S.B.
my husband has a condition called hemachromatosis, where his body doesn't flush iron out the way it should. Vitamin C also helps retain the iron in your body. He maintains by eating food low in iron. When he was first diagnosed, he had to give blood every three months to try to help control his iron levels, but now he just has to go in twice a year to check his levels and he's fine.
His grandmother also has the disease, and unfortuantely, she wasn't diagnosed until later in life when it started effecting her nerves and causing her pain. The doctor told her that when she was having periods that helped with flushing out some of the iron.
It is hereditary, but it's possible that 1. members of your family have it that don't know it (when my hubby's gma was diagnosed, all of the family got tested and only he and his brothers have it, but not their mom or cousins) or 2. your parents were both carriers and didn't know it.