Education
Learn from Dr. Wilson
Short, plain-language videos on nutrition and supplementation, and on the difference between a lab number that is normal and one that is optimal.
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The case for supplementing at all, and the difference between a lab number that is normal and one that is optimal.
Who he is, what age management medicine actually means, and the idea running underneath everything else here: there is often a difference between a number that is normal and one that is optimal.
4 min
A genuinely contested question, answered honestly. Why the standard American diet makes hitting even baseline intake difficult, and what separates a quality supplement from a marketed one.
5 min
References (10)
These are population-level intake shortfalls rather than a finding about you. A nutrient most people run low on is a reason to test, not a diagnosis, which is the whole argument for drawing a panel before deciding anything.
- Fletcher RH, Fairfield KM, 2002 Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: clinical applications. JAMA 287(23):3127 to 3129
- USDA and HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020 to 2025, on vitamin D, calcium, fiber and potassium as shortfall nutrients
- NHANES 2007 to 2010 nutrient adequacy analysis Share of the US population, ages 4 and up, with inadequate intake from food alone: vitamin D 94.3%, vitamin E 88.5%
- McDonnell SK, et al., 2016 Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations at or above 40 ng/ml are associated with over 65% lower cancer risk. PLOS ONE 11(4):e0152441
- Narrative review of threshold evidence Variations in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration thresholds for optimal health. PMC8838864
- Dose-response meta-analyses, 2025 The optimal protective 25-hydroxyvitamin D level for different health outcomes in adults. Metabolites 15(4):264
- U-shaped curve reassessment From "the more, the better" to "precise balance": the U-shaped curve of vitamin D supplementation and the reassessment of optimal levels. PMID 42468847
- GrassrootsHealth Why the optimal vitamin D range may be higher
- Beaudry-Richard A, et al., 2025 Vitamin B12 levels association with functional and structural biomarkers of central nervous system injury in older adults. Annals of Neurology. PMID 39927551
- Vogiatzoglou A, Refsum H, Johnston C, et al., 2008 Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology 71(11):826 to 832
Alongside a GLP-1
GLP-1 medicines turn appetite down and slow how fast food moves through you. Both of those can cut how much of certain nutrients you absorb. This is the series on what that means in practice.
Why eating less means absorbing less, and why B12 is the one Dr. Wilson watches first in patients on a GLP-1.
4 min
References (2)
A total B12 above 500 is a reasonable working floor, and the newer evidence points at active B12, or methylmalonic acid, as the more meaningful marker. The conventional lower limit was set to catch anemia rather than to protect nerves, which is why a result inside the normal range is not on its own the end of the question.
- Beaudry-Richard A, et al., 2025 Vitamin B12 levels association with functional and structural biomarkers of central nervous system injury in older adults. Annals of Neurology. PMID 39927551
- Vogiatzoglou A, Refsum H, Johnston C, et al., 2008 Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly. Neurology 71(11):826 to 832
A mineral involved in more than three hundred reactions in your body, and how it touches sleep, cramping, anxiety and bowel function.
4 min
Soluble and insoluble fiber, and why keeping intake up matters more than usual when a medicine is already slowing your gut down.
3 min
Most of what your body is made of, after water, is protein. Why intake tends to run low, and why that matters more while you are losing fat.
5 min
The two fat-soluble ones. They build up rather than washing out, which is exactly why the amount is a conversation for your provider.
5 min
References (8)
The case for a target above 50 is strongest in the cancer literature. The 2025 meta-analysis of 47 meta-analyses is the counterweight: for all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes the lowest risk sits lower, and it rises again at the top of the range, so the right number depends on what you are managing for. Bring the question to your provider rather than to a chart.
- McDonnell SK, et al., 2016 Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations at or above 40 ng/ml are associated with over 65% lower cancer risk. PLOS ONE 11(4):e0152441
- Narrative review of threshold evidence Variations in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration thresholds for optimal health. PMC8838864
- Dose-response meta-analyses, 2025 The optimal protective 25-hydroxyvitamin D level for different health outcomes in adults. Metabolites 15(4):264
- U-shaped curve reassessment From "the more, the better" to "precise balance": the U-shaped curve of vitamin D supplementation and the reassessment of optimal levels. PMID 42468847
- GrassrootsHealth Why the optimal vitamin D range may be higher
- Harris WS, von Schacky C, 2004 The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease? Preventive Medicine 39(1):212 to 220
- Harris WS, Tintle NL, Imamura F, et al., 2021 Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies. Nature Communications 12:2329
- Albert CM, Campos H, Stampfer MJ, et al., 2002 Blood levels of long-chain n-3 fatty acids and the risk of sudden death. New England Journal of Medicine 346:1113 to 1118
Reading your bloodwork
Why a panel is the starting point rather than the paperwork, and what he actually looks at. These three also play inside Valdura, on the pages where your own results live.
His answer to why anyone should test before starting anything: directions depend on where you are starting from, and most programs recommend without knowing.
5 min
Total and free testosterone, why the free number is the one that can do the work, and what he sees in men whose levels sit inside the reference range but not where he would want them.
2 min
What changes through the menopausal transition, the markers he checks, and why the panel is read as a balanced system rather than one number at a time.
2 min
Worth knowing on their own
Two that come up often enough to deserve their own explanation.
An essential fatty acid that reaches the brain, the heart and the joints, and the index Dr. Wilson uses to read where someone actually sits.
3 min
References (3)
The 8% figure is the field’s working cutoff rather than a proven threshold. The 2021 pooling of 17 cohorts reinforces the direction of the original 2004 categories rather than pushing the target higher. Worth knowing if you rely on flax, walnut or chia: the plant-form precursor showed no mortality benefit in that analysis.
- Harris WS, von Schacky C, 2004 The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease? Preventive Medicine 39(1):212 to 220
- Harris WS, Tintle NL, Imamura F, et al., 2021 Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies. Nature Communications 12:2329
- Albert CM, Campos H, Stampfer MJ, et al., 2002 Blood levels of long-chain n-3 fatty acids and the risk of sudden death. New England Journal of Medicine 346:1113 to 1118
What it is without the unpronounceable name: the thing nearly every cell uses to make the energy that keeps your heart beating and your lungs moving.
4 min
These videos are general education from our medical director, not personal medical advice. The clinician you consult with decides what is right for you.
Reviewed by Dr. Calvin T. Wilson II, MD, board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) for 40 years, on September 15, 2026. I reviewed the ranges named in these videos and supplied the references behind them, and while these are widely accepted in the longevity community, what is appropriate for any one person is a decision for that person and their own clinician.