Nutrient Deficiencies & Excess: The Hidden Root Cause Behind Your Unexplained Symptoms —

Precision Health and Functional Medicine with Mirthe

Are you struggling with fatigue, brain fog, or joint pain that your doctor dismisses as ‘normal aging’? Your labs come back ‘fine’, but you still don’t feel quite right? Or are you confused with all the supplements out there, what is actually needed and legit?

The problem might not be what you think. Nutrient deficiencies — or on the flip side, nutrient excess — could be the hidden root cause silently degrading your health.

In this mini guide, I will help you cut through the noise, and show you exactly which nutrients we need for optimal health and longevity, which nutrient imbalances might be contributing to your symptoms, why ‘normal’ lab ranges aren’t enough, and what to do about it (without blindly buying supplements that could make things worse).

Why Nutrient Imbalances Matter More Than You Think

Your body is like a complex machine with countless moving parts (you can picture them like ‘cogwheels’ in a machine). When you are missing essential nutrients, these cogwheels don’t just slow down-they become brittle and eventually break.

But here is what people often aren’t aware of: Having too much of certain nutrients can be just as damaging as having too little.

Think of your body like this cogwheel machinery. You need the right building materials-protein, fats, vitamins, minerals-in the right amounts, so the cogwheels are strong and run smoothly. Missing building blocks, and the structure becomes weak. Too much (or the wrong kind), and sludge builds that clogs up your system.

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Why Nutrient Imbalances Matter More Than You Think

Your body is like a complex machine with countless moving parts (you can picture them like ‘cogwheels’ in a machine). When you are missing essential nutrients, these cogwheels don’t just slow down — they become brittle and eventually break.

But here is what people often aren’t aware of: Having too much of certain nutrients can be just as damaging as having too little.

Think of your body like this cogwheel machinery. You need the right building materials — protein, fats, vitamins, minerals — in the right amounts, so the cogwheels are strong and run smoothly. Missing building blocks, and the structure becomes weak. Too much (or the wrong kind), and sludge builds that clogs up your system.

The Building Blocks Your Body Actually Needs

Let’s break down what your body is made of — and why it matters.

Your Body’s Composition

Did you know that your body is made up of:

• 55–60% water
• Remaining mass: Mostly protein and fat
• Minerals and vitamins: Essential for countless functions
• Carbohydrates: A much smaller component than most people think

Excluding water, protein is the most abundant compound in your body. It’s not just for muscles — protein is the building block for:

• Thyroid hormones (energy and metabolism)
• Insulin (blood sugar control)
• Oxytocin (bonding and relationships)
• Neurotransmitters like serotonin (happiness) and dopamine (focus and motivation)
• Collagen (skin, joints, connective tissue)

And much more

The Amino Acid Balance Secret

But protein doesn’t equal protein. Proteins are made up of smaller components called amino acids, and getting the right balance matters.

For example:

• Lysine supports viral suppression
• Arginine supports heart health

But if their ratio goes out of balance — which frequently happens in vegans due to most plant foods having higher arginine vs. lysine — ‘sludge’ can build up in your system, and viruses can take over. This is just one example.

Why You Shouldn’t Fear Fat

Most people are terrified of dietary fat, but we actually need it for:

• Insulating and protecting organs
• Building cell structures
• Producing hormones (such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone)
• Supporting brain health

Some of the Essential Fats You Must Consume

Your body can’t make certain ‘essential’ fats, so you must get them from food:

Omega-3 fatty acids (found in salmon and sardines):

• Help ‘quench’ inflammation through a process called ‘inflammation resolution’
• Without adequate omega-3, your body struggles to stop inflammatory processes once they’ve run their course
• This contributes to chronic, lingering inflammation, and with it all those nasty ‘inflammatory conditions’, including anxiety, eczema, PCOS, endometriosis, autoimmune disease, cancers, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s,… and the list goes on.

C15:0 (Pentadecanoic acid): This saturated fat is ‘having a moment’ in longevity research. It’s emerging as potentially essential (needing to be consumed).

Just some of its many purported health benefits include:

• Metabolic health and weight loss
• Heart and liver function
• Repairing mitochondria (your cellular “power plants”)

Research shows that when C15:0 levels drop below 0.2% of total fatty acids, cells become fragile and prone to disease. C15:0 appears to further assist in lowering LDL cholesterol, reduce inflammation, and improve insulin sensitivity.

Best sources: Full-fat grass-fed dairy products (butter, ghee, cheese). Interestingly, C15:0 can also be produced by your gut microbiome if you consume enough fiber. However, research suggests that for this to happen, the gut microbiome must be extremely healthy, and one consume a large amount of fiber (both near impossible in the modern world).

The Micronutrients That Make Everything Work

Beyond the ‘big players’ (the macronutrients protein, fat and carbohydrates), your body needs micronutrients, aka vitamins and minerals to keep everything running smoothly:

Just some examples include:

Thyroid Function:

• Iodine (found in seaweed and seafood): an essential building block for thyroid hormones
• Magnesium + Zinc: convert inactive thyroid hormone to its active form

Cardiovascular and Brain Health:

• B vitamins (B6, B9/folate, B12): Support ‘methylation’.
• Methylation breaks down homocysteine (an inflammatory molecule)
• When homocysteine builds up, it damages blood vessels and increases cardiovascular and brain disease risk

For Gene Expression (Epigenetics):

• Methylation control which genes get ‘turned on’ or ‘turned off’
• This is why your health destiny isn’t just about the genes you inherited — it’s about how your lifestyle affects gene expression

For Brain Chemistry:

• Methylation produces serotonin (the ‘happiness molecule’) and dopamine (the ‘focus molecule’)
• Low B vitamins = impaired methylation leading to impaired neurotransmitter production = mood and focus issues

Other Essential Nutrients:

• Vitamin D + Zinc: immune health
• Sulfur-containing foods: required to create glutathione (your body’s ‘master antioxidant’) and connective tissue
• Vitamin B3: produces NAD+ (crucial for cellular energy and longevity)
• Lithium: brain protection and better mood
• CoQ10 + Selenium: help quench free radicals
• Vitamin A + Lycopene: eye function
• Iron: needed to produce red blood cells for oxygen transport

Without adequate nutrients, your body’s ‘cogwheels’ don’t just clog up — they become brittle and eventually risk breaking completely.

Signs and Symptoms You Might Be Missing Key Nutrients

Do any of the below sound familiar?

Protein Deficiency

• Inability to build muscle despite working out
• Sluggish metabolism
• Low mood
• Struggling to focus
• Hair loss

Omega-3 Deficiency

• Joint aches and pains
• Dry skin
• Eczema
• Brain fog and memory issues
• Anxiety and depression
• Endometriosis, PCOS, and other inflammatory hormone issues
• Chronic inflammation
• Autoimmune disease

Magnesium Deficiency

• Muscle cramps
• Anxiety and irritability
• Poor sleep
• Constipation
• High blood pressure

Vitamin B12 Deficiency

• Fatigue (despite adequate sleep)
• Brain fog
• Mood issues
• Pins and needles sensation
• Restless legs
• High homocysteine on blood testing

Vitamin D Deficiency

• Frequent infections
• Muscle aches
• Fatigue
• Low mood (especially seasonal)
• Autoimmune disease
• Osteoporosis

Folate (Vitamin B9) Deficiency

• Paleness
• Fatigue
• Depression and anxiety
• High homocysteine on blood testing

Iron Deficiency

• Exhaustion (beyond normal tiredness)
• Hair loss
• Sluggish metabolism/low thyroid function
• Cold hands and feet
• Brittle nails

Iodine Deficiency

• Goiter (enlarged thyroid)
• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Unexplained weight gain
• Fibroids

Important: If you checked off multiple symptoms, DON’T rush to buy supplements yet. Keep reading to understand why that could be dangerous.

The Dangerous Truth About ‘More Is Better’

Here’s where most health advice goes wrong: More of a good thing is not always better — it can in fact become damaging.

The Iron Example: When ‘Essential’ Turns into ‘Rust’

As previously mentioned, iron is crucial for producing red blood cells and transporting oxygen to your cells. But having too much iron literally creates ‘rust’ in your body through oxidative stress.

This is especially common in:

• Men
• Post-menopausal women
• People taking iron supplements without testing

High iron (elevated ferritin) contributes to:

• Inflammation
• Joint pain
• Increased cardiovascular and Alzheimer’s disease risk
• Accelerated aging

The Problem with ‘Normal’ Lab Ranges

When you get blood work done, your doctor typically says your results are ‘normal’ if they fall within a very wide reference range. But here’s the catch: those ranges are often based on the average of the population — not on what’s optimal for health.

For example:

• Ferritin (iron storage): ‘Normal’ = 15–300 ng/mL, but optimal = approx. 60–100 ng/mL
• Vitamin D: “Normal” = 25–200 nmol/L, but optimal = 100–150 nmol/L

This is why you can have ‘normal’ labs and still feel terrible. Your levels might not fall into an overt disease state, but are not optimal for thriving — and contribute to creating ‘rust’ in your cogwheel machinery.

The Overeating Problem

Beyond individual nutrients, simply eating too much food, but in particular a high fat + high sugar diet, creates inflammatory substances, including ‘ceramides’ that clog up your cellular machinery.

Excess calories also get stored as fat, which:

• Produces inflammation
• Creates hormone imbalances
• Stores toxins (mould toxins= mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides, plastics and more)

This is why calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, when done right, have such powerful anti-aging effects — they help to reduce the ‘sludge’ that is accumulating in your system.

What to Do Next (And What NOT to Do)

DON’T Do This:

Don’t rush to order a bunch of supplements based on the above symptom list. Here is why:

1. You might not need what you think you need. Symptoms overlap — fatigue could be iron, B12, vitamin D, magnesium, thyroid, or something else entirely.

2. You could make things worse. Remember the iron example? Too much can be as harmful as too little.

3. Also: Always make sure to get your health screened by your GP to avoid missing a ‘real and serious problem’!

DO This Instead:

Step 1: Go to your GP and make sure there is nothing sinister causing your symptoms.

Once that’s all ‘clear’ you can go to ‘optimise’:

Step 2: Get Your Labs Checked (And Interpreted Properly)

Standard blood work can reveal a lot — IF you know how to interpret it using optimal ranges, not just ‘normal’ ranges.

Key markers to test:

• Ferritin (iron storage)
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin B12
• Folate
• Homocysteine (marker of methylation and B vitamin status)
• Magnesium (though blood levels don’t always reflect tissue stores)
• Thyroid panel (TSH, free T3, free T4, antibodies)
• Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone
• HbA1c
• HsCRP

Step 2: Consider Functional Testing

If standard labs don’t reveal the issue, digging deeper with Functional Medicine testing can uncover:

• Micronutrient deficiencies
• Fatty acid profiles (omega-3 to omega-6 ratio)
• Organic acids (revealing metabolic function)

Step 3: Address the Root Causes

Often, nutrient deficiencies aren’t just about what you’re eating — they can also be about:

• Poor absorption (gut health issues)
• Increased demand (chronic stress, inflammation, intense exercise)
• Genetic variations (affecting nutrient metabolism)
• Medication interactions (many drugs deplete nutrients)

Step 4: Personalise Your Approach

Once you know YOUR specific deficiencies and excesses, your gut health etc, you can create a targeted strategy for:

• Dietary changes
• Strategic supplementation (the right nutrients, in the right amounts, at the right time)
• Addressing underlying absorption issues etc

The Key Takeaway: There’s No ONE ‘Superfood’ Solution

Despite what expensive marketing wants you to believe, there is no single magic superfood or most important nutrient.

You need a wide range of different nutrients, all playing their unique roles in your body’s complex system.

Think of it like an orchestra: Every instrument matters. If the violins are too loud or the drums are missing, the whole symphony suffers.

The goal isn’t to mega-dose individual nutrients — it’s to achieve balanced, optimal levels of everything your body needs.

Looking for a Personalised Strategy?

Understanding nutrient imbalances is just one piece of the health optimisation puzzle. In my Functional Medicine practice, I work with clients to:

1. Test, don’t guess — Run comprehensive labs to see YOUR actual nutrient status

2. Interpret using optimal ranges — Not just ‘normal’

3. Address root causes — Fix absorption issues, gut and hormone imbalances, reduce excessive demands

4. Create personalised protocols — The right nutrients for YOUR body

5. Monitor and adjust — Health optimisation is a journey, not a destination

If you are tired of feeling dismissed by doctors who say your labs are ‘fine’ while you feel anything but fine, it might be time to look deeper.

Want to learn more about the root cause approach to health optimisation? Find out more on how to work with Mirthe one-on-one at www.mprecisionhealth.com or contact herteam at hello@mprecisionhealth.com to book a consultation for a deep dive into your specific health history, concerns and needs.

Originally published at https://mprecisionhealth.com on February 12, 2026.