I have a confession: I have always needed more sleep than other people.
Not in a lazy way. Not in a “just drink more coffee” way. I’m talking about the kind of tired where eight hours felt like six, where I’d wake up and immediately wonder how soon I could go back to bed. I’ve been this way my entire adult life — and for a long time, I just accepted it as my normal.
Here’s the frustrating part: my labs were always fine.
TSH? Mostly Normal. Iron? Normal. Ferritin? Technically normal. B12? Normal. Every time I brought up my fatigue to a doctor, I got the same answer: “Everything looks great — have you tried sleeping more?”
(Yes. I had tried sleeping more. That was the whole problem.)
When “Normal” Isn’t the Full Picture
As a Registered Dietitian, I know how to read a lab panel. But it wasn’t until I started diving deeper into functional medicine ranges that I realized there’s a significant difference between not being sick and actually thriving.
Conventional lab ranges are built on population averages — they tell you whether you’re in the bottom 2.5% or top 2.5% of a large reference group. They don’t tell you whether your levels are optimal for you. For example:
- Ferritin might be flagged as “normal” anywhere from 12 ng/mL to 150 ng/mL depending on the lab. But most functional practitioners want to see ferritin above 70–100 ng/mL before they’re satisfied that your body has enough iron stores to support energy, thyroid function, and hair health.
- TSH may technically be “normal” up to 4.5 mIU/L in conventional ranges, while many integrative practitioners prefer it closer to 1–2 mIU/L for optimal function.
- Vitamin D at 31 ng/mL clears the “sufficient” cutoff — but research increasingly suggests levels between 50–80 ng/mL may be more protective.
I’m not saying conventional medicine is wrong. I’m saying it’s looking for disease, not for the gap between okay and optimal — and that gap is exactly where a lot of us are living.
Important note: If you’re experiencing fatigue, please work with your healthcare provider before self-diagnosing or adding supplements. Underlying conditions like thyroid disorders, anemia, autoimmune conditions, sleep apnea, and mood disorders all require proper evaluation and care. What I’m sharing here is my personal experience as a dietitian — not medical advice.
Down the Rabbit Hole: The Adrenal Connection
Once I started looking at my labs through a functional lens, I became curious about something else: adrenal function.
The adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys and produce hormones that are critical for your stress response, energy, blood pressure regulation, and even immune function. Cortisol — often called the “stress hormone” — is made here. So is DHEA, aldosterone, and small amounts of sex hormones.
What I learned is that years of chronic stress, poor sleep, and pushing through exhaustion can take a real toll on adrenal output — even when nothing shows up as blatantly “wrong” on a standard panel. It’s sometimes called HPA axis dysregulation (the HPA axis is the communication highway between your brain and adrenals), and it can look like:
- Waking up exhausted even after a full night’s sleep
- Craving salt or sugar, especially in the afternoon
- Feeling most alert late at night
- Low resilience to stress
- That “tired but wired” feeling
Sound familiar? It did to me.
What I Stumbled Upon: Glandular Supplements
This is where my journey took an unexpected turn. While researching ancestral nutrition approaches — yes, I went deep — I came across the concept of glandular supplements: concentrated, dried organ tissues that have been used for centuries and were popular in mainstream medicine as recently as the early-to-mid 20th century.
The two that caught my attention were desiccated liver and desiccated adrenal.
Desiccated Liver
Liver is, without question, the most nutrient-dense food on the planet. It’s rich in:
- Heme iron (the most bioavailable form)
- Vitamin B12 and folate
- CoQ10
- Vitamin A (as retinol, not just beta-carotene)
- Copper, zinc, and choline
The issue? Most people — myself included — don’t eat liver regularly. I’ve tried. The texture is not my thing. Desiccated liver capsules let you get all of those nutrients in a convenient, no-taste-required format.
For energy specifically, the combination of heme iron, B12, and CoQ10 is particularly meaningful. These are nutrients that sit at the center of how your cells produce energy at the mitochondrial level. Even if your ferritin is “normal,” boosting these cofactors can make a noticeable difference.
➡️ The desiccated liver capsules I personally use and recommend can be found at this link, they are by Vital Proteins, look for my “Energy Duo” on my Fullscript page: https://us.fullscript.com/plans/mwalsh-daily-energy-support-duo
Desiccated Adrenal
Desiccated adrenal is exactly what it sounds like — dried adrenal gland tissue (from bovine sources), concentrated into a supplement. The idea is that it provides the raw building blocks your own adrenal glands need to function, along with naturally occurring adrenal peptides and nutrients.
This category of supplements is sometimes called “adrenal glandulars” or “adrenal cortex” — and it’s important to note that there’s a difference between whole adrenal supplements (which may contain adrenaline/epinephrine) and adrenal cortex supplements (which contain only the outer layer, without stimulating hormones). I personally prefer adrenal cortex products for this reason — they tend to feel more gentle and supportive rather than stimulating.
After a few weeks of adding adrenal cortex support alongside my liver capsules, I genuinely noticed a shift. My mornings felt different. Not wired, not caffeinated-different — just more awake. More resilient through the afternoon slump. More like myself.
➡️ The adrenal cortex supplement I personally use and recommend: Made by Thorne, you can also find this in my “Energy Duo” on my Fullscript page: https://us.fullscript.com/plans/mwalsh-daily-energy-support-duo
My Current Routine (As a Starting Point)
Everyone is different, and I want to be clear: what works for me may not be the right fit for you. But in the spirit of transparency, here’s how I personally approach this:
- I take desiccated liver capsules with breakfast — the iron and B12 absorb best with food, and I like starting the day with that nutrient density
- I take adrenal cortex in the morning as well, since that’s when cortisol is naturally highest and the support feels most aligned with the body’s rhythm
- I’ve been strategic about optimizing my functional labs — ferritin, vitamin D, and B12 are on my regular monitoring list
- I prioritize blood sugar stability throughout the day, because energy crashes are often blood sugar crashes in disguise
The Bottom Line
If you’ve been told your labs are normal but you still feel exhausted — you’re not imagining it, and you’re not alone. There’s often a meaningful gap between “not diseased” and “feeling your best,” and that’s a space worth exploring with the right practitioners and the right tools.
For me, two supplements that I didn’t expect to love have become a regular part of my routine: desiccated liver for foundational nutrient support, and adrenal cortex for that extra layer of stress and energy resilience.
Both are available through my Fullscript dispensary, where you’ll always get professional-grade products at a discount:
- 🥩 Vital Proteins Beef Liver Capsules:
- 💊 Thorne Adrenal Cortex:
Click for my Fullscript dispensary: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/mwalsh
As always — work with your healthcare team, get your labs pulled (through a functional lens if possible!), and remember that supporting your energy is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health.
You deserve to feel good in your body. Not just “normal.” Actually good.
Maryann is a Registered Dietitian. This post is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement.
