Read the full episode + resources here:

https://becomingnatural.com/nutrient-deficiencies-symptoms/

Nutrient deficiencies are often the hidden reason symptoms linger—fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, digestive issues, and hormonal imbalance.

In this episode of Becoming Natural, Penny walks you through a powerful mindset shift: stop guessing and start understanding what your body actually needs. Instead of chasing symptoms with random supplements or medications, this conversation explores how vitamin and mineral deficiencies quietly drive many of the issues we accept as “normal.”

You’ll learn why nutrients matter so deeply, how deficiencies create cascading symptoms, why testing is an act of wisdom (not overkill), and how targeted nourishment can restore clarity, energy, and resilience. From iodine and thyroid function to magnesium, vitamin D, and iron, this episode connects science, faith, and real-life experience to help you listen to your body with confidence.

If you’re tired of guessing, this episode is your invitation to get answers.

Hosted by Penelope Sampler

Natural Wellness • Chronic Illness Journey • Faith & Wellness

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📌 Note: I share what I’ve learned on my own journey — the things that have supported me in hard seasons. I offer personal experience, thoughtful research, and lots of encouragement. This podcast isn’t medical advice, and it shouldn’t replace care from a qualified professional. Always talk to someone you trust before making changes to your health routine.

© Becoming Natural Podcast.

Mentioned in this episode:

EquiLife – At-Home Testing & Supplements

EquiLife: Simple at-home functional lab testing with clear results and action steps, plus clean, tested supplements. 🔗 https://becomingnatural.com/equilife

60 | Nutrient Deficiencies: The Frustrating Reason Symptoms Persist

Hey friend, welcome back to the Becoming Natural podcast. I’m Penny, your host and friend, always ready to dig deep down a rabbit hole to uncover or piece together truths that keep our bodies healthy. Today we’re diving into something that might be a completely new way of thinking to some, newish to others and old news to still others. I am still growing and learning to to treat my body best and it occurred to me that what has become second nature to me (over the many years it has taken to open my eyes) may not be as obvious to others yet. It took me a long time to have this ah-hah moment…not even a moment as I am still opening my eyes. This could be the most important shift you make in your wellness journey this year:

Stop treating symptoms at random.
Start understanding what your body actually needs.

What do I mean “at random”? A few things.

Some of us have spent years playing nutritional whack-a-mole.

Tired? Take magnesium.
In pain? Saffron worked for your friend.
Brain fog? Maybe I need Lions Mane.
No energy at 2 PM? What energy drink is safest?

Can’t sleep? Melatonin, lavender spray, four podcasts, and a prayer.

I say this with no shame. I’ve tried every single one of these things. Sometimes in the same week. Half the time we’re just doing the best we can with whatever’s in the cabinet and whatever’s left in our brain.

But at some point you realize…
Guessing isn’t healing.
Guessing is exhausting. And why did Magnesium work instantly for my best friend, but didn’t help me at all? THIS is a very important question.

I am a big believer that God designed our bodies with incredible wisdom. When something is off, your body whispers. Then it nudges. Then it shouts. Wisdom was BUILT IN to our DNA.

Symptoms are not random.
They are signals from our amazing body that we need something. That we are MISSING something, I should say.

I am sure most of us know that when we get a headache, its often a sign of dehydration or sinus congestion, so we drink lots of water. If we get a Charlie horse, its a sign of low potassium so we eat a banana. Do you realize that both of those choices are replaces very important vitamins and minerals in our body?

The ah-ha is “how do we initiate some positive transformation in our body?” Do we do what I thought best? Make an appt for the doctor, tell them my stomach burns, get told I have either an ulcer or heart burn and get a recommendation for an over the counter remedy or a script for a medication to stop the burning? Thats what I did for years. And if its continuous or worse, a good doctor will draw labs and look at our complete blood count or a CBC to see if anything is off in our blood. But if there isn’t? Then a year and 2 years pass you are still complaining of burning in your tummy and you are still on the medicine. It’s NOT working. Another month or year isn’t going to change anything. If you’ve been with me any amount of time, you know I am not judging because I am walking together in your shoes. I did it all. I just kept taking the meds hoping for a miracle.

What if, instead of taking something made by man, we start from scratch and either together with the basic CBC bloodwork or even independently look at what vitamins or minerals are deficient, if any, in our bodies? Why is that? We have discussed different minerals and even vitamins when we discussed TRACE minerals, the healing power of the sun, inflammation and how ultimately every function of our body relies on vitamins and minerals to process effectively and efficiently.

Think of vitamins and minerals as the tiny tools your body uses to do everything. They run your energy, balance your mood, support your hormones, repair your tissues, calm inflammation, help you think clearly, digest food, sleep well, and fight off stress.

Without enough of these nutrients, your body has to work harder just to do normal tasks—like trying to cook dinner with half the ingredients missing. Things still kind of work, but not smoothly. Symptoms start showing up because your cells are basically saying, “I don’t have what I need to do my job.” Just a couple weeks ago Jenny Bitar talked to us about Thermography and how the images she gets tell us where our body is working harder than it needs to be working by showing up red and orange….

In simple terms:
Vitamins and minerals are the raw materials God designed your body to use so it can function the way it was created to—effectively, efficiently, and with resilience.

So it makes sense that if we are deficient in any vitamin or mineral, our body is compensating somehow for that deficiency.

Ex: My best example is my own thyroid. When your body doesn’t get enough iodine, it protects the thyroid first because the thyroid controls metabolism, energy, temperature, and hormone balance. It’s a life-or-death organ, so the body diverts whatever iodine it can find to keep it running.

But here’s the catch:
Other organs also need iodine — especially the breasts, brain, stomach, and lungs. So when iodine is in short supply, those organs get depleted so the thyroid can stay afloat.

That’s when symptoms show up:

Brain fog because the brain is low

Stomach issues because iodine supports healthy stomach acid

Breast tenderness or cysts because breast tissue relies on iodine

Respiratory vulnerability because the lungs also store iodine

Just one example of what happens when your iodine is low and your thyroid steals it from your brain:

1. Low iodine slows brain signaling

Since thyroid hormone regulates brain speed and communication, the result is slower thinking, brain fog, and reduced mental clarity. The brain isn’t broken—it’s underpowered.

2. Iodine deficiency impairs brain development

Iodine is essential for building neurons and insulating brain pathways during development. When iodine is lacking the brain doesn’t wire itself efficiently, which can affect learning, memory, and cognitive capacity long term.

3. The adult brain becomes less resilient

In adults, iodine deficiency can disrupt neurotransmitter balance. This can show up as poor focus, anxiety, low mood, or emotional flattening. The brain struggles to adapt to stress when thyroid hormone signals are insufficient.

5. Brain energy production declines

Without adequate iodine, brain cells use glucose and oxygen less efficiently. Mental stamina drops, concentration fades faster, and thinking feels exhausting—even without heavy mental effort.

When iodine is deficient, the brain doesn’t shut down—it shifts into conservation mode, trading clarity and resilience for basic survival.

And that is just ONE organ that suffers just when iodine, a mineral we need in very very small amounts, is low. 
If iodine is low, the thyroid gets first dibs, and the rest of the body pays the price.

So if my stomach burning was actually caused by an iodine deficiency and I took iodine supplements to get back on track not only would my stomach potentially self-correct, my thyroid wouldn’t eventually tucker out by overworking from operating with low amounts of iodine. And long term? That medicine that has side effects that I was prescribed for potential ulcer or heart burn wouldn’t have produced any side effects if I never took it, my stomach wouldn’t have proceeded to become inflamed and years of inflammation and ulcers that became calloused and formed scar tissue causing strictures where my food couldn’t get thru. Do you see how one simple test for your vitamin and mineral levels could actually prevent a lifetime of illness? And that actually is part of my story. OH how I wish I knew these things 30 years ago. But I know without a doubt, my story can help so many people.

If iodine deficiency, a mineral Adults need ~150 micrograms (mcg) per day thats a pinch of iodized salt, can cause so much havoc in our body, what about other vitamins and minerals?

So today, we’re going to talk about why nutrient deficiencies often sit underneath the things we chalk up to age, stress, mom-life, hormones, or “just how it is” (I reject “just how it is” anymore—and how getting tested instead of guessing can change everything. That “guess” when my bloodwork was fine, but my stomach was burning was actually a guess I never thought about. It’s what everybody does. They pop an antacid. I was fine with it because I thought thats what we did. But now I see it was a guess based on one symptom….my stomach burned. I wonder what my life would look like now if I knew then that my iodine was depleted.

So take a breath. And let’s get curious.

WHY WE CAN’T KEEP GUESSING

We live in a culture that teaches us to treat the symptom, not the story.

You’re tired? Boost your energy. Here’s a thyroid med.

You’re sad? Lift your mood. Take an anti-depressant.
You’re anxious? Calm your nerves. Take an anti-anxiety pill.

But the body is not a machine with a broken part. It’s a whole ecosystem designed by a God who is not careless with details. Not a single detail. Every cell communicates, every system influences the others. If we are deficient in one cell, we are deficient in all cells because they are all continuously replicated over and over.


We spend so much time trying random supplements, hoping one of them is the missing piece. It feels a little like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. And why would we assume what works for our friend should work for us when all of our bodies are so different? Kind of silly if we think about it. Friend… this is not the abundant life we were promised.

This is the verse most often used when we talk about the life Jesus intends for us—not a life free of hardship, but a life filled with purpose, fullness, and true wholeness in Him.

3 John 1:2
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

What we want is clarity. And what brings clarity?
Information.

Not assumptions.
Not Instagram reels.
Not what your neighbor swears fixed her bloating in three days. What worked for her may not be exactly what your body needs for you.

Your body deserves better than aimless hope.
It deserves targeted nourishment.

THE SCIENCE SIMPLIFIED — WHY NUTRIENTS MATTER SO DEEPLY

Very simply.

Your body runs on nutrients like your phone runs on battery. Vitamins and minerals are involved in nearly every single process that keeps you alive:

Energy production

Hormone creation

Mood regulation

Detoxification

Digestion

Immune function

Sleep cycles

Nervous system balance

When even one nutrient falls low, other systems start compensating. And for a while, they do a pretty good job—because your body is resilient. But eventually those little gaps add up.

Lets talk not about humans, but plants. When my hydrangea leaves started getting droopy and brown, I took a leaf to the master gardener at my favorite nursery. They wanted me to look at the soil, not the leaf. What was the nitrogen level? What was the acid level? They didn’t look at the symptoms, they wanted to know the root of the issue. No put intended. Why in the world would we not treat our amazingly created bodies created by the same God who created amazingly created hydrangeas the same?

And here’s the part that surprised me the most when I first learned it:

Many nutrient deficiencies look exactly like “mystery symptoms.”

Fatigue
Anxiety
Mood changes
Muscle pain
Sleep issues
PMS
Heart palpitations
Irritability
Brain fog
Low motivation

These aren’t personality traits.
These are biochemical messages. Yet, we have been trained to run to the pharmacy and take a pill for the headache….instead of drinking more water maybe? Or grab a decongestant or allergy pill for our runny nose. How about a cough drop for a sore throat? Believe it or not these are all symptoms of a larger issue. Headache is a signal of many things, but can be dehydration. Our body’s response to get rid of foreign invaders is to develop drainage to push it out…not keep it in. A sore throat? Often a signal again of drainage down our throat. Drink loads of water to thin the mucous and if you want take something natural that will prevent infection if it develops, use silver as a nosespray or sinus rinse to prevent that infection. Believe it or not, the headache, decongestant and sore throat meds actually DO have side effects or contraindications that we disregard because everyone does it. What if….one time that uncomfortable side effect rears its ugly head or what IF those meds intended to treat you actually exacerbate your issue?

COMMON DEFICIENCIES THAT TRICK US

This is where we shine a light on the things most women are low in—especially moms juggling stress, schedules, and not-enough-sleep.

1. Magnesium

The “calm down” mineral.
Low magnesium can mimic anxiety, insomnia, cramps, and irritability.

2. Vitamin D

A hormone disguised as a vitamin.
Low levels can cause low mood, immune issues, and fatigue—especially in winter.

Vitamin D warrants an entire podcast for its benefits, but for now, I will direct you back to the health of sunlight as it helps to transform the cholesterol in our skin to vitamin D to perform a million duties in our body.

Current research shows vitamin D deficiency is extremely common—far more than most people realize.

Here’s the simplest, clearest way to say it:

Around 40% of U.S. adults are deficient in vitamin D, and nearly 70–80% have levels that are insufficient (not low enough to diagnose deficiency, but not high enough for optimal health).

Globally, the numbers are even higher:

An estimated 1 billion people worldwide are deficient, and about 50% of the global population has inadequate levels.

Why so many?

We spend most of our time indoors

Sunscreen blocks vitamin D synthesis

Darker skin tones naturally produce less vitamin D from sunlight

Gut issues or liver/kidney problems reduce activation

Obesity and inflammation change how vitamin D is stored and used

Winter + northern climates = low sunlight exposure

In short:
Vitamin D deficiency is so widespread that many experts consider it a modern epidemic—and a root contributor to low mood, fatigue, immune weakness, inflammation, and hormone imbalance

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532266/?utm_

3. B Vitamins (especially B12 & B6)

Responsible for energy, mood, and neurotransmitter production.
Low levels feel exactly like burnout.

4. Iron / Ferritin

Especially important for women.
Low iron = fatigue, palpitations, brain fog, shortness of breath, hair shedding.

5. Omega-3s

Your brain’s building blocks.
Low levels = inflammation, mood swings, trouble focusing.

6. Zinc + Copper imbalance

A ratio problem, not just a single deficiency.
Can look like anxiety, weakened immunity, poor stress tolerance.

We’re not meant to guess which of these we’re missing. We CAN’T guess. When the orchestra is not performing together, any number of deficiencies could be the root cause of the issue. 
This is why labs exist. Labs that also test our vitamins and minerals….the most important building blocks of our bodies. It just seems obvious when you think about it.

WHY TESTING ISN’T “OVERKILL”—IT’S WISDOM

Somewhere along the way, functional labs got labeled as “extra.”

But is it really extra to know why your body feels off?
To see what’s missing?
To understand what your cells are actually asking for?

Testing doesn’t make you dramatic.
It makes you informed.

Here’s the truth:

You can’t supplement your way out of a deficiency you haven’t identified. And who wants to spend the money on all the supplements you don’t know are working? And if you are anything like me, I have taken so many pills in my life, follow thru will not be great if I am not convinced it’s working.

This is why some people feel like they’ve “tried everything.”
They haven’t—they’ve just tried everything except the right thing.

God created order.
And when He designed your body, He built it with patterns, signals, and measurable markers.

Proverbs tells us, “Wisdom is the principal thing.”

Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV)

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding

Testing is one way we practice wisdom.

WHAT TESTING CAN SHOW YOU (AND WHY IT’S SO POWERFUL)

Let’s talk about what you can actually learn:

Which nutrients your body is low in

Which ones you’re using too quickly

Whether stress is burning through minerals

If inflammation is impacting absorption

Whether gut issues are keeping you from absorbing what you eat

If your hormones have enough nutritional “building blocks”

How your detox pathways are coping. Meaning are you actually holding on to minerals too long?

Testing is like turning on the lights in the same room you’ve been walking in with a blindfold.

Suddenly the coffee table you kept tripping over makes sense. And what is true for you may not be true for me. Maybe my fatigue is caused by low iodine and yours is magnesium. I swear by my daily iodine supplements that helped me realize after 15 years of taking thyroid meds, my thyroid worked. It was just not getting the iodine it needed. But if you take iodine and you need magnesium, my Life changing revelation will be a hopeless discouragement for you.

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE — GOD DESIGNED YOUR BODY TO BE KNOWN

One of my favorite things about the human body is that it’s not trying to hide from you.

Psalm 139 says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The Hebrew root there means intentionally, intricately, purposefully crafted.

Your body isn’t failing.
It’s communicating. Ill say that again. Our bodies we are told are failing because we are aging or its just what happens to us or my favorite “these are just the cards you have been dealt”….. our bodies are operating on half the ingredients in the recipe trying to make a pastry sweet without sugar. What if we listened to the nudges before they became sirens and simply tried to test our vitamins/minerals? IT certainly can’t hurt. We are treating with only half the picture. I can’t tell you how many friends of mine had thyroid issues that were initially told their blood work was good. But I was also told my thyroid no longer worked and I would be on thyroid meds for life. I have been off thyroid meds for a year and maintained good levels by adding a daily iodine supplement. My thyroid works just fine.

I tested my vitamins and minerals from home. And I found out my D3 was ridiculously low……..among many other things. I started replacing those missing minerals and its amazing how much better I am.

When we pause long enough to listen—through testing, through symptoms, through prayer—we honor that design. By running to the doctor every time we have a sniffle, we are not only not allowing these incredible bodies we get to live in heal on their own…as they are designed to do, we are not trusting that God wants us to live abundantly and with good health….not limping thru life with poor health. And trust me, I limped for 25 years with severe crohns. I am not bitter or angry, but eternally grateful to not be living in brutal chronically debilitating pain on a daily basis or being admitted to the hospital more times than I can count. Having as many blood transfusions, iron infusions, medications, invasive procedures and Lord have mercy, the number of surgeries I have battled thru and recovered from. Only those close to me know how awful they were. But I like to remind myself how bad it was to remind myself how good and faithful my God is who healed me despite all odds and the amazing friends and family we had that carried us thru the most difficult times in our lives. This body healed from being cut open more than 13 times. I didn’t have to tell the cells to heal my wounds. The wisdom was already in my cells. We were designed by our designer to heal.

God never asked us to white-knuckle wellness.

He gave us wisdom, science, and the ability to understand the systems He created.


WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FINALLY GET ANSWERS

Here’s where everything shifts.

When women start nourishing the exact deficiencies they have—not guesses—here’s what often changes:

Calmer mood

Better sleep

More energy

Clearer thinking

Less overwhelm

Less inflammation

More emotional resilience

Hormones that feel more predictable

A nervous system that doesn’t jump at every little stressor

It feels like your body is saying, “Thank you. This is what I needed all along.” Imagine desperately needing a glass of water and not being able to get one. We know when we are thirsty. But we don’t know when our potassium is low. But our body yearns for the potassium in the same way we thirst for water.

Listen to your body. Don’t assume “this is aging”, “this is normal”, this is how it is”

WHAT KIND OF TESTING SHOULD YOU CONSIDER?

Speak this simply and conversationally:

You can work with your provider to run:

Basic bloodwork (CBC, CMP, D, iron, B12)

A full thyroid panel (TSH + free T3/T4, antibodies)

Ferritin

Omega-3 index

Magnesium RBC

Homocysteine (for B vitamin status)

Functional nutrient testing if needed

I can also direct you to the at home testing I used that was incredibly thorough and eye opening for sure.

You don't have to do every test at once.
Start with what seems most likely based on your symptoms.

The goal is not to chase perfection or spend a ton of money.
The goal is to stop guessing.

MOVING FORWARD, listen to your body.

Your symptoms are not inconveniences. They’re breadcrumbs.

Every craving, every crash, every wave of irritability, every sleepless night ruminating on what your menu is going to be for a dinner party in a month—that’s your body asking for something.

Not shame.
Not judgment.
Just nourishment.

And you, my friend… you’re in the perfect season to start listening.

CLOSING

As we wrap up today, I just want to say this:

If your body feels confusing right now, it doesn’t mean you’re broken. You are not broken. You just need attention. Just like my warning light on my car told me my brake system needs attention. We need to kick our own tires once in awhile. Do the walk around surveillance of the vehicle. Check the oil, rotate the tires, make sure the belts are good. IF there are any lights, low tires, concerns in the walk around, low oil, wearing on the tires or aging belts, start from the basic foundation that God gave us. Dirt. Ashes. Dust. Vitamins and minerals.

Genesis 3:19

“For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”


It means something underneath the surface needs attention.

When you know better, you do better.
When you understand what your body is missing, you give it the chance to function the way God designed it to.

Ask questions.
Run the labs.
Get curious.
And let peace—not panic—guide your next step.

Most importantly, shift your thinking to replenishing the very raw materials we were created with for optimal functioning. Start with deficiencies. If the lowest level of testing reveals you have no deficiencies, then go next level for more medical advice. It just makes total sense to me to check for the “ingredients” in our bodies that were originally created to make our bodies work and grow perfectly…by God. Not man. And also of great importance, most of us don’t need to supplement for life. We should be getting our nutrients from our daily intake. Getting tested will open our eyes to what aren’t getting enough of regularly. Omega 3 for example. It will help us refocus our weekly intake to maybe more salmon. We supplement to get us back to baseline so we can improve what needs attention and when functioning effectively, re-test and hopefully get off the supplements.

You deserve clarity.
Your body deserves clarity.
And clarity brings freedom. Incredible freedom.

With that freedom you will be able to focus not on your aches and pains, but on the abundant life we have been promised.

Thanks for being here today. I hope this encouraged you today. If you know a friend or family member who needs to hear it, please share it. I’m cheering for you, always.