Why You Still Feel Off, Even When Your Labs Are “Normal”
Why Normal Labs Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Lab reference ranges are broad and not designed to reflect what is optimal for you. You can technically be “normal” and still feel depleted, inflamed, or hormonally off. This disconnect is where many patients get stuck and start questioning their own experience. This is where many people feel dismissed or stuck. The labs say one thing, but your body is telling a completely different story.
Looking Deeper Than the Numbers
In Episode 21 with board certified Nurse Practitioner, Emmy Hartsfield, we talk about the importance of looking at patterns, not just individual lab values. A more comprehensive approach considers how hormones, stress, and gut health interact and why early dysfunction often shows up as symptoms long before it appears on standard testing. Functional Medicine asks deeper questions:
How are your hormones working together
How is your body responding to stress
Are your systems of detox and digestion working for or against you
Stress, Cortisol, and Chronic Fatigue
Chronic stress plays a major role in how we feel day to day. When cortisol rhythms are disrupted, it can affect energy, sleep, weight, mood, and overall resilience. We break down why stress management is not optional and how it impacts nearly every system in the body. Emmy even gives some helpful techniques to decrease stress any time of the day.
Gut Health Is More Than Digestion
Your gut influences hormones, inflammation, immunity, and even mental health. Many imbalances go unnoticed because they do not always present as obvious digestive symptoms. This episode explains why gut health deserves more attention when you are not feeling your best.
We talk parasites, oat milk vs. cows milk, organic vs. non organic, fiber, and more
The Takeaway
Feeling off is not in your head. Normal labs do not always mean optimal health. Listen to Episode 21 of Fill and Tell on Apple podcast, Spotify, or Youtube.
