Claire’s Color Returns

Claire Brooks loved color, until her world faded to gray. As a designer, she noticed shades and gradients others missed. But recently, even bright hues felt dull. Her energy vanished by noon; her hair thinned, nails cracked, and sleep brought no rest.

She lived on coffee and salad, convinced she was 'eating clean.' But clean didn’t mean nourished. Her labs, taken after yet another dizzy spell, showed ferritin 8 ng/mL, vitamin B12 274 pg/mL, vitamin D 18 ng/mL, magnesium 1.7 mg/dL. Her doctor shrugged: “Eat more red meat.” Claire was vegetarian — and desperate for answers.

It happened at a client meeting. Standing to present, her vision blurred; her hands trembled. She excused herself, humiliated. That night, scrolling through wellness forums, she found Vitals Vault. The headline read: “When nutrition fails, absorption tells the real story.” She ordered the Nutrient Repletion & Absorption Panel before bed, whispering, “Let’s see what my body’s been missing.”

Her results illuminated the silent leak in her system. Low ferritin, borderline zinc (59 µg/dL), methylmalonic acid high, confirming poor B12 utilization, and D3 deficiency. The AI summary: “Impaired nutrient absorption likely linked to low intrinsic-factor activity and magnesium depletion. Focus: replenishment and gut restoration.”

“It wasn’t about eating right,” Claire said. “It was about absorbing what was right.”

Her plan: iron bisglycinate supplementation, weekly B12 methylcobalamin shots, nightly magnesium glycinate, and daily sunlight walks. She swapped salad-for-dinner with lentil soups and fortified oats. Within days, the fog began to thin.

By Week 5, color began to return — to her cheeks, her thinking, her mood. She described it as “the light coming back.” Her re-test at three months showed progress: Ferritin 26, B12 440, Vitamin D 33, Magnesium 1.98

She tracked meals and energy curves in the Vitals Vault dashboard, noticing patterns between low energy and iron dips. Her body was learning to store again, not just spend.

At six months, she added probiotics and switched to cast-iron cookware. She started sketching again, not for clients, but for joy.

By month nine, her report read like a restoration painting: Ferritin 60 ng/mL, B12 610 pg/mL, Vitamin D 46 ng/mL, Magnesium 2.25 mg/dL, Zinc 86 µg/dL. Her fatigue vanished; her skin brightened. Her doctor asked what changed. She smiled: “I stopped feeding a ghost and started nourishing a system.”

“It’s not about eating more,” she said. “It’s about absorbing life again.”

Now, Claire teaches design students to color with intention, and live that way, too. She brings iron-rich snacks to class and schedules sunlight breaks between sessions.