Supplements can reduce inflammation and boost longevity. Here's what one cardiologist takes to lower his risk of heart disease.
On the agenda:
Frequent-flying elites told BI their tips to overcome jet lag.
Wall Street's biggest summer status symbol isn't a house in the Hamptons. It's a golf shirt.
BI's Kim Schewitz took a class to boost her VO2 max — and finally made cardio fun.
Avoid making these mistakes if you find yourself staying in a five-star hotel.
But first: Let's talk about matters of the heart.
This week's dispatch
And the (heart)beat goes on…
We know supplements can reduce inflammation, boost strength training, and strengthen your immune system. But did you also know that the right stack can also protect you from heart failure?
Dr. Dmitry Yaranov, the director of the advanced heart failure program at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, told BI senior reporter Julia Pugachevsky that he takes three supplements to reduce his risk.
Here's what's in his medicine cabinet:
Omega-3: Yaranov said he takes this supplement because he's "not getting enough fresh, fatty fish in my diet." Pugachevsky notes that taking omega-3 "helps to support healthy blood cells, reducing the risk of blood clots" and can reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
Magnesium: Pugachevsky said that this supplement, typically found in black beans and spinach, "supports heart, bone, brain, and muscle health" and helps with controlling blood pressure.
Vitamin D: Yaranov said he spends "a long time indoors," which contributes to his lower levels of this essential vitamin, so he started supplementing it. Research shows that Vitamin D is also associated with a lower risk of heart disease in adults over the age of 60.
Skip the jet lag
Jet lag, which can cause brain fog, fatigue, and digestive issues, could derail your entire travel experience. It happens when your local time zone is misaligned with your internal clocks.
People who fly regularly — from pro athletes to CEOs — told BI how they beat jet lag, including the supplements they take and the adjustments they make before traveling.
From diet changes to light therapy.
The ultimate finance bro flex
In the realm of posh sports, not much ranks higher than golf, and its elitist nature often manifests in fashion. Donning a logoed golf polo from the course you play has become a subtle status symbol among Wall Street golf bros.
Many men described the logoed gear to BI's Emily Stewart as a "head nod," but there's a hierarchy associated with it, too. Just don't get caught wearing a golf polo from a course you've never played.
If you know, you know.
A class dedicated to boosting your VO2 max
VO2 max has become the latest fitness craze that measures cardiovascular fitness among runners, fitness competition bros, and more. People are obsessed with the metric because it's said to be a strong predictor of longevity. A high VO2 max is also linked to a longer life and a reduced risk of certain health conditions.
So when London's GymBox came out with a new VO2:MAXED cardio class, BI's Kim Schewitz, who said she doesn't do cardio, tried it out. She found out her VO2 score was low.
But it made cardio fun for her.
Five-star faux pas
BI's travel reporter Joey Hadden has stayed at 10 five-star hotels across the Americas and Europe. She shared six mistakes she's made during these swanky stays, so you won't have to.
For instance, Hadden learned you should always pack a swimsuit, but you won't need to bring toiletries. Plus, turndown service is a must — you never know what treats you'll get.
She recommends booking more than one night.
What we're watching this weekend
"Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful": The chart-topping artist turned her 2025 album of the same name into a stunning visual companion that's now available on Disney+ and Hulu.
"The Amateur": Now on Hulu, this thriller stars Rami Malek as a CIA decoder who is out for vengeance after the death of his wife. Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne, and Jon Bernthal also star.
"Billy Joel: And So It Goes": This two-part documentary on HBO Max looks at the legendary life and career of The Piano Man, Billy Joel.
What to shop
TV on wheels: This touchscreen on wheels is like a smart‑TV‑tablet hybrid that lets you stream or scroll wherever you roll it. Its portable convenience makes it a delightful, lifestyle‑first gadget that editor Sam Crozier loves for her small Brooklyn apartment.
A shirt to do it all: Public Rec's Go‑To Polo is crafted with a cooling, stretchy cotton‑blend that is so comfortable our men's style editor, Amir Ismael, swears you can work out in it. Here's why we recommend it for your closet.
A heated hand massager: Social media fiends, rock climbers, and desk jockeys with carpal tunnel all have one thing in common: they need a hand massage. This handy device isn't a cure-all, but its gentle heat and snug fit make it a great self-care accessory that senior associate editor Gabrielle Chase swears by.
More of this week's top reads:
A doctor who studies how a healthy gut can prevent colon cancer does three simple things to lower his risk.
Interior designers share the nine trends they wish they saw more of in homes.
Six purses to buy if you don't want to carry the same luxury bag everyone else has.
I opened a mobile coffee bar for $10,000. My schedule is flexible and I can make thousands working 30-hour weeks.
NFL quarterback Josh Allen says he's cutting out these two foods — and his diet is 'probably the best it's ever been.'
I booked basic economy flights with Delta and Alaska Airlines. One was clearly better for coach passengers.
A Microsoft engineer turned health tech CEO spends $24,000 a year on his health, including $15,000 on a solo Bali trip.
I moved to Denver to be with my husband. We're still together, but I'm returning to New York City alone.
Fitness Money Diaries: How a Microsoft engineer turned health tech CEO spends $24,000 a year on wellness.
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Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
This 21-year-old founder cut open his leg to show off his biotech. Then he raised $4.3 million from Peter Thiel and others.
If you think you're moving fast and breaking things, you haven't met Jake Adler, who poured his actual blood into his startup. Adler, the founder of Pilgrim, a biotech and defense startup building medical devices for the battlefield, tested his flagship product — a hemostatic dressing he calls Kingsfoil — by cutting open both of his thighs. Business Insider will spare you the details (and the video), but we watched it. (Adler, who is 21, assured us that he told his mom before filming: "I was very cautious," he said to BI in an interview. He does not encourage other founders to pursue similarly daring — and potentially dangerous — testing on themselves.) In a video sent to investors and viewed by BI, Adler numbed his legs with lidocaine and used a punch biopsy tool to create two scientifically precise wounds. One was slathered with Kingsfoil, which seemed to stall the bleeding, and the other was a control. When Kingsfoil touches the skin, Adler said, the gauze morphs into a gel-like consistency. He added that this can help seal wounds, clot blood flow, and aid in healing. Adler claims there are no known side effects to Kingsfoil, a clay-based hemostatic, other than possibly some minor skin irritation. Adler named Kingsfoil after the healing herb in J.R.R. Tolkien's book "The Lord of the Rings." (LotR names are popular among defense tech founders; Palmer Luckey's Anduril and Erebor and Alex Karp's Palantir all come from the book.) No investors held Adler's feet to the fire for the video: It was totally his idea, and he hopes to build on the demonstration by testing Kingsfoil in more controlled settings. "It is intended to undergo proper and rigorous clinical investigations," Adler said of Kingsfoil before sterilizing his thigh in the video. "This is just a precursor to that." "When I looked through the laws, there was nothing that inherently said I couldn't do a test on myself," he added in an interview. "In the same way you can get a tattoo, I'm allowed to do anything to my own body." Following the video, the Redwood, Calif.-based startup raised $4.3 million in seed funding. Frontier tech-focused firm Cantos VC led the round. Thiel Capital, Day One Ventures, and Refactor Capital participated alongside angel investors including Joshua Browder, Cory Levy, and Adrian Fenty. There are some established incumbents and newer startups in the wound care space. QuikClot also makes hemostatic dressings; its original formula used a mineral called zeolite, which triggered a heat-releasing reaction upon contact with blood, potentially causing burns. The company now uses a clay-based formula, and its website claims that the US Defense Department uses QuikClot products. HemCon makes hemostatic dressings using chitosan, a shellfish derivative. There's also Sealonix, a startup that makes hemostatic sealants for surgical use, which raised a $20 million Series A in 2023. While many defense startups are more focused on autonomous tech that can operate with humans off the physical battlefield, Pilgrim hopes to address critical medical needs of the soldiers who will remain on the battlefield despite advancements in drone tech. Adler sees the Defense Department as an "initial and first market" for his tech because "their operational needs are roughly five to 10 years ahead of the general operating or emergency room," he said. "My goal is to translate technologies to the everyday civilian," Adler continued, adding that the company also hopes to one day sell the product commercially. This would make Pilgrim a dual-use startup, an increasingly common business model for companies hoping to diversify their customer base by selling to both the government and consumers. "We look for people who stand out and are a little weird," Ian Rountree, general partner at Cantos, told BI about Adler. "Jake is exceptional," He added," It's one of those problems hiding in plain sight." Kingsfoil hasn't yet hit shelves. Since hemostatic agents already exist, Adler said the company can pursue an "expedited pathway" toward FDA approval, which he thinks could take six months. If the FDA deems Kingsfoil as novel, though, the company could face a timeline of one to one and a half years for approval. Adler said Pilgrim has already done a few "pre-submissions" to the FDA. The company is also working on two other products: Voyager, an inhaled mist that Pilgrim hopes will help the body neutralize chemical threats, like nerve agents, before they reach the bloodstream, and ARGUS, a surveillance platform that Adler says will be able to detect chemicals and other biological threats in high-risk areas like ports, hospitals, and farms. Both are still in the prototyping and testing phases. The five-person Pilgrim team develops these products and Kingsfoil from a hybrid office-lab in California. In 2023, a year after graduating from high school, Adler became a Thiel Fellow to work on a wearable device startup that aimed to induce and improve sleep. "I was really compelled by this belief that we can move beyond that paradigm toward being able to leverage data in real time to augment the body," Adler said. This idea still underpins his work at Pilgrim, Adler added: "I'm interested in creating an enduring institution that can become a biotech prime and go beyond that and actually translate technologies back to the civilian."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
6 Medications That Don't Mix Well with Your Vitamin D Supplement, According to Pharmacists
Reviewed by Dietitian Kelly Plowe, M.S., RDKey Points Vitamin D is a popular supplement, but it can have harmful interactions with various medications. High blood pressure and seizure medications are just some of the drugs that may not mix well. Talk with your pharmacist about any medications you're taking that may interact with vitamin need vitamin D for our immune health, building and maintaining bone density and even reducing inflammation. But it's challenging to eat enough vitamin D through food alone. And even though it's synthesized in the skin via sun exposure, it's often not enough. Perhaps that's why about a third of Americans are turning to vitamin D supplements to help meet their daily needs. Vitamin D supplements help to fill the gaps, but that can come at a cost if they're taken with certain medications. 'Like any supplement, vitamin D should be used with guidance to avoid interactions and ensure safety,' says Lauren Smith, Pharm.D. Learn more about these six medications that interact with vitamin D supplements. Thiazide Diuretics High blood pressure is common in the U.S., with close to half of American adults living with the condition. If you're one of the many with high blood pressure, then you may be prescribed a drug from a group known as thiazide diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide. In addition to managing fluid retention and blood pressure, thiazide diuretics also cause the body to absorb and retain calcium. 'Adding vitamin D on top of that can sometimes raise calcium in the body to unsafe levels, which may cause nausea, confusion or irregular heart rhythms,' says Smith. Corticosteroids Corticosteroids like prednisone are prescribed for a variety of conditions, such as inflammatory disorders and autoimmune diseases. They can also interact with vitamin D supplements because they may reduce their effectiveness. 'Long-term use [of corticosteroids] can make it harder for your body to use vitamin D, which means you may not receive enough calcium,' says Smith. 'Over time this increases the risk for weakened bones.' Smith says that it may be beneficial to take a vitamin D supplement when prescribed corticosteroids but emphasizes to only do so under the care of a health care professional. Antiseizure Medications Antiseizure medications like phenytoin or phenobarbital are prescribed to treat seizures and, in some cases, may be used as a sedative. These types of medications have been linked to vitamin D deficiency and lower blood calcium levels, which can negatively impact bone density. 'These medications cause your body to break down vitamin D faster, making it less effective and possibly leading to weaker bones over time,' says Smith. Cardiac Glycosides 'Vitamin D and calcium go hand in hand, as vitamin D allows for the absorption of calcium into the body,' says Joseph Walter, Pharm.D., an ambulatory care pharmacist. 'As a result, it can increase calcium levels.' This increase in calcium can cause complications if you're taking cardiac glycosides, like digoxin, which are used to treat heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and arrhythmias—all conditions that affect the heart's rhythm., 'High vitamin D intake can raise calcium levels, increasing the risk of digoxin toxicity, which can cause serious heart rhythm problems,' says Smith. Lipase Inhibitors Lipase inhibitors, such as orlistat, are drugs that reduce the absorption of fat from food. Because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and requires fat in the diet for optimal absorption, a side effect of orlistat can be a reduction in vitamin D absorption from supplements. Walter recommends separating when you take orlistat and vitamin D supplements by at least two hours. Bile Acid Sequestrants High cholesterol affects approximately 20% of the American population, and if you fall into this category, then you may be prescribed bile acid sequestrants to help manage the condition. These medications can interact with vitamin D supplements through their effect on vitamin D absorption. Walter recommends spacing out the bile acid sequestrants by taking vitamin D either one to four hours before or four to six hours after taking the prescribed medication. Our Expert Take Vitamin D supplements are a popular addition to the health routine of many Americans; however, they may interact with many commonly prescribed medications. 'If you are uncertain if you can take vitamin D with any of your medications, I recommend speaking with your doctor or pharmacist,' says Walter. 'Your pharmacist will have a list of all your medications and will be able to run a drug interaction check to offer the best recommendation regarding vitamin D supplementation.' We've shared commonly prescribed drugs that interact with vitamin D supplements, but keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive. You should work with your pharmacist to identify any medications you're taking that may cause an interaction with supplements, including vitamin D. 'As one of the most accessible health care professionals, pharmacists are perfectly positioned to assist with your medication and supplement needs,' says Walter. Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Medscape
6 days ago
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Low Vitamin D May Raise COVID-19 Hospitalisation Risk
TOPLINE: An analysis of over 150,000 participants found that insufficient and deficient levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased risk for COVID-19 hospitalisation but not with the risk for COVID-19 infection; however, no significant associations were found among participants with a prior cancer diagnosis. METHODOLOGY: Researchers in London used data from the UK Biobank cohort to assess the association between levels of vitamin D (insufficient and deficient vs normal) and both COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation. They included a total of 151,543 participants (mean age, 56 years; 53% women), with a subset of 24,400 participants diagnosed with cancer prior to 2019. Serum vitamin D levels were measured at baseline between 2006 and 2010 (deficiency, < 24 nmol/L; insufficiency, 25-50 nmol/L; and normal, > 50 nmol/L); all had at least one positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test. Endpoints were first COVID-19 infection (measured using the positive polymerase chain reaction test result) and COVID-19 hospitalisation (measured using hospital admission records). TAKEAWAY: Among overall participants, 14% had at least one positive COVID-19 test result, of whom 11% were hospitalised; in the cancer cohort, 11% of participants tested positive for COVID-19 and 14% of them were hospitalised. Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency were associated with 19% and 36% higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalisation, respectively, than normal levels of vitamin D (P < .001 for both); however, no association was found between low levels of vitamin D and COVID-19 infection. Sensitivity analyses showed that among Black and Asian participants, low levels of vitamin D were linked to an increased risk for COVID-19 infection but not to increased hospitalisation rates. Among the subset of patients with cancer, levels of vitamin D were not significantly associated with COVID-19 outcomes. IN PRACTICE: "[The study] results highlight the complex role of VitD [vitamin D] in COVID-19 outcomes and the varying impact it has across different population subgroups," the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Maria J. Monroy-Iglesias, Transforming Outcomes through Research, Centre for Cancer, Society, and Public Health, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, King's College London, London, England. It was published online on July 18, 2025, in PLoS One. LIMITATIONS: Vitamin D levels were measured at baseline (between 2006 and 2010) over a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have led to the misclassification of participants' vitamin D status. This study could not account for seasonal variations in vitamin D levels. Subgroup analyses were limited by small sample sizes. The study cohort was not fully representative of the UK population, and potential bias may have arisen from differential access to COVID-19 testing. DISCLOSURES: This study did not receive any specific funding. The authors declared having no competing interests. This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
