Weekly Calcifediol Raised Vitamin D

Women with vitamin D deficiency who took 100 µg of calcifediol weekly reached an adequate level within a month far more often than the comparison group, 68% versus 6%. Levels rose into the high 30s and held in the low 40s for the rest of the year. Body size, menopause status, and safety did not separate the groups.

Calcifediol is 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, the form the liver makes from vitamin D3. Taking it directly skips that conversion step. In the US it’s prescription-only, unlike the D3 (cholecalciferol) and D2 (ergocalciferol) sold over the counter. That’s why it comes up for clients with poor fat absorption, slow liver conversion, or a very low starting level that needs to come up before another therapy. Two caveats: this study compared calcifediol with placebo, not with D3 or D2, and it was a post hoc analysis of 261 women.

Takeaway: The practice point is the product: this was prescription calcifediol, not a store-shelf vitamin D. The paper does not show whether that metabolite beats D3 or D2, and the result should not be stretched to men or to a different dose.

Read study → Nutrients, November 4, 2026

Gut Diet Score and IBD

Across 198,204 UK Biobank participants, a higher dietary index for gut microbiota (DI-GM) score lined up with a lower hazard of new inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Each extra point was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.948 (95% confidence interval 0.914–0.983). Over a median 9.46 years, 1,170 new IBD cases were recorded.

The original score has 14 parts. Higher intakes of avocado, broccoli, chickpeas, coffee, cranberries, fermented dairy, fiber, green tea, soy, and whole grains earn a point, as do lower intakes of a high-fat pattern, red meat, processed meat, and refined grains. This analysis could not score chickpeas, and it used dried fruit in place of cranberries, so the working score had 13 parts. The inverse pattern was roughly linear and showed up for both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The authors describe an association. They do not show that changing the score would prevent IBD.

Takeaway: The score rewards a pattern with more fiber-rich plants, coffee, fermented dairy, and whole grains, and less red and processed meat, refined grains, and a high-fat pattern. The per-point shift in IBD hazard is small, and this study cannot show that eating for a higher score prevents IBD.

Read study → Frontiers in Nutrition, November 4, 2026

Blueberry Powder and Blood Flow

Three months of freeze-dried blueberry powder, equal to one cup of fresh blueberries a day, increased blood flow in a brain area involved in attention and mental control, compared with placebo. Glutathione, the brain’s main antioxidant, did not differ between groups. Sixty adults aged 65 to 89 who usually ate little berry fruit finished this double-blind trial.

Blood flow also rose inside the blueberry group in deeper areas tied to movement. Those extra increases were not the comparison with placebo. The trial measured blood flow and glutathione on scans. It did not test memory. Adherence was above 92% in both groups.

Takeaway: A daily cup-equivalent of blueberry powder was linked to higher blood flow in an attention-related brain area versus placebo, without a matching change in the brain’s main antioxidant. That is a scan result, not a tested change in memory or thinking.

Read study → The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 28, 2026

The Hidden Gut Connection to Menopause and Bone Loss

New Frontiers in Functional Medicine – Kara Fitzgerald • November 5, 2026

Useful if midlife bone loss is being framed as calcium or estrogen alone. Dr. Kara Fitzgerald speaks with Kiran Krishnan and Christine Maren, DO, about estrogen, the gut barrier, microbiome shifts in menopause, and bone remodeling. Listen →

Resolving vs. Reducing Inflammation: What Clinicians Need to Know about SPMs

The Root Cause Medicine Podcast – Rupa Health • November 5, 2026

Useful if clients ask how omega-3 fats relate to resolving inflammation, not only blocking it. Dr. Lara Zakaria, with Fullscript, speaks with guest Dr. Malisa Carulo about specialized pro-resolving mediators and the limits of that evidence. Carulo is Senior Manager of Medical Information and Safety at Metagenics. Listen →

How to improve your mood, energy and brain health from breakfast to dinner | Professor Tim Spector

The Doctor’s Kitchen – Dr. Rupy Aujla • November 4, 2026

A good listen when meals, mood, and gut microbes come up in the same visit. Dr. Rupy Aujla and Professor Tim Spector connect daily meals with mood, energy, inflammation, and brain health. Listen →

Menopause Masterclass: Recurrent UTIs and the Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM)

unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver • November 3, 2026

Useful if recurrent urinary symptoms or genitourinary syndrome of menopause come up in midlife care. Dr. Mary Claire Haver covers recurrent urinary tract infections and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), once called atrophic vaginitis, and treats it as common after menopause and often undertreated. Listen →

Preserving Muscle & Bone During GLP-1-Induced Weight Loss

DUTCH Podcast – Precision Analytical • November 3, 2026

Worth your time if clients using glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs are worried about muscle or bone. Dr. Tyna Moore and Dr. Jaclyn Smeaton talk through muscle and metabolic health during GLP-1-related weight loss. Listen →

November 11

Feeding the Algorithm: Social Media for Nutrition Professionals in the Age of AI
Webinar | American Nutrition Association | 5 PM ET | Register →

November 13

H. pylori in Clinical Practice: Testing Options, GI-MAP Findings, and Clinical Application
Webinar | Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory | 2 PM ET | Register →

November 18

Mastering Your Internal Clock: Sleep, Circadian Rhythms & Men’s Vitality
Webinar | Precision Analytical (DUTCH) | 2 PM CT | Register →

Audit the apps that can read your Gmail and Drive

Every “Sign in with Google” or “Connect to Google” click can give an app ongoing access to email, files or calendar. That access stays in place long after the app stops being used, and for a practice it can reach client emails, intake forms and lab PDFs. Google’s Linked apps page lists every connected app and what it can see or change. Some apps can edit, create and delete data in the account. Removing access stops future reads, but the app may keep data it already copied. Deleting that data means contacting the app.

Do this: only for apps you know you no longer use. It is just good housekeeping. Go to myaccount.google.com/connections and select “Access to” to see which apps can reach Gmail, Drive or Calendar. Click an app you know you no longer use, then choose Delete all to remove its links and stop sharing data with it.