Have a Little Faith

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The Buffalo Bills were losing 21-0 in the second quarter this past weekend, and I had that sinking feeling that this was not going to turn out well. I told Paula I was going to do something else; I was recording the game so if they won, I’d watch it later. I recalled what quarterback Josh Allen said in the first game of the season when they came back to win late in the game: “Have a little faith.”  I had my doubts, but I kept watching. And that’s really what faith is: it’s not having no doubts but believing in spite of your doubts.

As the new year approaches, I’d guess you have some health goals for 2026. You may have set those same goals before, and they just fizzled out after a few weeks or months. I understand that because it’s happened to me more than once. Don’t let that stop you from trying again. You’ve got to believe you can do it and make that your anchor.

You already know that you’ll have days where everything goes to plan whether it’s with what you ate, how much you exercised, and did all the other things that were consistent with your goals. But you also know that some days will just not work right. Even something simple like misplacing your car keys can throw off your timing to workout before you have to be at work. You may forget your carefully planned lunch and have to wing it. You may find that your weight loss or blood pressure is not changing the way you expect. That’s when you’ve really got to believe in yourself. You will overcome as long as you keep the faith. The path may be different than you expected, or longer than you hoped, but you can do it in 2026.

The Bills came back and won 35–31. You’ll win, too, as long as you have faith.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Brain Boon, Not Brainrot

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Maybe you’ve been hearing about brainrot; if you have a kid in the house, the odds go way up. My point in mentioning this is to suggest that peanuts don’t contribute to brainrot, but may be a brain boon as I talked about on Tuesday. The question was why?

Nutrients May Hold the Key

Peanuts, as well as other nuts, are high in the amino acid l-arginine. Nitric oxide (NO) increases dilation in blood vessels which help blood flow everywhere but especially to the heart and the brain. We usually associate nitrates from vegetables with that process, but there’s another pathway which uses arginine to increase NO levels as well. That could explain the increases in blood flow to the areas of the brain. The increase in NO could also partially explain the reduction in systolic blood pressure.

In addition, the fiber in peanuts, the antioxidant properties found in the peanut skin phytonutrients, and replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats may also have an impact on blood flow. The peanut skins contain resveratrol, a phytonutrient that has shown promise in reducing cardiovascular disease in general.

Carbohydrate intake increased while fat decreased during the eating-peanuts phase of the study. One of the key findings was that the unsaturated fats in the nuts replaced some of the saturated fats in the diet. Overall, the peanuts were beneficial.

Limitations with Hope

This was a small study with essentially healthy older adults; how that might work for people with disease must still be tested. The cost of the methodology using special MRI analytics limited how many subjects would be realistic to study, but there were at least some benefits in every category they tested. This shows that modifying the diet in just one area may be a step toward improving your health. There’s no reason not to try eating peanuts (unsalted or lightly salted is preferable) to see how it impacts us personally.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.10.020

Peanuts as Health Food!

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I’m Chet and I’m a salt-a-holic—specifically, nuts and especially peanuts—so when I caught a headline about peanuts in my research feed, I had to check it out. The title of the paper included the words “skin-roasted peanut consumption” so whatever the study was about, I was in. We hear a lot about peanut allergies, but today let’s look at potential health benefits.

Researchers in the Netherlands wanted to find out whether peanut consumption would have the same mpact on blood flow to the brain and improve memory as prior research had shown with other nuts. The 31 subjects, average age 67, served as their own controls. They ate 60 grams of unsalted skin-roasted peanuts (about a half cup) every day for 16 weeks, took 8 weeks off to washout any short-term benefits, and then ate no nuts for another 16 weeks.

The technology used in this study was astounding, from measuring blood flow to different areas of the brain using two different methods, food frequency questionnaires, cognitive tests, and even tests of strength. When all was said and done, there was about a 3.6% and 4.5% increase in blood flow to two regions of the brain, a 5 point drop in systolic blood pressure, and an improvement in cognitive testing.

The question is why? Why would eating roughly 340 calories of peanuts a day increase blood flow to the brain? We’ll cover that on Saturday.

In this current state of uncertain healthcare coverage, you need a personal advocate to help you make the right choices for your health. Tomorrow is the final Insiders Conference call for the year. We’re going to cover a variety of topics as well as answer Insider questions. Become an Insider by 8 p.m. tomorrow night, and you can take part.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.10.020

Should You Do Chair-Based Exercises?

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There are two more questions on the benefit of the chair-based exercises for getting stronger and getting ripped while doing it.

Will Chair-Based Exercise Increase Muscle Mass?

Examining the research on the benefits of chair-based exercise for increasing muscle mass seems clear. It will not—at least not to the degree the chair-based exercise ads suggest. People, specifically those over 60, will gain some strength that will help with balance and increase flexibility, but there’s no evidence it will increase muscle mass to any degree. I think that makes chair-based exercise beneficial for most people at some point in their lives.

And, by the way, how are those thighs feeling after doing one maximum set of squats every day by standing up and sitting down in a chair?

Should Men Over 50 Avoid Strenuous Exercise?

No. Whether it’s lifting weights or running a 5K, there’s no evidence that intense exercise is only for the young. What I think they were heading for was preventing age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia. Limited data shows that weight training can slow down muscle loss or reverse the loss somewhat, but it involves lifting weights, not chair exercises.

The intensity of your exercise program should always be dictated by discussions with your physician or physical therapist to plan your exercise path according to any cardiovascular disease, metabolic, or orthopedic issues you have. Chair exercises are definitely beneficial in helping you live your life, but looking lean and ripped is not going to happen. (That dream guy in the image is created with AI.)

The Problem

The companies that are promoting the apps related to chair exercises are doing a genuine disservice to potential customers. It’s a classic bait-and-switch. What they’re really promoting is intermittent fasting, focusing on the keto or Paleo diets, and tracking everything: food, exercise, sleep, and more. They offer chair exercise programs, but they begin easy. I’ve seen some of the videos later in the program, and the increase in intensity will make it difficult for people to keep up. That’s not going to happen in 15 minutes a day.

One more thing? The people in the videos are AI-enhanced. I thought something was off, but now, in very faint letters in a very small font, the use of AI-enhanced actors is admitted in the ads.

Chair-based exercise programs are legit and a great way to begin resistance training or to maintain your strength while you’re temporarily sidelined, such as after twisting an ankle. Consider it for 2026, but remember there are no quick fixes or ways around improving your health: you have to eat better, eat less, and move more.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

What Is Chair-Based Exercise?

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Time marches on and we’re counting down to the New Year; it’s time to start planning how you’re going to maintain health and fitness if you have it or improve it if you could do better. Recently, especially on click-bait websites, there are a couple of companies that are pitching chair-based exercises as a solution to increase muscle and lose weight. “Only 15 minutes per day” they say and seem to imply you can have a body that’s ripped and toned. It’s tempting.

Part of the pitch is that after 50, men should be doing more resistance exercise and leave the heavy exercise behind because “it’s a young man’s exercise and too strenuous.” The premise of chair-exercise raises questions about increasing muscle mass.

The first question is simple: Do chair-exercise programs benefit the people who utilize them? Yes. They appear to help people who are older than 60 with flexibility and balance issues. There are dozens of exercises, from the simple such as ankle flexion and extension, to something more rigorous like squats by standing up and sitting down in a chair.

There are two more questions related to chair exercises and the approach the ads take while promoting such programs; I’ll cover that on Saturday. In the meantime, find a solid chair (preferably with arms, but it’s not critical) and do as many squats—meaning standing up and sitting down—as you can, every day, in one set, from now until Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Happy Thanksgiving!

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All of us in the Zelasko household wish you and your family a happy Thanksgiving. I’m grateful for all of you who support my business. May your travels be safe, the family fellowship be fun, and the food be delicious. Be back with you next week.

Sodium Citrate Works!

Last month, I talked about the fluid physics of pasta for making Cacio e Pepe, a three ingredient pasta dish. Researchers analyzed the best way to get the pasta to the right temp and starch level of the water. Then they used sodium citrate to compensate for the experience of an Italian grandmother who knew exactly when to add the pasta water.

Paula ordered sodium citrate, and I finally tried it. I used fresh chopped basil instead of pepper and added a teaspoon of sodium citrate as I added the cheese. No lumps in the sauce for the first time—smooth and silky—delicious! You can use the sodium citrate to make any cheese sauce smooth and not grainy or lumpy. Think about that Thanksgiving macaroni and cheese or some other recipe that requires cheese; you could even add a gravy boat of cheese sauce to encourage young (and older) guests who hate vegetables. Peas with cheese? Yes, whatever works.

The sodium citrate isn’t going to help with the turkey gravy, but for anything with a cheese sauce, like the nachos you’re going to serve as an appetizer or a snack during the game, you might find it’s a whole lot more popular this year if you use the sodium citrate trick. Leave it to physicists who love pasta to come up with the solution to clumpy cheese! That’s one more reason to be thankful.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Research Update: Peanut Allergies

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Peanut allergies can result in some of the most severe allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock; it’s especially horrible when it happens to children. While research continues on how to overcome a present allergy to peanuts, the best option is to prevent the allergy from occurring. Recent research has shown that’s possible.

Peanut Exposure Early

Researchers decided to find out why Jewish children raised in Israel had fewer peanut allergies than children raised in the United Kingdom or the United States. In the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) trial, researchers used 680 babies with allergies to one of two groups based on their reaction to a peanut pin-prick test. One group was given peanuts snacks beginning at 4 to 11 months old, and members of the other group were not exposed to peanuts. They tracked the children for five years and found that 13.7% of the children who weren’t exposed to peanuts developed peanut allergies, while only 1.7% who were exposed to peanuts early developed peanut allergies. This falls into the category of being a landmark study.

The guidelines for exposure to peanuts were changed in 2016 to encourage peanut exposure earlier in life.

Recent Research

Researchers followed groups of children in the U.S. diagnosed with atopic dermatitis from birth through three years old over two time frames: before the peanut exposure guidelines were introduced for one to two years and after the peanut guidelines were changed for one to two years. They used medical records for diagnoses and blood markers that indicate peanut sensitivity. There was a significant decrease in peanut allergy diagnoses in the follow-up period after the guidelines were introduced compared to before the guidelines. In plain language, when applied to the entire population of children in the U.S., that means thousands of children may never develop severe allergies to peanuts.

The Bottom Line

We want to protect our children, and especially their health. One possible way to protect them is to make sure they’re exposed to a varied diet. Before the Guidelines were changed, the objective was to limit their exposure to anything that might cause problems, but the LEAP study demonstrated that could be a mistake. Discuss potential allergies with your pediatrician if your child shows any signs of allergic reactions, including something relatively simple like a rash. Get their opinion on the best course of action related to food sensitivities. If a little exposure now prevents more serious issues later, that seems like the best course of action. But you have to do what you believe is in the best interest of your children—I wouldn’t make this change without consulting our pediatrician, and I hope you wouldn’t either.

One final note: this only applies to very young children. If they have already been diagnosed with severe peanut allergies, that’s a different issue. Make sure you follow procedures that your physician has recommended, and never leave the house without an EpiPen.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. N Engl J Med 2015;372:803-813
2. Pediatrics (2025) 156 (5): e2024070516.

Lectin: Hidden Danger?

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This week will be about beans and nuts, a tired ad campaign, and some exciting new research.

Let’s begin with the advertising retread. A retired pediatric cardiologist started talking about the dangers of lectins in foods, especially beans and nuts, years ago. They were the reason you had bloating and other digestive issues. That turns out to be partially true, but fire comes to the rescue.

Lectins are proteins found in the beans and nuts but also in a whole array of foods. These proteins bind to carbohydrates with varying results in the body. Some lectins found in beans cannot be absorbed, cause gastric distress, and may even compromise the immune system. Other lectins help boost the immune system, such as wheat lectins, and still others, like mushroom lectins, may have a positive neurological benefit.

Where does the fire come in? If the plants are cooked or roasted, the lectins become neutralized and cause little to no gastric distress. No country in the world suggests eating beans without thoroughly cooking them first. That eliminates most of the issues with lectins. That doesn’t mean that some people aren’t sensitive to them, but it’s not the gut-expanding problem the ads indicate. Time to retire that approach.

However, there is some exciting news when it comes to nuts. We’ll take a look on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39471

Melatonin: Stay the Course

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As we continue to examine the results that appeared to suggest that the chronic use of melatonin in people diagnosed with insomnia could result in an increased risk of a diagnosis of heart failure, heart failure hospitalizations, and death from all causes, let’s put the unreviewed abstract in perspective. One correction from Tuesday. The researchers did not track the subjects for five years; the gathered data from the past five years. That’s an important difference

The simplest way to is to convert the percentage of risk into real percentages. The study reported that the risk of developing heart failure was over 90%. That’s true, but it’s based on the percentage of insomniacs that didn’t use melatonin at 2.7% versus 4.6% in those that did use melatonin. The same logic was used for hospitalizations (19.0% vs. 6.6%), and mortality (7.8% vs. 4.3%). It still seems like a significant risk, but there’s one more number that’s important: the total number of subjects in the study.

Insomnia: The Numbers

In the United States, the average number of adults that are diagnosed with insomnia is 12%. With 268 million adults in the U.S., that means that 32.2 million people have chronic insomnia. The percentage diagnosed is about the same in all high-income countries around the world. The researchers used a database that claims to have 150 million de-identified electronic medical records in its database, so how did the number of subjects get to only 120,000? It should have been at least 15 million.

Yes, the subjects were matched for a variety of criteria including age, gender, medications, and other factors but still, that’s an awful lot of lost subjects. Even without the diagnosis of insomnia, other diagnoses such as depression and other mental health diagnoses result in insomnia. They can also predispose people to heart failure as well. Those subjects would also have been lost.

The most significant information that was not collected was any data on over-the-counter melatonin use. To their credit, they do cite that as an issue, but there are no data as to how much melatonin was actually used by the subjects who took melatonin. There’s no record of melatonin use by people in the non-melatonin group if they didn’t report it as a supplement they use to their physician. There are more questions, but that’s enough to call the results into question.

The Bottom Line

Perhaps after the peer-review process, the data collection will be more clear. But as for right now, the best thing that could be said is that they distributed a great press release that caused a lot of concern. But as for actual research evidence? There’s no reason to modify melatonin use at this point. However, it’s always a good idea for you to report any supplements you’re taking to your healthcare provider.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2025, Abstract MP2306

Melatonin: CVD Risk?

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Medical conferences are always a great source of controversy; studies are presented that haven’t been peer reviewed but have great press releases to advertise them. The American Heart Association met last week, and the Scientific Sessions didn’t disappoint. The abstract that caught my attention was based on an analysis of a large database of subjects from a variety of countries that demonstrated that melatonin used to treat insomnia could lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hospitalization.

Researchers chose subjects who were diagnosed with insomnia and took melatonin for at least a year based on their medical charts. They were matched with control subjects on a variety of characteristics including age, height, weight, and many more variables, who were also diagnosed insomniacs but did not report melatonin use. They were tracked for five years.

The abstract stated that there was a 90% greater risk of CVD diagnosis in the melatonin group. Further, there was a 350% increased risk of being hospitalized in the melatonin group and a 100% increased risk of dying from all causes as well.

Is it time to throw out the melatonin? I’ll give you some perspective on this study on Saturday.

Tomorrow night is the Insider conference call and, wow, there is a lot to talk about! If you become an Insider by 8 p.m. tomorrow night, you can join in on the call. Protein intake. Creatine. Bike paths and medical costs. And even more.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet