A doctor can tell you you're normal while you're losing hair, exhausted by 2pm and can't think straight.

This isn't a rare experience. It's happening to women everywhere and there's a specific, correctable reason for it.

Ferritin below 30 µg/L is now linked to fatigue, brain fog and hair loss, yet most blood tests only flag below 15. That gap between 15 and 30 is where millions of women are falling through, dismissed with a normal result while their bodies are telling them something very different.

Let's talk about what these numbers actually mean.

Ferritin < 15 is the old "deficient" cutoff. It's the threshold most GPs still use. Set in the 1960s. Based largely on male populations. It doesn't account for symptoms in non-anaemic women and it never did.

Ferritin < 30 is the new evidence threshold. This is where symptoms begin for most women. Fatigue, hair loss and brain fog are measurable at this level in recent clinical trials, even when every other marker looks completely fine.

The problem isn't your body. It's the benchmark.

What the research actually says.

"Serum ferritin below 30 µg/L was associated with significant fatigue and impaired cognitive performance in non-anaemic premenopausal women - even when haemoglobin was normal."

- Blanco-Rojo R. et al., British Journal of Nutrition, 2021

Of symptomatic women in this study, 75% had ferritin levels their GP would have passed as normal. Not borderline. Not worth monitoring. Normal.

This is not a fringe finding. The evidence is mounting, and the thresholds are slowly shifting, but clinical guidelines and blood test reference ranges have been slow to follow. In the meantime, women are being told they're fine.

So what do you do?

01. Request a ferritin test specifically not just a full blood count. Ferritin won't always show up unless you ask for it by name.

02. Ask for the number, not just pass/fail. Optimal ferritin for most women sits between 50–100 µg/L. If your result is anywhere below 30, it's worth taking seriously regardless of what the blood test's reference range says.

03. If you're between 12–30, you may be symptomatic. Don't let anyone tell you you're fine. You know your body. The research is on your side.

If you're looking to support your iron levels, our Iron Bisglycinate uses ferrous bisglycinate - a gentler, highly bioavailable form that's better absorbed and far easier on the stomach than the form found in most standard supplements.

Because getting your levels up shouldn't come with a side of nausea!