Vitamin C is the supplement people reach for at the first sign of a sniffle — but does it actually work, and what else does it do? Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin your body can’t make or store, so you need a regular supply from food. It builds collagen, acts as an antioxidant, supports…
Albumin levels rarely make headlines, but this single protein quietly keeps your blood where it belongs and ferries vital cargo around your body. Albumin is the most abundant protein in your blood, made entirely by your liver. When its level drops, fluid can leak out of your blood vessels and pool in your tissues —…
If your watch nags you to hit 10,000 steps a day, here’s some freeing news: that number was never based on science. It came from a 1960s marketing campaign, not a study. So how many steps a day do you really need? Research now points to a more achievable answer — and to the reassuring…
DHEA levels quietly peak in your twenties and then fall, decade by decade, for the rest of your life — a decline that has made DHEA one of the most hyped “anti-ageing” supplements on the shelf. But what is this hormone actually for? Made by your adrenal glands, DHEA is a raw material your body…
Vitamin A deficiency is rare in well-fed countries but remains a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide — and vitamin A is unusual among vitamins because getting too much can be just as harmful as getting too little. This fat-soluble vitamin keeps your vision sharp in dim light, supports your immune system, and helps your…
Your respiratory rate — how many breaths you take in a minute — is one of the four classic vital signs, alongside your heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. It’s also one of the most revealing: breathing often speeds up before anything else when the body is under strain, which makes it an early warning…
Your bilirubin levels are a window onto your liver and your red blood cells. Bilirubin is a yellow-orange pigment made when old red blood cells are broken down — the same pigment that gives a healing bruise its yellow tinge. Normally your liver clears it efficiently, but when bilirubin builds up, it can turn your…
Your sodium levels say less about how much salt you eat and more about your body’s water balance. Sodium is the main electrolyte in the fluid outside your cells, and your body guards its concentration within a narrow range — because where sodium goes, water follows. A reading that’s too high or too low is…
Prolactin levels are easy to overlook, but this pituitary hormone can quietly explain a surprising range of symptoms — from irregular periods and a low sex drive to unexplained difficulty conceiving. Prolactin’s main job is to produce breast milk, so it’s naturally high during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Outside those times, though, a raised level can…
A normal body temperature isn’t the single, fixed 37°C (98.6°F) most of us grew up with. That famous figure comes from a study in the 1800s, and modern research puts the true average a little lower — and, more importantly, shows that your temperature is always on the move. It rises and falls through the…