Does Ray Peat ever acknowledge the possibility of excess Free Copper in the body, and if yes how does he advise removing it?
Copper is a necessary nutrient, and there is good documentation in the literature about what can go wrong if you are short of copper. But the body can have more copper than it can store. You can calculate the so-called "free copper" in the body as:
Serum Copper MINUS (3.15 * Ceruloplasmin)
Ceruloplasmin is the major copper carrying protein in the body and is used as a marker for copper that your body is utilizing.
The supposedly correct level for Free Copper is around 5 to 15 ug/dL. When you have levels much higher than that you need to be evaluated for Wilson's Disease, a rare but extremely serious disorder caused by excess copper.
I read in the literature that excess free copper and free iron are together suspected as the source for most free radicals as we age. So apparently some of the evil that Ray Peat sees in excess iron also exists for excess copper.
Assuming Ray Peat even acknowledges the possibility of excess Free Copper, how does he recommend getting rid of it? With iron, it is easy enough to donate blood. With copper, you can chelate (which is dangerous), or you can try to up your intake of zinc and try to outcompete copper, or...?
I'm not seeing a lot of wisdom on this issue online. There are lots of naturopaths who don't even understand the value of the ceruloplasmin calculation and who rely just on hair analysis (which is suggestive but pretty fuzzy science). Their methods for removing copper are "fuzzy" at best. I am looking for clarity on this issue.
I have a "free copper" measurement over 40 ug/dL. So I have a lot of it and at this point do not understand how to safely get rid of it.
Copper is a necessary nutrient, and there is good documentation in the literature about what can go wrong if you are short of copper. But the body can have more copper than it can store. You can calculate the so-called "free copper" in the body as:
Serum Copper MINUS (3.15 * Ceruloplasmin)
Ceruloplasmin is the major copper carrying protein in the body and is used as a marker for copper that your body is utilizing.
The supposedly correct level for Free Copper is around 5 to 15 ug/dL. When you have levels much higher than that you need to be evaluated for Wilson's Disease, a rare but extremely serious disorder caused by excess copper.
I read in the literature that excess free copper and free iron are together suspected as the source for most free radicals as we age. So apparently some of the evil that Ray Peat sees in excess iron also exists for excess copper.
Assuming Ray Peat even acknowledges the possibility of excess Free Copper, how does he recommend getting rid of it? With iron, it is easy enough to donate blood. With copper, you can chelate (which is dangerous), or you can try to up your intake of zinc and try to outcompete copper, or...?
I'm not seeing a lot of wisdom on this issue online. There are lots of naturopaths who don't even understand the value of the ceruloplasmin calculation and who rely just on hair analysis (which is suggestive but pretty fuzzy science). Their methods for removing copper are "fuzzy" at best. I am looking for clarity on this issue.
I have a "free copper" measurement over 40 ug/dL. So I have a lot of it and at this point do not understand how to safely get rid of it.