Chronic illness doesn’t just effect the body, arguably worse is what it can do to your mind Think about it, many people can spend months if not years chasing mysterious symptoms, simply to be taken seriously Let alone “find answers!” Many are gaslit into believing it’s all in their head. Even when you do receive a diagnosis now you’re left with a label that defines who you are! Maybe you lose friends, or the ability to do activities you loved and brought you life This is the under-discussed side of how chronic illness destroys a life, not physically, but at your very soul 👉 In this episode of @Decentralizedd_ we sat down with biochemist @photobiogenesis to discuss how you can begin to take action on your health in a meaningful way, beyond CHASING symptoms Watch below 👇

👉 This is the exact reason @Mitopapi and I started our skool community “The Holistic Dynasty” We recognize the bio individuality in every case and the complexity that comes with not just treating a condition BUT helping a person GAIN HEALTH If you’d like to learn how to apply concepts in real time and not just “get more laundry lists to do” Consider joining for free here: skool.com/holisticdynasty/pl…

Everyone is lying about iron deficiency causing mental health issues There isn't a day that goes by where I don't read someone's labs and I see massive missed opportunities in their iron panel. But anemia isn't black and white by any means. Maybe you've been on iron for eight months and the fatigue hasn't moved. On paper your ferritin came back "normal." But nobody offered you anything past that. Low iron shows up on labs for usually two different reasons, and it can look nearly identical if you only glance at serum iron. The first is real deficiency. Not enough coming in, being digested or too much going out. This can be caused by heavy cycles, blood loss, low stomach acid blocking absorption, etc... The second is anemia of inflammation. You have iron but your body is locking it up on purpose, because free circulating iron feeds bacteria and drives oxidation. This is more of a defense response. Both can show low serum iron. The correction for each one is different. TIBC is where they split apart. Total iron binding capacity is a demand signal, how many empty seats are open on the transport protein. 👉 True deficiency: TIBC runs high, over 350 mcg/dL. Tank is empty, so the body opens every seat it has. 👉 Inflammation: TIBC runs normal or low. The iron exists. Your body is choosing not to move it. Ferritin is where most people get misled. It rises during immune activation, so someone with real inflammation shows a "normal" ferritin while their tissues run short. This difference matters because, if you're dealing with orthostatic symptoms. Functional iron shortage looks like dizziness on standing, air hunger, exercise intolerance, poor heat tolerance, brain fog. 🎙️ This is a teaser from our podcast with researcher Bryce Hanna (@photobiogenesis). Check out the full podcast in the comments below Here's the deal, get a whole panel instead of one marker at a time. Serum iron, ferritin, TIBC, transferrin saturation, read next to RDW, MCV, hemoglobin and CRP. Rule out the serious causes first. Unexplained weight loss, dark stools or heavy bleeding go to a doctor before anything else. Then keep going. A single marker tells you what. The pattern tells you why. 💬 If you're looking for more individualised help on this. Comment SKOOL to join the private community hosted with @Mitopapi , where we go through your actual bloodwork and the nuance behind it together.