Supplement Stack Audit vs May 2026 Function Health Labs

Ace's at-home stack read against the May 26 2026 blood draw. The lipid arsenal is working on the metric that matters (particle count). The new signals that need attention are not "add more pills" problems: they are two monitoring gaps and one iron decision that only a follow-up panel can settle.
Generated 2026-06-06  ·  Labs: Quest specimen HZ450214U, collected 05/26/2026, reported 05/30/20261  ·  Stack source: Supplement Protocol + Optimized Supplement Stack2,3  ·  Not medical advice

The audit in one breath

  1. Nothing in the stack needs adding. The new adverse signals (triglycerides up, HDL down, glucose up) are metabolic and short-window, not a supplement deficit.
  2. One safety gap: you run Red Yeast Rice (a statin) plus berberine with no CK and no liver-enzyme read on this panel. ADD CK + AST/ALT NEXT DRAW
  3. One real decision: the red-cell drop looks like early iron deficiency, but your beta-thal trait mimics it and your multi is deliberately iron-free. Do not start iron. FERRITIN PANEL FIRST
  4. Vitamin D 69 ng/mL is already high. D3+K2 is maintenance only, do not increase. KEEP, HOLD DOSE

1 What the labs say since March

Three clean time points: Nov 2024, March 2026, May 2026. Direction is judged against your own historically-healthy frame, not the pharma-era targets.4

MarkerMar 2026May 2026MoveRead
LDL-P (nmol/L)1,7401,253down, Moderate bandThe win. Beat the under-1,400 checkpoint.1
Small LDL (nmol/L)327246downStill High on the report's own range (High over 219).1
ApoB (mg/dL)9699up, stalledStill off the under-90 checkpoint.1
LDL-C (mg/dL)122126up slightlyStill in historically-healthy zone (under 130).4
HDL (mg/dL)4240downJust above the floor of 40.1
Triglycerides (mg/dL)71129up sharplyStill under 150, but the biggest adverse move.1
Trig / HDL ratio1.693.23over targetCrossed the under-2 metabolic line.1
HbA1c (%)5.55.4improvedBerberine plus diet holding.1
Fasting insulin (uIU/mL)9.28.1improvedUnderlying metabolic health improving.1
Fasting glucose (mg/dL)95101flagged HSingle value, likely noise given A1c and insulin.1
Uric acid (mg/dL)7.36.7downImproved but still over the 6.0 gout target.1
hs-CRP (mg/L)<0.2<0.2flatExcellent. No inflammation.1
Hemoglobin (g/dL)15.013.6down, in rangePart of a red-cell drop in step. See item 3.1
MCH (pg)25.926.3still LowBelow the 27.0 floor. Iron vs trait question.1

2 The lipid arsenal vs the numbers

You run four LDL levers plus omega-3. Against the new labs, the verdict is: it is working on particle count, so do not bolt on more. The adverse signals are diet-driven.

Keep, it is working

CholestOff (sterols), Thorne Red Yeast Rice, Berberine, Omega-3

LDL-P fell 1,740 to 1,253 and small LDL 327 to 246 over roughly 60 days.1 That is the strongest single interval of the project and it happened on this exact stack plus diet. The particle count is the metric that matters for you, and it is bending the right way.

Levers, for the record: CholestOff blocks dietary cholesterol absorption, Thorne RYR supplies monacolin K (a statin compound), berberine adds lipid and glucose support, omega-3 is EPA-dominant.2

Do not chase with pills

The triglyceride jump (71 to 129) and HDL dip (42 to 40)

This is the one place the labs moved against you, and the temptation is to add a supplement. Resist it. A1c and fasting insulin both improved over the same window,1 which is the signature of short-window diet or a less-clean run-up to the draw, not a structural metabolic slide.

Action: recheck on a clean draw in 8 to 12 weeks (target ~Aug 2026), diet tightened in the run-up, before changing anything.1 If triglycerides are genuinely still elevated on that clean draw, the evidence-based lever is omega-3 dose (push EPA+DHA toward 2 to 4 g/day), not more sterols or a new product.

Optional drop, your call

Bergamot (Jarrow Bergamonte)

Your own value audit already flagged this as the most redundant LDL lever: statin-sized claims on low-quality trials, and you have three stronger levers already moving the number.3 The new labs do not give it a new reason to stay. If you want to thin the pill count, this is the first to go. No lab will get worse for dropping it.

3 The iron decision (the one real nuance)

This is the only item where the new labs and the stack genuinely interact, and it is a trap if you act on instinct.

Hold iron-free, panel first

Red-cell drop + low MCH vs your iron-free multi

The CBC dropped in step: hemoglobin 15.0 to 13.6, hematocrit 46.6 to 42.4, RBC 5.79 to 5.17, all still in range, with MCH still under the 27.0 floor.1 Read alone, that is an early iron deficiency signature, and the obvious move would be to start iron or swap to an iron-containing multi.

Do not. Two reasons collide here:

1. Your Methyl Multi is deliberately iron-free because of your beta-thalassemia trait3, and that trait itself produces small, low-MCH red cells that mimic iron deficiency. The low MCH may be the trait, not a deficiency.

2. Supplementing iron into a beta-thal trait without a confirmed low ferritin risks iron overload.

Action: order a ferritin + iron panel at the next draw (already your open item).1 If ferritin is genuinely low, iron is then warranted and worth a short course. If ferritin is normal or high, the microcytosis is the trait, and you keep the multi iron-free exactly as it is. The panel is the only thing that tells these two apart.

4 The safety gap the labs did not close

Add to next draw

CK and liver enzymes on a statin + berberine stack

Thorne RYR is a real statin (monacolin K = lovastatin), and you stack it with berberine, which adds to the liver and muscle load.2,3 CK was deferred off the May order and your own closeout flagged it as the safety read on the RYR-plus-berberine combination.3 This panel does not appear to carry CK or an AST/ALT liver-enzyme read.

Action: add CK + AST/ALT to the next draw, bundled with the ferritin/iron panel. One stick covers both open items. This is monitoring you should be doing regardless of any prescription decision.

5 Everything else: keep, with notes

ItemVerdictWhat the May labs say about it
D3 + K2 (Sports Research)Keep, hold doseVitamin D already 69 ng/mL (high-optimal).3 This is maintenance, do not increase. K2 earns its place for arterial calcium handling given the lipid focus. Recheck D to confirm it is not drifting over 80.
Berberine (WLV)KeepA1c 5.5 to 5.4 and insulin 9.2 to 8.1 both improved.1 Glucose lever is working. The single glucose 101 is noise against those two.
Quercetin (Thorne Phytosome)KeepUric acid 7.3 to 6.7, improving but still over the 6.0 target.1 Quercetin has real urate data; your bedtime Toniiq tart cherry doubles as urate support. Working, not yet at goal.
Omega-3 (Sports Research)KeepArachidonic acid 8.3 L and linoleic acid 17.4 L are low, a benign sign of a clean, omega-3-weighted diet.1 Balance is favorable. Hold this as the lever in reserve if the triglyceride recheck stays high.
NAC, Glutathione, ALA, Glycine, Mag GlycinateKeephs-CRP under 0.2 and flat.1 The antioxidant and sleep load plus diet is keeping inflammation crushed. No additions needed, nothing to cut.
Creatine (Orgain, 5 g/day)KeepStrongly evidenced.3 Note for the PCP: it raises creatinine and lowers the eGFR reading, so flag it before any kidney-function interpretation.3

6 The next-draw order (one stick, closes everything)

When you book the ~Aug 2026 recheck, the add-on list is short and it closes every open item at once:
Ferritin + iron panelSettles iron vs beta-thal trait
CKSafety read on RYR + berberine
AST / ALTLiver-enzyme read on the statin load
Full lipid + trig/HDLClean-draw recheck, diet tightened first
Vitamin DConfirm it is not drifting over 80

Diet note from your trajectory file: tighten the run-up so the triglyceride and ApoB recheck is a true reading, not a post-indulgence one.1

  1. May 2026 Function Health Panel Review and Lipid Trajectory and Targets, both citing Quest specimen HZ450214U collected 05/26/2026, reported 05/30/2026. ~/Documents/AceHQ/30-personal/health/bloodwork/
  2. Supplement Protocol (pack catalog, parsed 2026-05-20). ~/Documents/AceHQ/30-personal/health/supplements/Supplement Protocol.md
  3. Optimized Supplement Stack and Supplement Value Audit (decisions, brands, beta-thal and vitamin D notes). ~/Documents/AceHQ/30-personal/health/supplements/
  4. Historically-healthy benchmark frame and self-set checkpoints. Lipid Trajectory and Targets.md