Steve Culbertson 🌻

I'm a cardiologist. I take 7 supplements every single day — and the timing matters as much as the pill. Get it wrong and you leave half the benefit on the table. Here's exactly what I take, when, and the synergies almost nobody explains. 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 — with a meal containing fat 1. Creatine, 5g. Not just for the gym. It fuels ATP production in every cell — including heart muscle and brain. Stronger aging muscle, faster recovery, sharper cognition. One of the most researched compounds on earth. Consistency beats loading. Tell your doctor before anyone reads your creatinine — it raises the number without touching kidney function. 2. Vitamin D3 + K2, 2,000-5,000 IU with 100-200 mcg K2. Target a blood level of 50-80, not the "normal" 30 most labs accept. Here's what most people miss: D3 without K2 can direct calcium into your arteries instead of your bones. And D without magnesium can worsen a magnesium deficiency, because your body burns magnesium to activate D. These three are a system, not three separate pills. 3. CoQ10 (ubiquinol), 100-300mg. Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day and every beat needs it. Statins and age both deplete it — fatigue, muscle aches, and lost stamina often follow. Ubiquinol absorbs better. If you're on a statin, this is the most rational pairing in cardiology. 4. Omega-3, 1,000-2,000mg EPA+DHA. Critical detail: most shelf fish oil is oxidized and rancid. Only buy NSF or USP certified. Supports triglycerides, vessel flexibility, inflammation, and rhythm. 5. Psyllium husk, 1 tablespoon. In water or yogurt, with extra water. Binds cholesterol, steadies blood sugar, feeds gut bacteria. Most people get half the fiber they need. Noticeable within days. 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 — 30-60 minutes before bed 6. Magnesium glycinate, 300-500mg. Up to 75% of adults are low. It calms the nervous system, relaxes blood vessels, supports rhythm, and deepens sleep. Glycinate, not oxide — oxide is poorly absorbed and mostly gives you a stomachache. Patients thank me for this one more than almost anything else I prescribe. They finally wake up calm instead of wrecked. 7. Glycine, 5g. Lowers core temperature just enough to fall asleep faster and stay asleep. Also rebuilds collagen and supports the gut lining overnight. Stacks beautifully with magnesium glycinate — many people say it gives them the sleep they had in their twenties. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧 Taking fat-solubles — D3, K2, CoQ10, omega-3 — on an empty stomach. You're absorbing a fraction. Starting D3 without magnesium. Buying oxidized fish oil because it was on sale. Magnesium oxide instead of glycinate. Taking them "when I remember." These work on consistency, not intention. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 These are not magic. They fill the gaps modern food, chronic stress, and aging quietly create. They will never outperform sleep, resistance training, real food, and blood pressure control — and they are not a substitute for treating actual disease. And check with your own physician first, particularly if you have kidney disease or take blood thinners, statins, or nitrates. If you're on warfarin, K2 is off the table without your doctor. Cheap. Evidence-backed. Timing optimized. Do it properly for 30 days and watch what happens to your sleep, your energy, and your night cramps — those shift first, usually within two weeks. Save this one.

I'm a cardiologist. After 40, stop guessing about your health. These numbers tell you whether you're building a long, vibrant life — or quietly declining without knowing it. I run these on myself. I run them on every patient I care about. Most are cheap bloodwork. All are available now. And together, they paint a picture no standard annual physical will ever give you. Print this. Bring it to your next appointment. Your 60-year-old self will thank you. ꟷꟷꟷ 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻 Target: below 5 μIU/mL. Ideal: 3-4. This is the 10-year warning bell your standard panel completely misses. Your glucose and A1c can look "normal" for a decade while your pancreas is working overtime to keep them there. Fasting insulin catches insulin resistance 5-10 years before your A1c moves. By the time A1c rises, the damage is already extensive. 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔-𝗜𝗥 Target: below 1.0. Calculated from fasting insulin and fasting glucose. The single best measure of insulin sensitivity. Above 1.0 and your metabolism is already under strain. Above 2.5 and you're insulin resistant — even if every other number looks fine. 𝗛𝗯𝗔𝟭𝗰 Target: below 5.4%. Not below 5.7% — that's the threshold where medicine calls you "prediabetic." By then you've been metabolically compromised for years. Optimal is below 5.4%. Blood sugar mastery is longevity mastery. 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗹𝘆𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 : 𝗛𝗗𝗟 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼 Target: below 2. Ideal: below 1. Your metabolic health crystal ball. This ratio predicts insulin resistance, cardiovascular risk, and metabolic syndrome better than any single lipid number alone. A ratio above 3.5 is a red flag regardless of what your total cholesterol says. 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗕 Target: below 80 mg/dL for moderate risk. Below 60 for high risk. I've written about this extensively. ApoB counts every atherogenic particle hitting your artery walls. A 2024 analysis found 54% of patients had dangerous levels that standard LDL testing completely missed. If you only know your LDL, you're driving with one eye closed. 𝗟𝗽(𝗮) Test once in your lifetime. 100% genetic. 1 in 5 Americans are elevated. Triples heart attack risk independently of everything else on this list. Diet and exercise cannot lower it. The 2026 ACC/AHA guidelines now recommend everyone be tested. Most never have been. 𝗵𝘀-𝗖𝗥𝗣 Target: below 1.0 mg/L. You can have perfect cholesterol and inflamed arteries silently preparing to rupture. hs-CRP measures the fire behind the plaque. The JUPITER trial proved that finding and treating inflammation saves lives — even when lipids look fine. If this number is elevated, your mouth, your gut, your metabolic health, and your visceral fat are the first places to investigate. 𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗗 Target: 50-80 ng/mL. Not the bare minimum of 30 your doctor accepts. Suboptimal vitamin D is linked to higher inflammation, weaker immunity, increased cardiovascular events, worse mood, and poorer outcomes across nearly every disease I treat. Supplement D3 with K2 — without K2, calcium deposits in your arteries instead of your bones. 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 + 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲) Men: optimal range 600-1000+ ng/dL total. Declining testosterone is an independent predictor of cardiovascular death in men. It's tied to insulin resistance, arterial stiffness, visceral fat accumulation, and systemic inflammation. DHEA-S drops 10-20% every decade after 30. Tracking these isn't about vanity — it's evaluating your body's systemic resilience. 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 Target: below 120/80. Aim closer to 110/70. Every point above optimal is cumulative arterial damage. Buy a home cuff. Measure morning and evening, seated quietly for five minutes, arm at heart level. White-coat readings in the office miss what's really happening. The smartest $40 investment in cardiac self-care. 𝗩𝗢𝟮 𝗠𝗮𝘅 Men over 40: above 40 mL/kg/min. Women over 40: above 35. Cardiorespiratory fitness is the single strongest predictor of all-cause mortality — stronger than smoking, diabetes, or heart disease as individual risk factors. A landmark study in JAMA found that extreme fitness was associated with the lowest mortality with no upper limit of benefit. You can estimate VO2 max with a timed mile, a rower test, or a wearable. Get faster every year. 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Target: as few as possible. Every medication you're on should be earning its place. I just wrote about five commonly prescribed drugs that do more harm than good with long-term use. Bring your full medication list to every appointment. Ask: "Do I still need this?" Deprescribing is one of the most powerful and underused tools in medicine. ꟷꟷꟷ Thirteen numbers. Most available through cheap bloodwork and simple tests. Get them once or twice a year. Here's what I want you to understand: these numbers don't just tell you where you are. They tell you where you're heading. A fasting insulin of 8 today becomes diabetes in five years. An ApoB of 120 today becomes a heart attack in ten. An hs-CRP of 3 today means your arteries are inflamed right now — regardless of how healthy you feel. The standard annual physical checks a fraction of these. It was designed to find disease that's already there. This panel finds the disease that's coming — years before it arrives. What gets measured gets improved. Optimize with the foundation I write about every week on this platform: Zone 2 cardio plus resistance training 3-4 times per week. High-protein whole-food nutrition. Sleep 7-9 hours — non-negotiable. Morning sunlight. Stress management. And the targeted supplements I've covered in detail — creatine, magnesium, CoQ10, D3+K2, glycine, omega-3, psyllium husk. The breakthroughs coming in the next decade — gene editing for cholesterol, cellular reprogramming, senolytics that clear senescent "zombie" cells driving inflammation and aging, GLP-1 drugs rewriting metabolic medicine — will be most powerful for people who've already built the metabolic foundation to receive them. The future of medicine is personalized. But it starts with knowing your numbers today. Print this list. Book the bloodwork. Own the data. Prevention isn't passive. It's the most aggressive thing you can do for the decades ahead.