Wellness Readers Digest | Health & Wellness Tips for Everyday Living

The bones of the foot, engraving from Petrus Camper's dissertation. Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The alarm goes off. You swing your feet to the floor, put your weight down, and a hot nail seems to go through your heel. By the time you reach the bathroom the pain has faded to a dull ache, and by lunch you have almost forgotten it. Then you sit through a long meeting, stand up, and it comes straight back. If that rhythm sounds familiar, the culprit is probably a strip of tissue you have never thought about. Plantar fasciitis is irritation of the plantar fascia, the thick band of tissue that runs from the heel bone to the base of the toes. The classic sign, according to Mayo Clinic, is a sharp, stabbing pain near the heel that is often worst with the first steps in the morning. The pain eases as you move around and may return after long periods of standing or after getting up from sitting. Stretching, supportive shoes, ice and activity changes help most peop...

The inner ear, including the balance canals. Illustration: NIH BioArt Source, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. You stand up from the couch, the room tilts, and you grab the arm of the chair. Ten minutes later you are fine. Two days later it happens again, this time with a pounding headache you thought was unrelated. Most people in that spot assume an inner ear problem and wait for it to pass. Some of them are dealing with migraine that never shows up as a headache. Vestibular migraine is a migraine condition in which dizziness or vertigo is a main symptom. The Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA) calls it the most common neurological cause of vertigo in adults. Episodes last from 5 minutes to 72 hours and are often paired with light or sound sensitivity, a headache or visual aura. Treatment combines trigger management, preventive and rescue medication, and vestibular rehabilitation. Vertigo itself is only a symptom, and other causes such as BPPV need different treatment. By t...

Engraving of the rib cage and sternum, 1890 (Chauveau). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. It is 2 a.m., you woke up with a sharp stab behind your breastbone, and your first thought is the one nobody wants to have. You press on the spot and it hurts more. You take a deep breath and it hurts more still. Is that reassuring or terrifying? The honest answer is that it depends, and the rule you will see repeated all through this guide is simple: do not decide it by yourself. Costochondritis is inflammation of the cartilage that joins a rib to the breastbone. It causes sharp, aching or pressure-like chest wall pain that is often worse with deep breaths, coughing or movement. Mayo Clinic warns that the pain can feel like a heart attack, so any new chest pain needs to be evaluated. Costochondritis is diagnosed after other causes have been excluded, and it often goes away on its own over several weeks or longer. By the Wellness Readers Digest editorial team. Last updated November 2026. Thi...

Gloved hands on a snowy rail. Photo: freestocks.org, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. You reach into the grocery store freezer for a bag of peas, and by the time you reach the checkout, two fingers have gone the color of candle wax. They feel dead, then they throb as they warm up. If that sounds familiar, you may be dealing with Raynaud's phenomenon, and you are far from the only one who has stood in a checkout line wondering what is wrong with their hands. Raynaud's phenomenon is a condition in which the small blood vessels in the fingers and toes narrow too much in response to cold or stress, so the skin turns white or blue and feels numb or cold. According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), attacks last from a few minutes to a few hours. Keeping the whole body warm, avoiding nicotine and warming the hands gently during an attack are the first steps. A doctor should check for an underlying cause, because secondary Raynaud's c...

Fortified breakfast cereal and milk are simple ways to add vitamin B12. Photo: National Cancer Institute, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Tingling toes, a foggy afternoon and a tired feeling that sleep does not fix are easy to blame on age. For a vegetarian over 50 they can also point to low vitamin B12, and nerve damage can begin before a blood count looks off. Adults need 2.4 mcg of vitamin B12 a day, and lacto-ovo vegetarians can get it from milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs and fortified foods such as breakfast cereal and nutritional yeast. Because many people over 50 absorb B12 from food poorly, the NIH advises getting most of it from fortified foods or supplements. By the Wellness Readers Digest editorial team. Last updated November 2026. This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Key takeaways The daily target is 2.4 mcg for adults. Plant foods have no B12 unless they are fortified. Fortified nutritional yeast is the richest vegetarian source, at ...

Cooked spinach is among the highest oxalate foods per serving. Photo: Jeffery Martin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. One cup of cooked spinach carries about 750 mg of oxalate. That is more than seven times the 100 mg daily target some stone clinics use for people who form kidney stones. Spinach is the poster child of healthy eating, so it is fair to ask whether a salad habit could be setting up a stone. High oxalate foods include cooked spinach, rhubarb, beet greens, almonds and baked potatoes, but for most people the fix is not to avoid them. Eating calcium rich foods in the same meal, keeping urine output high with mostly water, and getting a 24 hour urine test if stones keep coming back usually does more than cutting out healthy foods. By the Wellness Readers Digest editorial team. Last updated November 2026. This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Key takeaways Oxalate is a natural compound in plants. In the gut it binds to calcium, and the leftover ...

Roasted soybeans give about 107 mg of choline per half cup. Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. One hard boiled egg has about 147 mg of choline. Matching that from plants takes more planning than most people expect: roughly two and a half baked potatoes, or two thirds of a cup of roasted soybeans. If you skip eggs, choline is the nutrient that quietly goes missing from the plate. Adults need 425 mg of choline a day (women) or 550 mg (men), and most people in the US fall short even with eggs in the diet. Without eggs, the best everyday sources are roasted soybeans, potatoes, kidney beans, quinoa and cruciferous vegetables. Each serving gives a modest amount, so you need several servings spread through the day. By the Wellness Readers Digest editorial team. Last updated November 2026. This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Key takeaways The adequate intake (AI) is 550 mg a day for men and 425 mg for women, rising to 450 mg in pregnancy and 550 ...