A teaching picture from Dr. Josh Axe

Your labs measure the road.
What about the destination?

A blood test is a snapshot of what a particular test measures at a particular time. Symptoms and daily function add information that deserves a place in the conversation.

01 · The road

What is circulating?

Lab values, dates, and reference ranges.

02 · The destination

How do you feel?

Sleep, energy, clarity, and everyday life.

One picture. More questions.

Dr. Axe uses a city’s roads and deliveries to explain his view of the relationship between blood levels and tissue use. It is a metaphor, not proof that your cells are failing to receive nutrients or hormones.

When a number changes but life doesn’t.

Record what improved, what didn’t, and when. Several things can contribute to symptoms; a clinician can help investigate. A medication that helps less over time is a reason to contact its prescriber.

The order of the conversation.

The Health Institute’s program uses four phases: Reset, Repair, Regenerate, Renew. Ask what each phase involves and how it relates to your individual needs.

Never stop or change medication because of this guide. A normal result does not dismiss your symptoms, and this metaphor does not diagnose their cause.