Your GP ran the tests. Everything came back normal. You still feel terrible.
The gap between normal and optimal is where most chronic health problems live — and where this kit begins.
"I have yet to encounter a case of persistent, significant symptoms where comprehensive functional testing found absolutely nothing."
Stephen Duncan FDN-P MSc · 37 years of clinical practice · Edinburgh
Standard testing uses population reference ranges. Functional medicine uses optimal ranges — and the gap between them is where most chronic symptoms go unexplained for years, sometimes decades.
A ferritin of 18 falls within NHS reference range. The functional optimal for sustained energy, thyroid hormone conversion, and dopamine transport is 50–100 ng/mL. That gap explains the exhaustion nobody can account for.
Fasting glucose without fasting insulin tells you almost nothing. Insulin rises a decade before blood sugar — and the dysglycaemic cycle driving your 3am waking, afternoon crashes, and carbohydrate cravings won't appear on a standard panel.
The UK has a cultural habit of minimising stress. But chronic psychological stress triggers the pregnenolone steal, collapses sex hormone production, suppresses digestive function, and creates gut symptoms that no amount of probiotics will fix if the root cause goes unaddressed.
Supplementation is Layer 7 of the intervention hierarchy, not Layer 1. Starting with supplements without understanding what's actually driving your symptoms is expensive guesswork. The Starter Kit teaches you why — and what to do instead.
Not a PDF and a password. A complete self-directed investigation framework with a personal clinical response built in.
131 pages. 20 chapters. The complete functional medicine investigation framework in plain language — from why conventional advice fails to a full walkthrough of the seven body systems, five functional tests, and how to build a protocol built entirely around your biology.
Functional lab reference ranges, movement, stress, nutrition and lifestyle assessment with personal action plan. A working reference document you will return to repeatedly — not a summary sheet, not a freebie PDF.
Practitioner-designed reference46 clinical self-assessment tools covering blood sugar patterns, breathing function, weight loss resistance, gut health, neurodivergent presentation, food logging, daily tracking, movement assessment, lifestyle audit, allostatic load, and more. The same platform used by TDG programme clients.
Complete the tools at your own pace. Understand your patterns. Know exactly what to ask for — and why.
46 tools · 3 months accessAfter purchase, email hello@detective-health.com with the subject line "Starter Kit Access" to receive your platform link. Complete the four core intake forms and return them. Within 5 working days you receive a written personal response covering your primary health patterns, what to prioritise first, and whether functional testing is indicated for your case.
This is not an automated report. It is a personal written response from a practitioner with 37 years of clinical experience.
Personal written response · Within 5 working daysBased on your Movement History intake form, you receive a personalised movement programme alongside your written response. Not a generic workout plan. A clinical starting framework built around your history, injury background, and current capacity — the physical foundation for everything else you're working on.
Request the optional Movement History form when you email for access if you have any joint, injury, or movement history you want factored in.
Personalised · Not a templateThe gap between "normal" and "optimal" on your blood tests — and why your ferritin of 25 is why you're exhausted
Why insulin rises a decade before blood sugar — and why your GP's "fine" glucose reading means nothing without fasting insulin
The pregnenolone steal — why chronic stress makes hormonal chaos inevitable and why you can't supplement your way out
Why waking at 2–4am is a blood sugar problem, not an anxiety problem
Why food sensitivities cause fatigue on Wednesday from pasta eaten on Monday
The Intervention Hierarchy — why supplements are Layer 7, not Layer 1, and why starting there is expensive guesswork
Why the HPA axis must be addressed before thyroid, and thyroid before sex hormones — always
Why LDL being "bad cholesterol" is marketing, not science
Why stress is the primary driver of gut symptoms — and why treating the gut without addressing stress produces short-term results at best
What GI-MAP stool analysis reveals that no elimination diet or probiotic protocol can identify
Why DUTCH hormone testing shows not just hormone levels but how they're being metabolised — which is where the clinical picture actually lives
The 120-day rule — why red blood cell markers take four months to change, and why expecting results in four weeks is a guarantee of disappointment
Why thyroid conversion problems don't appear on TSH — and why millions of people on thyroxine still feel terrible
The Liebig's Law shortest stave principle — why treating the wrong system first is why protocols fail even when the protocol itself is sound
Why organic acids testing reveals mitochondrial function, neurotransmitter metabolism, and nutrient deficiencies that blood tests miss entirely
Why exercise makes some people worse — and what that tells you about their HPA axis and metabolic state
The cortisol–melatonin seesaw — why poor sleep is often a cortisol problem disguised as a sleep problem
Why IBS is a description, not a diagnosis — and why the actual cause is almost always identifiable with the right tests
Why food sensitivity panels change over time — and why a sensitivity that was present two years ago may now be irrelevant
Why comprehensive functional testing almost always finds something meaningful — and why "everything is normal" is rarely the whole story
The Starter Kit is the entry point to a complete clinical pathway. Every step is optional — many people find the written response gives them everything they need. Others use it as the launchpad for the full investigation.
Open in Chrome. Clickable navigation, zoomable full-colour diagrams, instant search, fast loading. Designed to be used as a working clinical reference — not read once and filed. The format that makes the most of the content.
Fully designed, print-ready. Everything in the HTML edition in a format you can annotate, share, and read without a connection. A4, optimised for printing at home or a print shop. Also available as a physical paperback on Amazon for £19.99.
You have been told your tests are normal while feeling anything but.
You have spent money on supplements that haven't produced results.
You are considering functional testing and want to understand what it involves before committing.
You want to understand your own biology rather than following generic advice.
You already have blood results and want to know what they actually mean.
You have tried multiple approaches and want to know why nothing has stuck.
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner based in Edinburgh with 37 years of clinical experience in health, fitness, and functional medicine. His approach began at 18 as an athletics and boxing coach — where he observed early that the same programme produces radically different results in different people. That observation became the framework that defines his practice.
Co-founder of Omnos, an early functional lab data platform now integrated with Regenerus Labs. Runs the TDG five-test programme through Detective Health, integrating Metabolic Typing, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, and blood chemistry interpretation using functional reference ranges.
"I spent years watching clients struggle with generic advice. Eat less, move more. Take this supplement. Try this diet. When it didn't work, they blamed themselves. But the problem wasn't their willpower — it was that nobody was looking at what was actually happening inside their bodies."
Instant download. Both formats included. Platform access and intake forms activated on request. Foundation Reset delivered within 5 working days of returning your forms.