I’m Tania Lewis, BHSc (Naturopathy), BN, a naturopath for women whose energy, digestion and sleep have changed.
I bring fifteen years of clinical experience as a Registered Nurse.
Most women who see me are tired. Often their digestion or sleep has changed too, and they’ve been dealing with each one separately. I look for what’s sitting underneath, and I explain it in a way that makes sense to you.
Tired in a way sleep doesn’t fix
You go to bed at a reasonable hour. You eat reasonably well. And by mid-afternoon there’s nothing left in the tank.
You’ve stopped mentioning it, because the answer is always the same.
Your bloods are fine. You’re just busy. It’s your age.
It might be all three. But tired most days, not just some, is worth looking at properly.
Why normal bloods don’t settle it
A result inside the reference range tells you that you don’t have a disease that range was built to catch. It doesn’t tell you where you sit within it. You can sit at the bottom of normal for years and feel every bit of it.
A ferritin sitting at the very bottom of the range still gets marked normal. So does a fasting glucose that’s fine while insulin is quietly climbing. On paper, the result may be reported as normal, but it doesn’t automatically explain why you’re tired every day.
“Reference ranges are built to catch disease. I’m looking at how well things are working.”
That’s not a criticism of GPs. It’s a different job. I work alongside your GP, not instead of them.
Fatigue is not always iron
Iron is the first thing most people check. Fair enough. But when iron comes back fine and you’re still flat, the questions keep going.
Iron is one part of the energy picture. Protein status matters. Blood sugar stability matters. Thyroid function matters. Sometimes fatigue comes from one obvious issue. More often, it’s several smaller things pulling in the same direction.
That’s why, when iron comes back fine, I don’t stop looking.
What about B12? Are you eating enough protein? Can you actually digest it? Do you have enough stomach acid to absorb what you’re eating?
And when iron is low in a woman who eats well, the next question is why.
- Iron absorption. Stomach acid helps release iron from food so it can be absorbed. Acid production tends to fall with age, and reduced gastric acid is one of the factors that can make minerals harder to absorb as we get older (Welham et al., 2024). Long-term use of acid-reducing medication is also associated with lower iron absorption (Sekar Lakshmisai et al., 2025). If you take one, don’t stop it. Talk to your GP first.
- Inflammation can matter too. When there’s inflammation, the liver makes more of a hormone called hepcidin. Hepcidin reduces the amount of iron absorbed from the gut and released from storage (Nemeth & Ganz, 2022).
- What you take with meals can also play a role. Calcium carbonate is alkaline and can buffer stomach acid. That’s relevant because stomach acid helps release iron and B12 from food before they can be absorbed. A client came in on calcium carbonate with low iron, which raised the question about stomach acid.
This is why topping up iron because you’re tired isn’t harmless. Too much iron is its own problem.
Test, don’t guess.
Are you eating enough protein?
Most women I see think they are. Many aren’t.
Sometimes lunch is a sandwich, dinner is a small serve of meat, and breakfast contains almost none.
Protein needs rise with age, because muscle gets harder to build. In a 2026 study of 1,380 Australian women in their seventies, those eating the least protein were more likely to be frail than those eating the most (Bozanich et al., 2026).
Protein also stabilises blood sugar. That matters for the next part.
The 3pm slump
Toast, cereal or a coffee on an empty stomach sends blood sugar up fast, then down hard a few hours later. Your energy follows it down.
Protein at breakfast slows the rise, so the fall is gentler. From what I see in my clinic, the 3pm crash is often a breakfast problem, not an afternoon one.
Where your thyroid fits
Often the results women bring in include ferritin and TSH, and not much else. I prefer to look at the whole picture. Iron studies, B12, insulin, vitamin D and a more complete view of thyroid function can sometimes explain symptoms that a single marker cannot.
More on that on my thyroid health page.
What about menopause?
It can be part of the picture. Fatigue, broken sleep and changes in blood sugar regulation often show up together around menopause. Sometimes menopause is the whole explanation. Often it’s sitting on top of existing issues that have become harder to compensate for.
A life stage tells you when something started. It doesn’t tell you what’s driving it. That’s what I look for.
What I look at
Before we meet, I ask for any blood results you’ve had, old ones included, and read them against optimal ranges, not just the reference range. If you haven’t had tests for a while, we’ll work out which ones are worth doing.
In the room, we go through:
- Energy across the day, and when it drops
- What you eat, when and how much
- Digestion, including reflux, bloating and bowel habits
- Sleep, stress and your history
- Every medication and supplement, including anything taken with meals
If there are gaps in your bloods, I’ll tell you which tests would fill them, and why.
You’ll receive a written plan: what we’re starting with, why each change is there and what I’m deliberately leaving until later. Food first, with supplements alongside where they’re clearly indicated.
How long does it take?
Care may take three to six months, sometimes longer. There’s no overnight fix or magic pill, and the changes are yours to make.
Red blood cells live around 120 days. That’s why, if you retest, it’s at the end of care, not partway through.
And the order matters: Reset, Rebuild, Restore. In my clinical experience, pushing repair before inflammation has settled tends to bring on flares. Along the way, I track energy, sleep and stress out of ten, so you can see what is and isn’t shifting.
“Most women who come to me have been unwell for years, not weeks. I’m not going to undo that in one consult, and I won’t pretend otherwise.”
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
An Initial Clinical Assessment is 60 to 75 minutes, $220. Follow-up Consultations are 30 to 45 minutes, $150. Pathology and supplements are billed separately, at your cost.
Do I need new blood tests?
Not necessarily. If you have recent results, send them and I’ll read them before we meet. If you haven’t had tests for a while, we’ll work out which ones are worth doing, and why.
Should I just take an iron supplement?
Not without knowing your levels. If your iron is fine, extra iron won’t help your energy, and too much is its own problem. If it’s low, the more useful question is why.
Do I need to stop my medication or HRT?
No. I never ask anyone to stop prescribed medication. It’s part of your picture, and I factor it in. If anything I find needs a conversation with your doctor, I’ll tell you.
You can find me in person, and online across Australia
In person —
Rutherglen, VIC
74 Main Street,
Rutherglen VIC 3685
Wednesday, Thursday
In person — Yarrawonga, VIC
31-33 Belmore Street, Yarrawonga VIC 3730
Tuesday
Online
Online consultations are available Australia-wide during the Rutherglen hours.
All appointments are booked online. Full prepayment is required.
A 48-hour cancellation and rescheduling policy applies.
Your next step
If you’re tired most days and nobody’s been able to tell you why, that’s the pattern I look at in an Initial Clinical Assessment
Related: Why is my iron low when I eat well? · Thyroid health · Gut health · Sleep disruption
References
Bozanich, T., Dalla Via, J., Radavelli-Bagatini, S., Smith, C., Dent, E., Villani, A., Daly, R. M., Tieland, M., Hodgson, J. M., Zhu, K., Prince, R. L., & Sim, M. (2026). Association between protein intake from animal and plant sources and the presence of frailty in community-dwelling Australian women. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 77(3), 238-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637486.2026.2644869
Nemeth, E., & Ganz, T. (2022). Hepcidin and iron in health and disease. Annual Review of Medicine, 74, 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-med-043021-032816
Sekar Lakshmisai, S., Bheemaneni, R. S., Nwachukwu, E. C., Nigam, A., Sakarkar, P., & Khan, S. (2025). A systematic review of the adverse effects of long-term proton pump inhibitor use on the gastrointestinal system in the adult population. Cureus, 17(8), e90606. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.90606
Welham, S., Rose, P., Kirk, C., Coneyworth, L., & Avery, A. (2024). Mineral supplements in ageing. Sub-Cellular Biochemistry, 107, 269-306. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66768-8_13
This page is general information, not personal medical advice.
It doesn’t replace individual assessment or care from your GP or treating practitioners.