A normal hemoglobin reading on a lab report does not rule out a mineral shortfall. Iron deficiency without anemia occurs when stored iron, measured through ferritin, has dropped well below a healthy range while hemoglobin has not yet fallen far enough to meet the threshold for anemia. [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] This gap between a depleted store and a still-normal blood count is exactly why the condition gets missed on a routine complete blood count. Defined as normal hemoglobin with low ferritin, is nearly twice as common as the deficiency with anemia, a condition that affects around 1.2 billion people worldwide. What Iron Deficiency Without Anemia