Research

Hormonal

Elevated body iron stores, indicated by higher serum ferritin levels, are associated with a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

If you have high ferritin levels, it may indicate an increased risk for type 2 diabetes. This is likely due to oxidative stress damaging insulin-producing cells. You should discuss your ferritin levels with a doctor to determine if phlebotomy or dietary adjustments are appropriate, rather than self-prescribing iron restriction.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The meta-analysis and systematic review suggest that increased ferritin levels and heme-iron intake are both associated with higher risk of T2D.
Zhuoxian Zhao et al. · PLoS ONE · 2012

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of 16 high-quality studies with consistent findings, though heterogeneity exists in cross-sectional data.

Source

Body Iron Stores and Heme-Iron Intake in Relation to Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zhuoxian Zhao et al. · PLoS ONE · 2012

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0041641

Meta-analysis · 16 studiesCited 225×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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