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.
Diagnosing Disease: The Canine Frontier
Malcolm Gladwell, one of my favorite authors, recently did a show on his podcast “Revisionist History” concerning the use of dogs in screening for prostate cancer. You probably recognize his name from his many books including “The Tipping Point”; if you haven’t tried his podcast, I recommend it. If there’s one thing that keeps men […]
When in Doubt…
It may shock you to know that there are no U.S. Federal laws that mandate the use of dates on foods or supplements with a single exception: infant formula must carry dates. That makes sense—the nutrient content of formula is important for the growth and development of the baby. Other than that, as long as […]
Best If Used By
Here’s a question I’m often asked about dietary supplements as well as food: What should we do with a food or supplement once it’s past the expiration date? One of my health newsfeeds had a title that mentioned milk going bad, so my mind was off and running! What does “Best If Used By” actually […]
By Any Means Necessary, Part 2
About a year ago, I wrote about the reasons we buy food pouches for Riley. He’s six and a half, and we’re still using them, because my thinking is I’m going to get those fruits and veggies into him by any means necessary. And the battle continues. Some evenings we have a battle royal over […]
Why Errors in Food Intake Matter
What is the big deal about errors in food intake in studies most people never hear about? It’s a problem because decisions on gaps in the diet, impact of nutrient intake, and the potential benefit or hazards of food and supplement intake are based on studies that use these techniques. I’ll give you a couple […]
How to Assess Food Intake
If you’ve been reading the Memo for any length of time, you know that I’m not fond of the methods used for determining food intake in free-living individuals, especially the Food Frequency Questionnaire. When looking at the validity of the doubly-labelled water technique for last week’s Memos on metabolism, I happened upon a review article […]
Metabolism Across Our Lifespan
It might not surprise you to learn that adjusted for body weight, infants under one year have the highest metabolism of all age groups. It makes sense; they’re growing so fast at that point. From there it’s all downhill, metabolically speaking, at a rate of about 3% per year until about 20 when metabolism stabilizes. […]
What Happens to Our Metabolism?
Have you ever said or heard someone else say, “I could eat whatever I wanted when I was young and I never gained weight!” What usually follows is something like, “Now I seem to gain weight just by thinking about a donut!”—the type of food may vary depending on the individual. Kids seem to eat […]
Rehabilitation Becomes Prehabilitation
After giving some thought to the discussion I had with our physical therapist, I’ve scheduled my knee-replacement surgery. I’ve already been doing everything he recommended to rehab the knee: avoiding any high-impact exercise, using an exercise bike, stretching. His verdict is that none of those will help the problem. The compounding issue is that my […]
Overcoming Discomfort
Last month, I did 70 push-ups on my 70th birthday. They were not full push-ups; they went about halfway. It took a year to be able to overcome shoulder weakness and discomfort because of torn bicep muscles in both arms. But by doing push-ups every day, I gradually pushed out the number every few weeks, […]
