look for if they are deficient in vitamin A or copper?
Loren De La Cruz:
Those are really good questions. So signs of excess iron, we'll start with that. I might forget the other one, so you might have to remind me.
Jayton Miller:
Okay.
Loren De La Cruz:
Signs of excess iron. So really, it could be anything, honestly; high blood pressure, high cholesterol. Just overall, it's just like a low metabolism, because metabolic function, that's what copper helps support is you need copper if you want proper metabolic function. And when we don't have copper or ceruloplasmin, our metabolic function will start to deteriorate. And what deteriorating metabolic function looks like, can look like anything. It can look like imbalanced hormones. It can look like chronic illness.
Loren De La Cruz:
It can look like, again, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, cold hands and feet, not sleeping through the night, insomnia. Just honestly, any symptom you can pretty much connect with iron overload. And that's a result of a lower metabolism, because if you don't have enough copper to run it, iron is going to build. I know that's probably not as clear-cut as your listeners might want, but it always helps to ... if you're looking to optimize your metabolism and you don't feel like you're there, you probably have a little bit of excess iron that needs to be taken care of.
Loren De La Cruz:
And I guess, another clear-cut sign would be hormone levels. So estrogen, for example, increases the ability to absorb iron by three times. And in pregnant women, it's nine times.
Jayton Miller:
Wow.
Loren De La Cruz:
So it's kind of funny how women are the ones that are more anemic than men, and pregnant women also deal with this kind of anemia on the third trimester. So these dots should be connecting for you and your listeners. And so if we have excess estrogen, and men can have that too, if you're a little overweight or if you have excess fat on your body, our fat cells can create estrogen too. So we are probably more estrogen dominant in that sense.
Loren De La Cruz:
So any kind of estrogen dominance or hormonal imbalance, low T can also be a thing too. We probably are iron toxic in a way. And depending on the severity, that really is not known until you get a test, but that's another way to think about iron overload is the hormonal aspect. So you asked about vitamin A and copper?
Jayton Miller:
Copper. So, how do we tell if we have a deficiency in those? Are they the same signs?
Loren De La Cruz:
They can be very similar. There is some overlap there, for sure. Like skin issues are very clear-cut vitamin A deficiencies. Bone growth and development issues; so if you have constant breakages or spurs, you might be vitamin A deficient. Vitamin A is actually quite much more important for bone health than vitamin D. Much more, because vitamin A activates vitamin D. A little secret.
Loren De La Cruz:
So a lot of people that have bone issues, skin issues, immune system issues as well, again, vitamin A activates vitamin D. So if your immune system is not functioning properly, you're low in vitamin D, there's a whole another tangent I can go off because the testing is also very backwards for that, but you need vitamin A for all those functions. And copper as well.
Loren De La Cruz:
Copper is really important for thyroid function. So you need copper to convert T4 into T3, the more active and potent thyroid hormone. You need copper for cholesterol recycling. You need copper for immune function. Because copper is so critical to energy production, and vitamin A is as well in the way that it activates copper, any deficiency in these will be shown in a lack of energy production. And the lack of energy production is the beginning of disease. So if there's any sort of issue that you're struggling with, it's probably due to a lack of energy, which means you probably need more copper and vitamin A.
Jayton Miller:
Definitely. I would say low protective hormones in most cases, too.
Loren De La Cruz:
Oh, yeah.
Jayton Miller:
Because I think pregnenolone is derived from cholesterol, vitamin A and T3.
Loren De La Cruz:
That's correct. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jayton Miller:
So in order for steroidogenesis to take place, you have to have vitamin A present. So low protective hormones in general are also added in there.
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jayton Miller:
And then I had another. Oh. So, does copper work with selenium for the deiodinase enzyme?
Loren De La Cruz:
Yes, it does.
Jayton Miller:
Okay, okay.
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah.
Jayton Miller:
So, do they form together to make the deiodinase enzyme?
Loren De La Cruz:
That, I cannot recall.
Jayton Miller:
Okay.
Loren De La Cruz:
But I do know that copper plays a really big role in that.
Jayton Miller:
Okay.
Loren De La Cruz:
So I'd have to look up my notes, but I can follow up with you.
Jayton Miller:
Okay. Definitely. I'm interested in that. I'll put it in the show notes for anybody who is curious about whether or not copper and selenium attach to each other to form that enzyme. But that is really the extent of the questions that I had prepared. Is there anything else that you would like to tell the audience or let them know?
Loren De La Cruz:
Oh, yeah. If you're interested in learning more about iron and iron toxicity, I'm definitely well-versed in it because I went through a program called The Root Cause Protocol. So my mentor and teacher is named Morley Robbins, and he's the Magnesium Man, but he's basically the Iron Man at this point. And so all of my research, I've done additional research, but a lot of it's based on the research that he's done and led the charge on. So I'd go check out The Root Cause Protocol.
Loren De La Cruz:
There's a free protocol that you can do to start building up your ceruloplasmin levels. So check that out. And then yeah, I primarily work with women, but I love minerals. I have a huge interest and a passion for minerals. And so this is why I find myself here with Dayton right now. But yeah, feel free to check out my page. I have a lot more information on ascorbic acid, vitamin D, zinc supplementation. So if those piqued your interest, definitely check it out.
Jayton Miller:
And that is innatenutrition.com?
Loren De La Cruz:
Yeah. Innate-nutrition.com, or Innate Functional Nutrition. And that's @innatefunctionalnutrition on Instagram.
Jayton Miller:
Yeah, check that out. I follow her on Instagram. I love your Instagram page. It's great.
Loren De La Cruz:
Thank you.
Jayton Miller:
You did a really good job, so keep it up. I respect that.
Loren De La Cruz:
I appreciate that.
Jayton Miller:
But yeah. Thanks for listening, and make sure to give Loren a follow and check out her website. I was looking on it earlier and it actually is a pretty good website.
Loren De La Cruz:
Thank you.
Jayton Miller:
So make sure you check it out.
Loren De La Cruz:
Thanks so much, Jayton.
Jayton Miller:
Yes, ma'am. Have a good one. Thanks for listening to the podcast. If you haven't already, make sure to hit the like button, subscribe and leave a comment down below if you want us to cover a different topic.
