Dr. Chet’s Health Memos
If it’s in the health news today, I’ll be writing about it as soon as I read the research, both old and new. With my email Health Memos, you’ll know more about making lifestyle choices that will help you get and keep good health. These free, concise updates on health are emailed to subscribers twice a week. Subscribe today and get a free MP3, in English or Spanish, of Dr. Chet’s Top Ten Tips—Small Changes for a Healthier Life.
Better School Lunches
Just about every day, more school districts are opting out of the U.S. National School Lunch Program—some because they don’t want the government to tell them what to do, most to save money because school districts are allowed to opt out if costs are too high. If you’re not familiar with this issue, read the messages in late December about the Kids Act.
One of the reasons some schools give is that kids won’t eat the required vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, creating more food waste. Judging by the combinations of foods some school cafeteria . . .
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Diet Soda and Your Waistline: The Bottom Line
Let’s finish up our look at the recently published paper on diet soda and waist circumference (1). Should you stop drinking that diet soda or energy drink? You decide after you read this.
It’s obvious the researchers came in with a point of view: diet soda makes people fat. They had published or presented at least two other papers over the years that said the same thing using some of the same data. I can overlook that.
What is more difficult for me to accept is that the researchers believe this study means something in the real world . . .
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Diet Soda and Your Waistline
We’re continuing our look at the role that diet soda may be playing in increasing your waistline especially over 65. While the study made for sensational headlines, was the attention deserved? In my opinion, no.
The premise of the paper is that as waist circumference increases, so does the risk of cardiometabolic disease: diseases associated with visceral fat (1). That would include heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and others. Visceral fat seems to be more metabolically active (or in simpler terms, the fat under the muscle and around the organs seems to be hungrier) and thus contributes . . .
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Is Diet Soda Making You Fat?
A week or so ago we were greeted with headlines that said that diet soda will make you fatter if you’re over 65 (1). If that doesn’t make you curious just about nothing will, especially if you’re carrying extra weight and drink diet soft drinks. Let’s see what the study was all about.
Researchers at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center have been conducting a multiethnic study called the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging or SALSA for short; sometimes I think more effort goes into creating the name than designing the study. When the . . .
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Supplements for Low Back Pain
To cope with pain in the lower back, we’ve looked at solutions that deal with mechanics: trying to increase the fluid levels of the discs as well as stretching and strengthening the core muscles. The next logical step is to cover some supplements that can help with low back pain.
Where there’s pain, there’s inflammation. Two nutrients can help reduce inflammation in bones and joints: omega-3 . . .
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Ab Exercises to Help Your Back
Many of you have asked how to do the abdominal curls and the fanny raises I mentioned in Thursday’s memo. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ve included pictures of each along with some tips to do them correctly.
Abdominal Curl
This is a modified form of the old straight-leg sit up. There are several key elements to make sure that you protect your back and neck. The idea is to curl up as far as you can and . . .
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Mechanics: Walking Wrong on a Treadmill
This past winter, I’ve done most of my running on treadmills. I should say that I’ve done my run/walks on treadmills as I rarely run continuously anymore, even in races. The more time I spend on treadmills, the more I watch other people walk on treadmills, and too many are doing it just plain wrong.
Huh? How can you walk wrong? You’ve been doing it since you were about a year old. The primary error that spoils the body’s mechanics is holding on to the handrails, especially when walking at a grade. On top of . . .
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Mechanics: Reducing Back Pain
On Tuesday, I talked about what causes bulging discs and one way to help reduce the pinched nerves that cause pain. Today I’ll give you the second tactic to help bulging discs, primarily those in your lower back in what is known as the lumbar region. The solution is simple:
Stretch and strengthen your core.
Specifically, stretch the muscles of the lower back, the hamstrings, and the quads; and strengthen the muscles in the abdominal region.
Most people have an anterior pelvic tilt: the front of the pelvis drops making the . . .
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Mechanics: Why Discs Bulge
Lately I’ve heard many people saying they have “bulging discs” and the result is some form of back or leg pain. As an exercise physiologist with good training in biomechanics, the mechanics of movement have always fascinated me; this week, I’m going to talk about that subject, starting by stating a fact about those bulging discs:
Everyone who walks upright has discs that begin to bulge at some point in their lives.
Bulging discs are simply part of the deal that goes along with walking. Whether they cause pain or . . .
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The Real Problem with Food
On Thursday I talked about the 1977 Dietary Goals for the U.S. In this message, I’m going to let you know how the Senate Committee recommended we achieve those goals. I’m also going to tell you what the real problem is that has lead us to this sorry state of body weight that exists today.
What no anti-carbohydrate guru tells us is how we were supposed to achieve those dietary goals of increasing carbohydrates while lowering fat intake. Listening to what they say, you’d think we were told to start eating white bread and sugary . . .
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