01 · The ranges
“Normal” vs optimal
The identical result can sit inside a wide GP range and well outside the optimal one. That gap is where most of the answer — and most of the fatigue — lives.
+ Functional Testing
Blood · Single draw
A functional blood test that reads “optimal,” not just “not yet sick”
“Your bloods are normal” and “your bloods are optimal” are not the same sentence. A GP panel is built to catch disease; its reference ranges are wide enough that you can feel awful and still land inside them. A functional blood test reads the same markers against tighter, optimal ranges — the zone where you actually feel well.
At How It Heals we run a comprehensive 57-marker panel from a single fasted draw — every major system, plus the markers a standard panel skips — interpreted for how you feel, not just whether you're diagnosable.
+ What the test sees
Read for optimal, not just normal
A GP panel is built to catch disease, so its ranges are wide enough to feel awful inside. The same markers, read against tighter optimal ranges — and joined up — tell a completely different story.
02 · The coverage
Every major system
Thyroid, iron, blood sugar, inflammation, liver, kidney, lipids, bone — one fasted draw reads the whole body, not a single slice of it.
03 · The depth
57 markers, one draw
Far more than a standard panel — including fasting insulin, full thyroid with antibodies and detailed iron studies most GP requests leave off.
04 · The big picture
How your body is really tracking
A biological-age read turns the numbers into one honest line — whether your body is ahead of or behind the calendar, and which way it's heading.
+ What it measures
57 markers, every major system
One fasted draw covers the whole body — and adds the functional markers (fasting insulin, full thyroid, iron detail, inflammation) that standard panels routinely leave off.
Metabolic & blood sugar
HbA1c and fasting insulin together — catching insulin resistance years before glucose ever moves.
Full thyroid panel
Not just TSH — free T3, free T4, reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies, the picture behind “normal thyroid, thyroid symptoms.”
Iron studies
Ferritin, transferrin and saturation in full — the detail behind fatigue, hair loss and heavy periods.
Inflammation
hs-CRP and related markers — the quiet, background inflammation that drives so much and shows on no GP panel.
Lipids & cardiovascular
A fuller lipid picture than a basic cholesterol test — relevant as hormones shift in perimenopause.
Nutrients & biological age
Vitamin D, B12, folate and homocysteine — plus a biological-age read on how your body is tracking versus the calendar.
+ When it's worth running
When “normal” isn't good enough
If you've been told everything's fine while your body says otherwise, functional ranges are usually the missing lens.
- “Your bloods are normal” but you feel awful
- Fatigue with no clear cause on standard tests
- Thyroid symptoms with a “normal” TSH
- Weight that won't shift despite the effort
- Wanting a true baseline before you start
- Perimenopause and the shifts that come with it
- A family history you want to get ahead of
- You want optimal, not just “not yet a diagnosis”
+ How the test works
One fasted draw, at a local collection centre
This one uses a standard blood draw — we send the request, you attend a collection centre near you.
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Request to your inbox
After your consult we build the panel and send a pathology request form — valid at collection centres across Australia.
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One fasted draw
You attend a local collection centre for a single fasted blood draw. No repeat visits.
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Interpret against optimal
Results come to us. We read every marker against optimal ranges and your symptoms, and map the priorities.
Blood Sample
Local centre Collection
~1–2 wks Turnaround
57 Markers
+ How we read it
The number is the easy part. The range is the argument.
The same ferritin of 30 is “normal” at your GP and “why you're exhausted” in a functional read. The marker didn't change — the standard did.
Standard reference ranges are built from the whole population, including a lot of unwell people, and are set to flag disease — not to define wellness. Functional ranges are tighter, and aimed at the level where the body actually runs well. Reading your bloods against optimal instead of merely normal is where most of the insight lives.
At How It Heals every marker is interpreted against those functional ranges and, crucially, against how you feel and what your other tests show — a “normal” TSH means something different sitting next to low tissue minerals and a flat cortisol curve.
You get a clear read of where your body is quietly losing ground, which markers matter most for you, and the food-and-nutrient priorities to move them — before “normal” ever becomes a diagnosis.
+ Common questions
Functional blood testing, answered
The questions we get asked most, answered straight.
What's the difference between a functional blood test and my GP's?
Often the same markers — read differently, and with more of them. A functional panel uses tighter “optimal” ranges aimed at wellness rather than disease thresholds, and routinely adds markers GPs skip: fasting insulin, full thyroid with antibodies, detailed iron studies and inflammation. It's the difference between not-yet-sick and genuinely-well.
Does it replace my GP's blood tests?
No — it complements them. Your GP's testing and diagnosis remain essential, and we always encourage you to keep that relationship. Functional analysis adds a wellness-focused lens on top; it doesn't diagnose or treat disease.
Do I need a referral, and does Medicare cover it?
We can arrange the pathology request for you. Some markers may be rebatable when ordered appropriately and others are private — we'll be clear about what's covered and what it costs before you commit. No GP referral is required for us to work with you.
Why do my normal bloods not match how I feel?
Because “normal” only means “not in the disease range yet.” You can sit at the low or high edge of a wide range, feel terrible, and still be technically normal — which is exactly the gap functional ranges are designed to close. It's why normal results and real symptoms coexist so often.
+ Keep reading
From the library
The thinking behind this test, in plain language.
+ A test on its own changes nothing
Optimal ranges only matter if they change the plan.
A functional read is the start line, not the finish. Your results feed a personalised plan — food and foundations first, then targeted support — and a retest to prove the markers moved. That's how “optimal” stops being a chart and becomes how you feel.