14/08/2026
My post about ferritin got lots of questions, and I want to make something super clear...
Ferritin is a really useful marker. Blood/hormone/stool testing are all really useful. I use these tools all the time.
BUT. Testing is only as useful as the interpretation that comes afterwards.
A low ferritin result in isolation doesn't tell me how you feel, what you're eating, how your periods are, your mental health, your sleep, the stress your might be under, how well you are absorbing your nutrients or whether that result is part of a longer pattern, or not.
And I think this is where some wellness professions can go a little backwards.
We can now access MORE tests, MORE quickly than ever before. But more data doesn't automatically mean more understanding.
Finding an out of range marker and immediately buying the supplement that promises to fix it might change the number - but it doesn't necessarily answer the more important question of why it was low in the first place.
For me, one of the biggest strengths of naturopathic practice is having the time to zoom out, join the dots and look at the person alongside the data. Because symptoms rarely have one neat root cause.
Testing can be hugely valuable. But if you are not then analysing them purposefully, alongside symptoms, history and the wider picture you end up chasing individual markers in isolation - which is why I can't/won't give off the cuff advice online . Bodies are complex, symptoms overlap, and the personal context changes how we interpret what we see.
Call me old fashioned, but in a world that wants faster testing, faster answers, and faster fixes, I still think taking the time to properly listen is one of the most valuable clinical tools we have. 💛
Blood tests give us the data. The person gives it meaning.
Here for anyone wanting to delve deeper, book up a discovery call in my bio 💛
