What is ferritin?
Ferritin is a protein that our bodies use as an iron storage mechanism. When needed, ferritin-held iron is readily incorporated into human or animal red blood cells or used to create hemoglobin. Until then, ferritin essentially forms a protective forcefield around iron mineral atoms which can otherwise be reactive ions. This serves to protect both the iron (from oxidizing), and the body’s tissues (from free radical damage caused by oxidation).
Research into ferritin has intensified in the past 40 years, but research into the bioavailability of ferritin from plant-based sources was not studied until the early 2000s. Ferritin is an iron-holding compound and normally filled with iron, but when found without iron, ferritin protein is called apo-ferritin.