RECESS: New Ferritin Thresholds, CTE Research & the Outplay Book

View This Week's Show Notes

This one's a first: Juliet and I are recording from different states. I'm up in Evergreen, Colorado, fresh off the Farren Summit in Boulder, where Juliet and I ended up in the same room as Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf. Felt like CrossFit 2.0.

The American Society of Hematology just raised the diagnostic floor for ferritin from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and if you've ever been told your iron levels are fine while running on empty, this is a massive deal. Juliet shares her 30-year story here, including what finally worked.

Two landmark CTE studies dropped the same week: one out of Australia showing 61% of examined rugby league brains had CTE, and one from the US putting it at 1 in 4 NFL players. We get into what that means for families and youth athletes thinking about contact sports.

Plus a real update on Outplay, our book on youth sports performance for parents, which we are nearly ready to turn in.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why the American Society of Hematology raised the ferritin diagnostic floor from 15 to 30 ng/mL, and what the thresholds are for different populations
• How to tell if iron deficiency may be affecting you, low ferritin symptoms, and which tests to ask your doctor about (ferritin, TIBC, CBC)
• Why standard iron treatments so often fail, and what finally worked for Juliet after three decades of trying
• How CTE differs from a concussion, and what two new studies on rugby league and NFL brains actually found
• How families and coaches should think about youth contact sports in light of the new CTE research
• What the Outplay book covers and where it stands in the writing process

Key Highlights:

(00:00) Intro: first time recording apart, Kelly in Colorado

(00:40) Farren Summit recap and the Boulder trip

(01:13) Kelly's CU Boulder days and the shared senior thesis story

(04:48) CrossFit reunion: Robb Wolf, John Welbourn, and Andy Stumpf

(06:59) Fall travel: YPO Vancouver and the Brett Bartholomew conference

(07:57) Eudemonia with Momentous and the Antarctica trip

(10:24) New ASH ferritin thresholds explained: from 15 to 30 ng/mL

(11:38) Low ferritin symptoms and why standard treatments kept failing: Juliet's 30-year story

(14:35) What finally worked: iron infusions and menopause

(17:26) Which tests to ask your doctor for

(18:24) Kelly's concussion history and CTE intro

(19:24) New CTE research: 61% of rugby brains and 1 in 4 NFL players

(20:02) CTE vs. concussion: what's the difference

(21:37) Youth contact sports and how families should think about risk

(24:27) Guardian caps and other interventions; Eric Freitag episode on concussions, (https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/eric-freitag-concussions/)

(26:27) Outplay book update and the Outplay Way card deck

(30:50) Skateboarding as free play, shoutout to Lisa's son Fox:(https://www.instagram.com/p/DdiCvqzp1HL/)