Are Your Patients Nutrient Deficient? Inflamed? Here's How to Tell

There’s a category of patients every clinician recognizes immediately.They’re exhausted.Their hair is thinning.They’re getting sick more often than they used to.Their focus isn’t what it was.And their labs?“Normal.”This episode is about what gets missed in that gap.We sit down with Lara Zakaria to discuss some of the least commonly tested for (but most commonly occuring) nutrient deficiencies that can help to explain symptoms like fatigue, hair loss, impaired immune function, and reduced resilience.We walk through how a structured nutrition panel combining familiar markers like CBC and iron studies with underutilized ones like vitamin B6, folate, zinc, and RBC magnesium can reveal patterns that standard interpretations often overlook.Because the future isn’t more testing - it’s running the right labs and using smarter interpretation to uncover what’s been hiding in plain sight.Clinical Takeaways from This EpisodePattern recognition is the clinical upgrade: Interpreting CBC, iron studies, and nutrient markers together - rather than in isolation - helps connect symptoms to physiology and identify contributing drivers earlier.Iron deficiency can exist before anemia: Hemoglobin is often a late marker; early depletion may only be visible through ferritin and iron transport patterns (Dhurde, 2025).Intracellular status matters:  Serum values alone may miss functional deficiencies—markers like RBC magnesium offer insight into cellular availability and physiologic demand (Razzaque, 2018).Underutilized nutrients complete the picture: Vitamin B6 and zinc play roles in neurotransmitter pathways, immune signaling, and metabolic function—but are rarely assessed together in standard workflows.Guest IntroductionDr. Lara Zakaria is an integrative pharmacist, nutritionist, and professor specializing in Functional Medicine and Personalized Nutrition. In addition to clinical practice and teaching, her work focuses on translating complex science—spanning nutrition, natural products, diagnostics, and health technology—into clear, clinically relevant frameworks that support education, implementation, and informed decision-making. You can sign up for the Journeys webinar series with Dr. Zakaria here. FAQWhat types of symptoms should prompt nutrient testing? Fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, reduced exercise tolerance, and frequent illness are common presentations where nutrient patterns may play a role.Why isn’t hemoglobin enough to assess iron status? Hemoglobin changes occur later in the course of deficiency. Ferritin, transferrin saturation, and TIBC provide earlier insight into iron availability and storage (Dhurde, 2025).Why include markers like B6 and zinc? These nutrients are involved in neurotransmitter production, immune response, and metabolic pathways. They are often under-assessed but may contribute to overlapping symptom patterns.What’s the benefit of RBC magnesium vs serum magne