Warning: Spring Ahead

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This coming weekend, the clocks are moved ahead one hour in most states here in the U.S. This seems to impact some people more than others; our bodies are more sensitive to the effects of changing sleep patterns than we think. I first wrote about this 10 years ago, and I wanted to check to see if anything has changed.

In a 2008 study, Swedish researchers found that when the clocks are turned ahead one hour in the spring, the number of heart attacks increase on the following Monday and stay elevated above the mean for the rest of that week. This was confirmed in a 2020 study that examined the same question in a larger population of Swedish and U.S. citizens.

What about the opposite situation? In the fall after the clocks are turned back, the number of heart attacks goes below the mean for the following week. One hour—that’s all we’re talking about, and it has a profound effect for about 1% of the population. Does one percent sound like no big deal? That’s over 3.3 million people who could be impacted over the next couple of weeks.

Is there a solution to this? I’ll let you know on Saturday. In the meantime, perhaps going to bed a few minutes earlier every night until then may help.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. NEJM. 2008. Oct 30;359: 1966-1968.
2 Arch Intern Med. 2007 Feb 12;167(3):296-301.
3. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007927

Immune Booster 2 and 3

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Continuing with our look at how to approach the first tickle of a cold or seasonal allergies, we’ll finish up with the final two parts of our immune boosting supplements.

Garlic

The second part of our immune boost supplements is garlic; it’s been noted to have beneficial properties for over 5,000 years. Garlic thins the blood, thereby benefiting blood pressure, and helps lower cholesterol. Garlic does many things, but what benefits our immunity is its ability to boost the immune system while reducing inflammation.

There’s little question that garlic helps the immune system. It’s been used as a dietary treatment to help the immune system recover from chemotherapy; it’s also been used in supplement form to help the immune system get and stay stronger. That’s an obvious way it helps with viruses and allergies, but it also acts as an anti-inflammatory. It’s important to remember that inflammation occurs whenever our body is under attack—not necessarily broken-leg inflammation, but the release of negative hormones. Garlic helps reduce that type of inflammation.

Just as with echinacea, it’s important to begin as soon as the first tickle occurs. The quantity would be 600 mg taken three times a day. That makes our immune system start to work better.

Vitamin C

The third part of our immune system boost is vitamin C; also known as ascorbic acid, it’s best known as an antioxidant. From the research of Linus Pauling until today, vitamin C has been studied extensively. Even though vitamin C hasn’t been proven to prevent a cold, it does seem to reduce the symptoms of a cold. That may be the result of its antioxidant capacity to reduce inflammation.

When the body is exposed to viruses or allergens, the immune response is triggered. That’s desirable, of course, but what we don’t like are the symptoms associated with the response, such as watery eyes, runny nose, congestion, and on and on. While the exact mechanism is unknown, what may be happening is that vitamin C may be clearing up the free radicals in immune response cells, thereby allowing them to function better. No one knows, but it makes sense.

Take 250–500 mg three times a day. Some people increase their C to 10 times that amount, but my strategy is always to take the lowest amount to get the result I want.

The Bottom Line

The old adage “There’s no cure for the common cold!” was correct and still is as of this date. But if you want to reduce the symptoms and possibly the duration of common infections such as colds, the flu, or even seasonal allergies, remember the immune boosting trio.

Let’s summarize our immune boost formula, keeping in mind the number of tablets can vary depending on brands. Three times per day, take these:

            500 mg echinacea

            600 mg garlic

            250–500 mg vitamin C

Remember: the first tickle in your throat is the best time to start the immune boost trio.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Nutrients. 2022. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu14214604

Immune Booster 1: Echinacea

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Just like nine years ago when I first wrote this, the cold and flu season is still around. The seasonal allergy season is right around the corner and may have started, depending on where you live. When you feel that first tickle in the back of your throat, that first nasally sensation, that’s when you have to take action, confirmed again with a recently released study. That’s what we do in our house, and that’s what I’m going to cover this week.

It begins with echinacea. The research on echinacea was and is still equivocal when it comes to treating colds, but when it comes to boosting the immune system at the beginning of immune challenges, the research supports its use. There are three key factors:

  • Echinacea must be started at the first hint of a symptom.
  • The dose must be high enough to stimulate the immune system; I recommend 500 mg of echinacea derived from both the root and aerial parts three times per day.
  • Echinacea works best for those with a compromised immune system. Even the healthiest person will catch a cold or have seasonal allergies, but if you have a weak immune system to begin with, or it’s been weakened by illness or stress, echinacea will be even more effective.

That’s where you begin. There are two more key supplements coming on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Adv Ther. 2015 Mar;32(3):187-200.
2. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2025.04.025

The Bottom Line on Full-Fat Dairy

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If you’re a long-time reader, you know that science by headlines really annoys me because they often distort the findings of the research papers to make them seem more important than they are—gotta get that next click! It doesn’t help that research institutions send out press releases that contribute to the hype of their research findings. Such is the case with the two papers I reviewed this week.

In the first paper, researchers claimed blood values of fatty acids found in high-fat dairy products potentially decreased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in two large cohorts. Of the 3,333 subjects who were free of diabetes when the study began, 277 developed diabetes after 15 years of follow-up. That seems like a low number compared to the general population, although these were studies on healthcare professionals who might have a better lifestyle than the rest of the population.

The problem is that they tested the blood only for dairy fats at the beginning of the study. While they did administer the food-frequency questionnaire every four years, there’s no way of knowing how the dairy fats changed over the years. At best, this is a large study that shows some form of correlation between dairy intake and type 2 diabetes but tells us nothing to help us decide whether we should change the type of dairy we eat.

In the second paper, they also used a similar food-frequency questionnaire to identify what types of dairy products the subjects used. As I’ve said many times, these are fraught with potential errors. On top of that, the difference in body weight gain between those who used the most low- and no-fat dairy products and those who used the most high-fat dairy products was about a tenth of a pound. If you account for the initial BMI and body weight, the results are about two tenths of a pound. That’s not exactly exciting over 11 years, is it?

The Bottom Line

They didn’t state the obvious, but I will. It could be that full-fat dairy keeps women (and probably men) feeling satisfied longer so they don’t eat as much. That’s what fat can do. But we can’t really know because researchers didn’t measure diet carefully enough in either study to be able to analyze it. In these cases, they didn’t collect the right type of data that could really answer the questions; thus results were not very significant.

It always comes down to six words: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. If you choose to eat dairy, you can’t overeat any type because while it may take more of the low-fat foods to reach the number of calories in high-fat dairy, eating too much is just what it says: eat too much and you’ll gain weight.

What are you prepared to do today?

Reminder: Taking Back Your Muscle, Part 2: Protein is tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. If you want clarity on creatine, amino acid, peptides, and protein and how to use them for your health, buy the webinar by 11 a.m. ET to watch live, or you can watch the replay at your convenience.

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2016/03/22/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018410
2. Am J Clin Nutr 2016;103:979–88.

Does Whole Milk Reduce Obesity?

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The second research paper that was included in many news articles that talked about the potential benefits of full-fat dairy products was a study from the Women’s Health Study (1); researchers collected dietary data and self-reported weight and height from over 39,000 women. The analysis included only about 18,000 middle-aged and older women who had a normal BMI when the study began. They analyzed the change in body weight over 11 years of follow-up.

All women gained weight over time. Contrary to expectations, those who consumed the highest number of high-fat dairy products gained less weight than those who used low- or no-fat dairy products. Of the 18,000 women with normal BMI in the beginning of the study, just over 8,000 became overweight or obese over the duration of the study.

Is it time to switch back to whole milk and cheese? I’ll give you the bottom line on Saturday.

The next webinar, Taking Back Your Muscle, Part 2: Protein, is on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. If you’ve ever had any questions about protein, amino acids, or creatine, this webinar is for you. I added one more topic that fits with protein and that’s the role of peptides, short chains of amino acids that are a hot topic today. Find out what they are, what do they do, and how much need by joining me Sunday at 1.p.m. Purchase your access to the webinar and/or replay today for $17.95; Insiders and Members get their usual discounts.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Am J Clin Nutr 2016;103:979–88.

Does Whole Milk Reduce Diabetes?

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Full-fat foods are back in the headlines in light of the recent proclamations by the USDA. I don’t know about you, but it’s been decades since I drank whole milk or ate whole fat yogurt or cheese. It’s not just about the calories; it just doesn’t seem to taste as good. Have I been missing something? Headlines tend to exaggerate, especially when they are based on press releases. Let’s take a look behind the headlines at the research behind the proclamation.

In the first paper, researchers examined the data from both the Nurses Health Study and the Healthcare Professionals Follow-up Study. I’ve talked about these large studies many times before. They examined blood samples taken in the 1990s for fatty acids that would typically come from eating and drinking milk products. In a sub-sample of subjects, those who had higher fatty acids from milk products in their plasma and blood cells had a 45% reduced rate of developing type 2 diabetes an average of 15 years later.

We’ll take a look at the second study on Thursday. (We’ve still been having computer problems—that’s why you’re getting the Memo today instead of last Saturday and why we’re sending a second Memo on Thursday.)

The next webinar, Taking Back Your Muscle, Part 2: Protein, is available for purchase now. If you’ve ever had any questions about protein, amino acids, or creatine, this webinar is for you. I added one more topic that fits with protein and that’s the role of peptides, short chains of amino acids that are a hot topic today. Find out what they are, what do they do, and how much you need by joining me Sunday at 1.p.m.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2016/03/22/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.018410

Your Questions Answered

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Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes; Paula has been doing great in her recovery from shoulder-replacement surgery. She’s abiding by all the restrictions on trying to use the arm and looks forward to beginning rehab.

If you were looking for the Super Bowl Webinar this past Sunday, it wasn’t held—yet. I forgot to inform everyone that the next Aging with a Vengeance webinar will be held on Sunday, February 22, at 1 p.m. The webinar should be in the store ready for sale by next Sunday.

Beginning Saturday, I’ll update some Memos that examined full-fat dairy products. That’s pertinent today because the new dietary guidelines encourage their consumption. Justified? You be the judge after reading the research.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Your Heart: Tone

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If you live to 80, your heart will beat an average of three billion times. That’s right—billion with a b. Faster when you exercise, slower when you’re at rest, it does its job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What’s even more amazing about your heart rate is how it’s controlled by the nervous system. I’ve always found it fascinating and here’s why.

The SA node or pacemaker of the heart we talked about Tuesday normally gets signals from nerves that tell it to slow down and nerves that tell it to speed up; one is inhibitory to slow it down while the other is stimulatory to speed it up, but they’re both sending signals at the same time. Where they balance is called tone and sets your resting heart rate. Start to exercise and more stimulatory impulses come to speed up your heart rate. Stop exercising and more inhibitory are sent until you reach a resting heart rate again. Exercise regularly and your heart can reset the tone at a lower rate by increasing the inhibitory and decreasing the stimulatory. You don’t even have to think about it.

There are other mechanisms that control heart rate, such as the fight or flight hormones. Maybe you think of your heart and decide, “I don’t like your tone!” The good news is you can change it; most of the time the tone you set by your lifestyle is the heart rate you’re going to have.

I hope you know more about your heart than you did before; I think it’s important to know as much as you can about the body your brain lives in. Now go forth and live a heart-healthy lifestyle to keep everything working smoothly.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Your Heart: Autorhythmicity

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Your heart can beat over 200 times per minute during maximal exercise, depending on your age, yet every beat is a succinct event made up of many steps with every one of those beats controlled by the electrical system of the heart. While that’s incredible in and of itself, the real story is one of the most amazing features of your heart called autorhythmicity.

Your heart has a special area in one chamber that stimulates it to beat. It’s called the sino-atrial node (SA node) or the pacemaker. Think of that as the command center: it takes information coming from your body and sets the pace of your heart rate.

What you might not know is that some cells of the heart can stimulate themselves to beat. If something goes wrong with the electrical system for some reason, your heart can go right on beating because of the muscle make-up we talked about in Saturday’s Memo on syncytium. It lends itself to this autorhythmic feature. Think of it as the ultimate fail-safe system—makes you sleep a little easier, doesn’t it?

One more cool feature I’ll talk about on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Your Heart: Syncytium

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The next few Memos were from 2016 and are still relevant today! This is why your heart is special. Let’s begin American Heart Month with some facts you probably didn’t know about your heart. Your heart is unique in many ways, and you’re going to learn about a few of them.

The heart muscle is similar to skeletal muscle in the way it contracts, but that’s where the similarity ends. While skeletal muscle is laid out in parallel fashion and independent of one another, the heart muscle splits and connects to other fibers. In that way, every heart muscle cell connects to every other heart muscle cell, and that allows signals to be transferred very quickly. It’s referred to as a syncytium (pronounced sinˈsiSHəm) because it can act as a single unit.

But the heart must contract in specific locations at the correct time in order for blood to be pumped. The heart has to contract at the upper chambers first, the atria, and then the bottom of the lower chambers called the ventricles. That allows the blood to be pumped from the upper chambers to the lower, then from the lower chambers through arteries to the body.

Pretty cool, isn’t it? Wait until you read Tuesday’s Memo about the electrical system of the heart.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet