A new study published in ACS Omega adds important animal model evidence: researchers administered omeprazole to rats for 10, 30, and 60 days and measured effects on mineral status across blood and multiple organs. Hemoglobin and red blood cell counts declined progressively over the treatment period, while iron accumulated in the liver and spleen even as blood iron levels fell, a pattern consistent with impaired absorption and compensatory redistribution. Hepatic copper concentrations dropped significantly after 30 days, which matters because copper plays a critical role in the pathway through which iron becomes available for hemoglobin synthesis. Calcium redistribution patterns suggested potential bone resorption, consistent with what longer-term human studies have observed. PPIs were only ever approved for short-term use, typically no more than 2 weeks, yet many people take them for years or even decades, often without fully appreciating what that means for their nutritional status. If you're relying on a PPI long-term, speak with your healthcare practitioner about alternatives and a thorough nutritional assessment.

You feel it mid-workout. Or lying in bed at night. Or randomly at 2 pm on a Tuesday. The sudden awareness that your heart is doing something different, be it a flutter or a skipped heartbeat. If palpitations have made you nervous about electrolytes, this one's worth a read. The vast majority of palpitations — even ones lasting several minutes to an hour — usually don’t indicate a heart problem. When you significantly change the balance of fluids and electrolytes, your cardiovascular system may need to adjust. That adjustment can briefly make your heartbeat feel faster, stronger, or slightly off — even when nothing is wrong. What does that look like in practice? - Rehydration palpitations: When you add fluid to your system, blood volume increases. Your heart may speed up briefly to accommodate the change before settling into a steadier rhythm. - Dehydration palpitations: When fluid and electrolyte levels drop, blood volume falls. Your heart compensates by beating faster and harder — which can feel like racing or pounding, especially if you're already behind in your workout. - Post-workout flutters: Sweating depletes electrolytes that regulate your heart's electrical signals. - Temporary imbalances can cause irregular heartbeats. So when should you be concerned? - Red flag symptoms that warrant medical attention (and which palpitations are benign) - How sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium each contribute to the heart rhythm - Why does your heart rate sometimes get faster before it slows down The 2 main electrolytes that help with heart palpitations are magnesium and potassium. Make sure you add some to your water!

1. Porcini Porcini are a large mushroom, with a cap that can reach up to 12 inches in diameter. Popular in Italian cuisine, porcini mushrooms represent a few different varieties, are typically reddish-brown in color, possess a thick stem, and are slightly sticky to the touch. This species of mushroom fruits from summer to fall, so you can find them most of the year in specialty markets. If you’re a forager, search for porcini mushrooms in the mulchy undergrowth of hardwood forests with pine, chestnut, hemlock, and spruce trees. 2. Golden Oyster Golden Oyster mushrooms are typically cultivated rather than wild-harvested, making them a great mushroom to grow at home. They grow in virtually anything, using straw mats and ordinary compost, with mushroom “starters” from inoculation kits that can be purchased in specialty stores. They possess a golden hue, grow in clusters, and have a nutty, slightly bitter flavor. 3. Pioppino Pioppino mushrooms, often called Velvet Pioppino due to the velvety-brown appearance of their small caps, grow on decaying logs or at the mulchy base of hardwood trees. Pioppinos have a mild, slightly peppery flavor, making them a popular choice for adding to recipes. They grow in clusters on long, sturdy stems, are smaller in size (caps are only about 2 centimeters wide), and retain a firm texture when cooked. 4. Oyster Oysters are among the most common and versatile mushrooms. Easy to cultivate, oysters grow mainly on decaying wood and possess a slightly sweet, anise-like smell. Called “oysters” due to having a similar appearance to the sea creature, the mycelia of oyster mushrooms eat small roundworms and bacteria, making them one of the few carnivorous mushroom species. Colors range from green, to pink, to yellow, depending on the variety. Fluted caps span from two-to-eight inches, with white gills on the underside, and a short, stubby stem. 5. Lions mane It’s easy to see how the Lion’s Mane mushroom got its name! This popular edible and medicinal mushroom has exceptional neuroprotective powers, thanks to its ability to stimulate synthesis of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). NGF is a protein that plays a major role in the maintenance, survival, and regeneration of neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Known to improve memory and mood, Lion’s Mane mushrooms are a staple in traditional Chinese medicine, and can be found in supplement form as a powder or tincture in many health food stores. If you’d rather enjoy their meaty texture in a meal, sauté them in butter to intensify the flavor, or boil them as a meat replacement in soup or stew.

Most people think of ashwagandha as a stress and sleep herb, and that reputation is well earned. But a 24-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial just published in the Journal of Medicine and Life found something worth paying attention to: participants taking 300 mg of ashwagandha root extract twice daily lost an average of 8.46 kg, compared to just 2.41 kg in the placebo group. The mechanism connects directly to cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which drives visceral fat accumulation, ramps up appetite, and increases cravings for calorie-dense foods. In this trial, serum cortisol dropped significantly in the ashwagandha group — from 13.91 to 8.90 mcg/dL over 24 weeks — and food craving scores fell by more than twice as much as in the placebo group. As I've long believed, stress and weight gain are rarely separate problems. Treating one often helps the other. While stress management is not as important as diet for weight loss, it is certainly part of the picture, and reducing cortisol load can make it meaningfully easier to maintain good dietary choices. Ashwagandha appears to work here by modulating the HPA axis, reducing cortisol-driven appetite signaling rather than suppressing hunger through stimulants. No serious adverse events were reported, and lab parameters remained normal through the full six months.

Vitamin D is one of the most widely taken supplements in the world, and one of the most commonly misused. The standard recommendation of 400 to 800 IU per day was set by the Institute of Medicine based on skeletal health outcomes — preventing rickets and osteomalacia — not on the broader roles vitamin D plays in immune function, metabolic health, and disease prevention. There is a Vanderbilt study showing that magnesium essentially regulates vitamin D levels — it raises them when they're low and lowers them when they're high, and without sufficient magnesium, your body can't efficiently convert vitamin D into its active forms regardless of how much you take. Vitamin K2 and vitamin A are also important cofactors that most people overlook. The takeaway is straightforward: stop guessing your dose and start testing. Get your 25(OH)D measured, identify where you actually fall, account for your individual factors, and retest after making changes. 95% of people of magnesium and vitamin D deficient. So it is important to make sure you address these issues!