“Normal” and basic blood work does not tell us the whole story.

In this episode, Louise Valentine, a multi-award-winning women's integrative health practitioner and exercise physiologist, shares why understanding which biomarkers to track and what they mean can be especially important for runners, active women, and their families. Using her daughter’s first blood draw as an example, Louise explains how she teaches her children to see health data as empowering, useful information rather than something to fear.

She discusses the difference between standard and optimal lab ranges, cutting-edge female-specific lab ranges, why tracking trends over time matters, and several markers she watches closely, including advanced cholesterol markers, liver enzymes, and ferritin. Louise also shares how under-fueling can affect recovery, energy, performance, hormones, injury-risk, and long-term bone health in endurance athletes.

Along the way, she offers practical tips for making blood draws less stressful and shares lessons from her own family’s health, fitness, and running journeys. The bigger message is simple: learning what your body needs today can help you make better decisions before small warning signs become bigger problems.

RESOURCES + LINKS

Learn & level up with my free nutrition guide & award-winning 1:1 Academy to thrive through perimenopause with less stress: https://www.breakingthroughwellness.com

Learn, laugh & level up with a Breaking Through Wellness masterclass, including “How to Confidently Support Optimal Ferritin” here.

Track your biomarkers with Function Health & save $25 using code “LVALENTINE11” here. $25 goes back to support BTW with each new sign up! Thank you!

Check out my FullScript here where you can see curated supplement picks, by topic, to address your concerns & save 25% off! A small portion of EACH sale goes back to support BTW. Thank you!

Take advantage of our podcast listener discount & save 20% off Kion’s science-backed clean products. Code "LOUISE" saves on all future orders: https://www.getkion.com/pages/maximizing

Episode Highlights:
(0:00) Intro
(2:50) Why blood work matters for active women
(4:40) Standard vs. optimal lab ranges
(5:46) Teaching kids about blood work
(7:22) Making blood draws less stressful
(13:54) Health testing for young endurance athletes
(14:41) Advanced cholesterol biomarkers to consider
(17:02) Under-fueling risks for active girls
(20:15) Teaching children healthy habits early
(22:13) Using biomarkers to guide health decisions
(29:02) Tracking blood work trends over time
(31:05) Ferritin and iron needs for runners
(34:00) Long-term consequences of chronic under-fueling
(35:36) Key biomarkers and baseline health scans

Tune in weekly to "Maximizing Hormones, Physique, and Running Through Perimenopause" for our simple female-specific science-based revolution. Let's unlock our best with less stress!

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