Heme iron
Heme is not only hemoglobin: the CYP450 enzymes of phase I detoxification are hemoproteins, as is thyroperoxidase. Iron deficiency reaches further than anemia.
In depth
Porphyrin synthesis — the molecule that carries oxygen, and the prosthetic group of the cytochromes.
What drives it
Iron status increases it.
Iron is incorporated into the porphyrin ring. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism and clinical reviews. doi 10.1016/j.molmet.2023.101755 · PMC9967593
What it drives
It increases Iron & oxygen carriage.
10.1038/s41598-025-95590-x — Hemoglobin synthesis. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism and clinical reviews. doi 10.1038/s41598-025-95590-x · PMC9967593
It increases Liver detox.
HEME is not only hemoglobin - the CYP450 enzymes of phase I detoxification are hemoproteins. Iron deficiency reaches further than anemia. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism and clinical reviews. doi 10.1016/j.molmet.2023.101755 · PMC9967593
It increases Thyroid.
Thyroperoxidase is a hemoprotein, which is why iron status affects thyroid hormone synthesis. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism and clinical reviews. doi 10.1016/j.molmet.2023.101755 · PMC9967593
It increases Peroxide-clearing enzyme.
Catalase is a hemoprotein - iron status reaches antioxidant defense as well as oxygen carriage. Carried by the intermediary-metabolism, micronutrient and redox reviews. doi 10.3390/nu18132141 · PMC9967593
Blends that modulate it
Each blend page names this pathway and carries the study behind its claim.
See it on the map
Open the causal map to follow this pathway upstream and downstream, arrow by arrow, each with its study.