What is on an iron panel?
An iron panel is sometimes called a full iron panel, iron studies or an iron profile. They mean the same order. It reports how much iron moves through your blood and how much you have put away.
Published 24 August 2026 · every quote below opens the video at the moment of speaking
The short answer
MedlinePlus names 4 iron tests: serum iron and ferritin, transferrin and total iron-binding capacity. Reports often add transferrin saturation and UIBC. Read the list on your own report, because labs differ.
Only one of them carries a number a doctor has stated on video. That one is ferritin, the iron you have stored. Your lab calls 16 normal. One doctor puts the line at 45, on video.
What does an iron panel measure?
Four of these are the tests MedlinePlus names. The last two are the ones a report adds.
| Measurement | What it measures | Lab range and optimal |
|---|---|---|
| Serum iron | The iron circulating in your blood at the moment of the draw. | LAB · 60–170 µg/dLOPTIMAL · N/A |
| Transferrin | The protein that carries iron through your blood. | LAB · 200–360 mg/dLOPTIMAL · N/A |
| TIBC | How much iron your blood could carry with every transport site full. | LAB · 250–450 µg/dLOPTIMAL · N/A |
| Ferritin | The protein your body stores iron in. So the test reads your iron reserves, not the iron in circulation. | LAB · 15–150 ng/mL (women) · 30–400 (men)OPTIMAL · 45–70 ng/mLHyman 7:22 · Boham 1:36:56 |
| Transferrin saturation | What share of your iron transport capacity is carrying iron. | LAB · 20–50 %OPTIMAL · N/A |
| UIBC | The iron transport capacity still unused. | LAB · 120–380 µg/dLOPTIMAL · N/A |
Tap a measurement for its own page, or a time to watch the moment. Lab ranges vary between labs, so read the one printed on your own report. LAB is the range your report grades you against; OPTIMAL is what a named doctor stated on video, with the minute. OPTIMAL · N/A means we found no video where a named doctor puts a number on that line.
Which iron number has a target anyone stated?
Ferritin is the one with a target, and Dr. Mark Hyman states it next to the lab’s own cutoff in a single sentence:
“if your your level’s under 45 it’s going to affect your health even though the reference range on the lab says 16 or above is normal 45 or above should be the normal range or the optimal range”
Hyman says it again on a different episode, and ties the number to how you feel:
“for iron, this is an example, your ferritin level, which is your iron source, should be 45 or more to feel good, to not have fatigue, to not have loss, to not have insomnia”
Dr. Elizabeth Boham adds the only ceiling anyone states, and a floor a little higher:
“ferritin is the marker of iron stores in the body and we want that ferritin in general to be you know around 50 to 70 you don’t want it to be too high because that’s not good”
So: a floor at 45 from Hyman, a window of 50 to 70 from Boham. The ferritin page carries the rest, including a third doctor who goes higher again for athletes.
What can an iron panel not tell you?
Only ferritin carries a target anyone stated. The rest come back with the range your lab printed and nothing else.
That is worth knowing before you read a result. Five lines carry no target at all. The sixth has a floor and a window, not a single answer. That panel needs a conversation, not a verdict from a website.
An iron panel also sits inside a larger question. The complete blood panel carries the red cell measures that move when iron runs low. Nobody we cite has put a number on any of those red cell measures.
Who is this page not for?
Anyone who wants a test ordered. We do not order labs and we do not sell blood tests. There is no affiliate link on this page.
Anyone looking for a verdict on their own result. Ferritin moves for reasons a single number cannot separate, and the doctors above give a floor and a window instead of one answer. That is a conversation with your doctor.
Anyone who needs medical advice. This is a record of what named people said, with the video. It is not a diagnosis.
Common questions
What is the difference between an iron panel and a full iron panel?
Nothing reliable. Labs use iron panel and full iron panel for the same group. Iron studies and iron profile mean it too. Read the list on your own report, not the name at the top.
Is ferritin included in an iron panel?
Yes. MedlinePlus names ferritin as one of the four iron tests. It is also the one measurement here that a named doctor has put a number on.
Can your iron be normal and your ferritin low?
Yes. Serum iron is what is moving through your blood at the moment of the draw. Ferritin is what you have stored. A lab reports each against its own range.
What ferritin level is optimal?
45 ng/mL or above, according to Dr. Mark Hyman - watch at 7:22. The same sentence names the lab’s own cutoff.
Does an iron panel check for anaemia?
Not on its own. A doctor reads it next to a blood count, which carries the red cell measures. Nobody we cite has stated a target for those.
Keep reading
- Ferritin45–70 ng/mL
- Serum ironlab range only
- The complete blood panel28 lines
- All biomarkers98 markers
See where your own numbers land
Decode is an iPhone app that reads the blood test you already have. Where a doctor has put a number on a line, it shows you the number and the video. Where a line has none behind it, it says that too.