And every symptom doesn't tell the whole story. Matter of fact, so many states of ill health have overlapping symptoms. Menopause symptoms like poor sleep, weight gain, irritability, or lack of focus can also be caused by a thyroid imbalance.

My guest, Kyria Perero, is a total health/holistic health practitioner. She is trained in functional health coaching which means she looks at the whole person and the whole body when diagnosing and suggesting changes for her clients.

Like so many of the practitioners I speak with, Kyria got trained to do this work after suffering from major burnout. She was teaching high school in a low income school, wearing all the hats that teachers do.

"I just was very much very committed so my own needs and wellbeing went on the bottom of the to-do list. I don't even actually think they made the to-do list at all, but I just was like, At work, you know, 12 hours a day and taking it very seriously and getting very stressed."

I'll bet some of you can relate, teacher or not.

She did the brave thing and reached out--or as she calls it--reached up for help to figure out what was wrong and help her get well again.

After trying western medical professionals and Dr. Google her search led her to a holistic nutritionist who did a functional blood chemistry analysis. She made suggestions, Kyria did what they suggested and she began to feel better. So much so that she got her Masters in holistic nutrition.

The one word Kyria says differentiates the usual blood panel from the ones she uses is "comprehensive." Her clients get 50 pages of data and information.

We discussed what functional blood chem is and what she adds to her work with clients. The importance of looking at the person's life, their symptoms and blood analysis. Many of us carry issues from childhood or more recently that can affect our wellbeing today.

You know how blood test results give you a score, a number that shows where you are within a range? Those numbers are for average health. Average health will not get us to the finish line in good form. We want to aim for optimal health and so better than average numbers.

Chewing your food A LOT came up. Kyria says we should chew til the food is almost liquid before swallowing.

Kyria and I share a concept for clients. One small step at a time. All or nothing rarely sticks. And small changes can have big impacts.

We discussed using supplements and who might need them.

She's got a couple of great success stories and most of her clients are over 50, in their 60s and 70s in fact.

You can learn more at KyriaHealth.com

Want to dive deeper into the kinds of issues the result in poor health and annoying symptoms, check out her training.