Should you reduce copper levels for Pyrrole Disorder?

I often get questioned by patients or people with Pyrrole Disorder (Pyroluria) about whether they should reduce intake of copper-rich foods, to reduce their copper levels. Or even how to reduce copper levels. My answer is usually “it depends…”.

The same answer would be given if someone asked “should I eat more zinc-rich foods?” or “how can I increase my zinc levels?”. It depends…

This is because there is a huge assumption from people with Pyrrole Disorder, or even from most practitioners who follow the “official” (and outdated or wrong) guidelines, including and especially the Walsh Institute trained practitioners, that Pyrrole Disorder (Pyroluria) is just an issue of low zinc and high copper levels. Because it’s not!

If you get diagnosed with Pyrrole Disorder from the urine test, which I no longer recommend as it’s an outdated and inaccurate test, you MUST get a confirmation of this diagnosis from the serum zinc, serum copper and caeruloplasmin tests too. Actually, you also need other tests as well, to find other nutrient deficiencies and factors which are common in this condition. More on this another time.

Sadly, people and practitioners just assume that the urine test alone diagnoses this condition and indicates that someone has high copper and low zinc and therefore needs to supplement with zinc and vitamin B6 (the official guidelines), and avoid copper-rich foods, when this is not always accurate or enough.

Having Pyrrole Disorder doesn’t automatically mean that your zinc is low and copper is high! You can have LOW serum copper but high UNBOUND copper due to low caeruloplasmin. In this case you actually have LOW copper, but low production of the copper transport protein which is the caeruloplasmin, for a number of possible reasons. In this case, do you need to reduce or restrict your copper-rich foods? Absolutely NOT! Reducing your copper in this example will make your health WORSE!

Similar with zinc. Some people with this condition can have optimal zinc levels, but copper can either be too high or too low, together usually with low caeruloplasmin. It’s the imbalance between zinc and copper which is important to know from testing, and together with the caeruloplasmin level with respect to the copper level, which is driving most of the symptoms of Pyrrole Disorder.

Many people with this condition have low zinc and low copper levels, with low caeruloplasmin. This causes the high unbound copper % level, which is an indicator of high oxidative damage in the body, which will be causing many symptoms. Further investigation and testing is needed for people with this presentation of Pyrrole Disorder.

What YOU need in YOUR treatment plan depends on YOUR unique situation, causes, symptom presentation, and test results. Having a standard protocol (such as the Walsh Institute guidelines) is not going to help you and your unique situation. A one-size-fits-all approach never works! You need a personalised plan from a detailed investigation of your health.

1. This is what I do, after specialising in Pyrrole Disorder for many years.