Pragma Journal
The big number on a fish oil bottle usually isn't the one that matters. Here's what to read instead, and what the guidance actually says about dose.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Insulin resistance can build for years before glucose moves. Fasting insulin can show it earlier - but there's no agreed clinical cutoff, and that matters.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Cognitive changes in midlife are common, well documented, and usually not the start of something worse. Here's what's hormonal and what's worth ruling out.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Constipation hits about a quarter of people on semaglutide. The mechanism is the same one that makes the drug work, and fiber is the practical fix.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
It affects 5-10% of women after delivery, arrives in two phases that look like ordinary new-parent life, and about 20% don't fully recover.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Two Cochrane reviews looked for it directly. Neither found a large effect, and neither found evidence that the pill causes weight gain.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
A big CFU number tells you how many bacteria are in the bottle, not whether they do anything. The strain code is the part that carries the evidence.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
The stress and sleep evidence is real but thin. The liver injury signal is the part the gummy aisle doesn't mention, and it changes who should take it.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Vitamin D gets calcium absorbed. K2 helps direct where it goes. Most D3 supplements don't include it, and most Western diets are short.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
The evidence that biotin grows hair is thin. The evidence that high-dose biotin distorts lab results, including troponin, is not.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
A panel that looked fine two years ago can shift during perimenopause. Here's the mechanism, and which numbers on it actually deserve attention.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
The weight that shows up in your 40s isn't a willpower problem. It's an insulin and fat-distribution problem, and the mechanism is well documented.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Pregnancy-depleted stores plus blood loss at delivery is a common combination, and the fatigue it causes is indistinguishable from newborn fatigue.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Melatonin shifts your body clock rather than sedating you. Well supported for jet lag, and not recommended by guidelines for chronic insomnia.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Bone loss doesn't wait for menopause. It starts about a year before your final period. Here's the window, and what actually moves it.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Why a couple of registered dietitians got tired of the marketing noise and just want to help people make better nutrition and supplement decisions.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 1 min read
The "everything I'm doing right stopped working" wall in your 40s is real, and it's not a metabolism that broke. Four levers explain most of it: muscle, protein, sleep and cortisol, and blood sugar. Here's the honest order to pull them.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 6 min read
Perimenopause can start a decade before menopause, and its early signs get filed under stress, anxiety, or aging. A clear guide to the transition, why it's missed, what to track, and the interventions (medical and nutritional) that actually help.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 6 min read
"Normal" is a statistical range, not a personal target. A plain-English guide to reading the labs that matter most for women (ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid, B12, metabolic markers) and the difference between normal and optimal.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 5 min read
GLP-1 medications have predictable nutritional consequences: muscle loss, micronutrient gaps, hair shedding. Here's how to handle the nutrition side without fighting the medicine. Doses, protein math, and what's worth supplementing.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 6 min read
Two decades on the pill leaves a predictable micronutrient signature: B2, B6, B9, B12, plus magnesium, zinc, and selenium. Here's the evidence, the mechanism, and a practical Phase 0 plan. Not a reason to stop; a reason to know.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 6 min read
The postpartum visit covers a lot in fifteen minutes. Micronutrient depletion (iron, B12, D, omega-3, choline, iodine) often isn't on the list. What to know.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Four checks: serving size, nutrient form, third-party seal, and the proprietary-blend trap. They tell you most of what you need to know before you buy.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Perimenopause can begin in your mid-30s, years before periods change. The early signals get misread as stress, sleep, or "just getting older." What to track.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Most women's multivitamins fail on three predictable things: the wrong nutrient forms, doses too low to matter, and iron that fights its own formula. How to read one.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
No, it won't make you bulky. The more interesting story is what creatine does for cognition, sleep deprivation, and recovery. Dose, timing, and the honest caveats.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Modest evidence for skin and joints. Not a protein replacement. Here's what collagen actually does, what it costs, and when it earns a place in your routine.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read
Up to 25-40% of weight lost on GLP-1 medications can be lean mass. Here's the protein and resistance-training math that changes that number.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Magnesium glycinate, 200-400 mg, 30 minutes before bed. What it does for sleep, what it doesn't, and why the form on the label matters more than the brand.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
A vitamin D of 31 ng/mL is "normal." So is 75. Those are not the same situation. How to read your result and what the evidence says about where to aim.
Samantha Peebles, DCN, RDN · · 2 min read
Ferritin of 15 passes the lab range. It can still come with exhaustion, hair shedding, and brain fog. What ferritin measures and where the functional threshold sits.
Whitney Brooke Isola, MBA, RDN · · 2 min read