The short list — highest probability of mattering
One of 4 mechanistic pathways to 🧭 I'm starting from scratch · 7 options
These are the ones where deficiency is common, the consequences are real, and correction reliably changes something. If you only take four things, take these.
If you do one thing on this entire site, do this. Four of these six are commonly low, all four are cheap to fix, and every one of them blunts everything else you might try.
Vitamin D (25-Hydroxy)FerritinVitamin B12Magnesium, RBCComplete Blood Count (CBC) with DifferentialComprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)✅ The Basics — Start Here covers these in one panel →
What engages this pathway
Ordered by how directly each one acts on the mechanism above — never by how much trial evidence exists. Each links to its full breakdown with dosing, half-life and vendor.
🧬 Vitamin D
Deficiency is genuinely widespread away from the equator, and the receptor is present in almost every tissue — immune, bone, muscle, mood. Test rather than guess; the target range matters and more is not better.
🧬 Magnesium
Cofactor for over 300 enzymes including every reaction that uses ATP. Intake has fallen with soil depletion and food processing, and the deficiency picture — cramps, poor sleep, anxiety, palpitations — gets attributed to everything else.
🧬 Omega-3 (Fish Oil)
EPA and DHA are structural and signalling molecules the body cannot make efficiently from plant ALA. Cardiovascular, cognitive and inflammatory endpoints.
🧬 Creatine
The most-studied supplement in existence, and the benefits reach past muscle into brain energy metabolism. Cheap, safe, and the one non-negotiable if you train.
🧬 Whey Protein (RecoveryPro)
Most people under-eat protein, and it is the single largest dietary lever on body composition, satiety and healthy ageing. This is convenience, not magic.
🧬 Foundation Bundle
The bundled version of this short list — reasonable if you would rather not assemble four bottles, and worth outgrowing once you know what you personally respond to.
🧬 Foundational Health Bundle
A broader foundation package covering the same ground plus micronutrient insurance.
The other 3 routes to i'm starting from scratch
Pick the pathway that matches where you are actually stuck. An appetite drug does nothing for someone who already undereats.
Want the protocols behind these?
Dosing schedules, stacking, cycle timing and Coach Cam's notes live inside the Academy — plus the full interactive Vault.
Join the Academy — $10/mo →← Open this pathway in the interactive Vault
Frequently asked questions
These are the ones where deficiency is common, the consequences are real, and correction reliably changes something. If you only take four things, take these.
7 options are mapped to this pathway in the Vault, including Vitamin D, Magnesium, Omega-3 (Fish Oil), Creatine. They are grouped by the mechanism they act through rather than ranked by how much trial evidence exists — 5 carry clinical validation and 2 are mechanistic predictions.
If you do one thing on this entire site, do this. Four of these six are commonly low, all four are cheap to fix, and every one of them blunts everything else you might try. The markers worth checking are Vitamin D (25-Hydroxy), Ferritin, Vitamin B12, Magnesium, RBC.
Unproven is not the same as ineffective. Of the 7 options on this pathway, 5 have clinical validation and 2 are graded theoretical — meaning the mechanism is sound but the specific human trial has not been run, which is true of a great deal of what works in this space. Nothing on this page is ordered by evidence tier, because sorting by trial count would bury the compounds you came looking for.