WELLNESS · STRESS · 6 MIN READ
written by - Casandra Bastian
updated - 31 July 2026
What if 5 separate symptoms were actually 1 common deficiency and nobody told you?
the hidden reason your sleep aid, digestive supplement, and pain reliever are all treating
the same thing
What if 5 separate symptoms were actually
1 common deficiency and nobody told you?
the hidden reason your digestive supplement, pain reliever, and sleep aid are all treating
the same thing
WELLNESS · STRESS · 6 MIN READ
written by - Casandra Bastian
updated - 31 July 2026
What if 5 separate symptoms were actually
1 common deficiency and nobody told you?
WELLNESS · STRESS · 6 MIN READ
the hidden reason your digestive supplement, pain reliever, and sleep aid are all treating
the same thing
written by - Casandra Bastian
updated - 31 July 2026
Americans spend billions a year (estimated at $250 billion) treating symptoms across dozens of categories — sleep, digestion, pain, mood, energy — without realizing they’re all branches of the same root cause.
We buy melatonin for the insomnia. Tums for the gut. Ibuprofen for the tension headaches. A weighted blanket for the restlessness. An app for the racing thoughts. CBD gummies for the edge we can’t quite name. And when none of it works, we doom scroll at 2 AM looking for something (anything!) that might help us feel normal again.
None of these products know about each other. None of them talk to each other. And none of them are asking the question: why is one person buying all of them at the same time?
Source: Nutrition Business Journal, 2024 ($69.3B U.S. dietary supplements); Research and Markets, 2024 ($30B U.S. sleep aids — Rx, OTC, devices); Whitney Economics, 2024 ($30.2B U.S. legal cannabis); Mordor Intelligence, 2025 ($76.3B U.S. behavioral health services); Consumer Healthcare Products Association ($8–9B U.S. OTC analgesics)
4.7
40
bn
$
being used regularly by wellness shoppers
AVERAGE SUPPLEMENTS
on over-the-counter
supplements in 2025
ANNUAL SPEND
Americans spend billions a year (estimated at $250 billion) treating symptoms across dozens of categories — sleep, digestion, pain, mood, energy — without realizing they’re all branches of the same root cause.
None of these products know about each other. None of them talk to each other. And none of them are asking the question: why is one person buying all of them at the same time?
Source: Nutrition Business Journal, 2024 ($69.3B U.S. dietary supplements); Research and Markets, 2024 ($30B U.S. sleep aids — Rx, OTC, devices); Whitney Economics, 2024 ($30.2B U.S. legal cannabis); Mordor Intelligence, 2025 ($76.3B U.S. behavioral health services); Consumer Healthcare Products Association ($8–9B U.S. OTC analgesics)
We buy melatonin for the insomnia. Tums for the gut. Ibuprofen for the tension headaches. A weighted blanket for the restlessness. An app for the racing thoughts. CBD gummies for the edge we can’t quite name. And when none of it works, we doom scroll at 2 AM looking for something (anything!) that might help us feel normal again.
4.7
being used regularly by wellness shoppers
AVERAGE SUPPLEMENTS
40
bn
$
on over-the-counter
supplements in 2025
ANNUAL SPEND
4.7
being used regularly by wellness shoppers
AVERAGE SUPPLEMENTS
40
bn
$
on over-the-counter
supplements in 2025
ANNUAL SPEND
Americans spend billions a year (estimated at $250 billion) treating symptoms across dozens of categories — sleep, digestion, pain, mood, energy — without realizing they’re all branches of the same root cause.
None of these products know about each other. None of them talk to each other. And none of them are asking the question: why is one person buying all of them at the same time?
Source: Nutrition Business Journal, 2024 ($69.3B U.S. dietary supplements); Research and Markets, 2024 ($30B U.S. sleep aids — Rx, OTC, devices); Whitney Economics, 2024 ($30.2B U.S. legal cannabis); Mordor Intelligence, 2025 ($76.3B U.S. behavioral health services); Consumer Healthcare Products Association ($8–9B U.S. OTC analgesics)
We buy melatonin for the insomnia. Tums for the gut. Ibuprofen for the tension headaches. A weighted blanket for the restlessness. An app for the racing thoughts. CBD gummies for the edge we can’t quite name. And when none of it works, we doom scroll at 2 AM looking for something (anything!) that might help us feel normal again.
our body has been trying to tell us something
A jaw problem. A stomach problem. A sleep problem. A phone problem. The overstimulated feeling that doesn't shut off even when we finally lie down at night. We’ve been treating these as separate things.
They’re not separate things. Our body has been keeping the score. Every stressor we pushed through, every night we lost, every moment we said 'I'm fine,’ it's all stored in these patterns. And our body has been trying to show us.
They’re our body’s stress response running on a loop, burning through the one mineral it needs to switch off, faster than we can replace it with food alone.
Source: Pickering et al., "Magnesium Status and Stress," Nutrients, 2020
our body has been trying to tell us something
A jaw problem. A stomach problem. A sleep problem. A phone problem. The overstimulated feeling that doesn't shut off even when we finally lie down at night. We’ve been treating these as separate things.
They’re not separate things. Our body has been keeping the score. Every stressor we pushed through, every night we lost, every moment we said 'I'm fine,’ it's all stored in these patterns. And our body has been trying to show us.
They’re our body’s stress response running on a loop, burning through the one mineral it needs to switch off, faster than we can replace it with food alone.
Source: Pickering et al., "Magnesium Status and Stress," Nutrients, 2020
our body has been trying to tell us something
A jaw problem. A stomach problem. A sleep problem. A phone problem. The overstimulated feeling that doesn't shut off even when we finally lie down at night. We’ve been treating these as separate things.
They’re our body’s stress response running on a loop, burning through the one mineral it needs to switch off, faster than we can replace it with food alone.
Source: Pickering et al., "Magnesium Status and Stress," Nutrients, 2020
They’re not separate things. Our body has been keeping the score. Every stressor we pushed through, every night we lost, every moment we said 'I'm fine,’ it's all stored in these patterns. And our body has been trying to show us.
