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.
My Eyes!
No, it’s not like when Phoebe saw Monica and Chandler kissing on Friends—but it is rather dramatic. Let me recap my vision story. My dad died at 41, so I have no info from him or his family. My grandmother had cataracts removed when she was about 70. It led to a decline in her […]
Again with the BMI?
I got an email from a long-time reader about a recently published study comparing BMI calculated from height and weight with percent body fat calculated via Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry commonly called DEXA. The objective of the study was to see if BMI was accurate in predicting the differences between underweight, normal weight, and several […]
When in Doubt…
When I was doing a post-doc in the late 1980s, I was part of a team of researchers who tested a group of swimmers. This was one of four parts of an overall documentary on an innovative look at health by the PBS’s Nova. I had about a half-second of screen time in this PBS […]
Does Your Weight Affect Disease?
Researchers from Finland investigated the relationship between being overweight/obese and infectious diseases. Not any one specific disease—all 925 of the known microbes that cause infectious diseases. They used data from two Finnish studies and the UK Biobank Study. They obtained the height and weight to calculate BMI and examined hospital and death records from the […]
A Longer Healthspan
I’m back! The cataract surgery on the second eye was successful; there’s one more exam to make sure everything is healing properly. Then it’s a matter of the full recovery to get my reading vision back to normal. But for everything besides that, it’s a whole new world. The colors are more vivid and I […]
Spring Means Renewal
It’s no secret I’ve had one cataract removed, and the other eye is next week. When I was having the surgeon check the eye this week, he asked me a question. The conversation went something like this. “Do you have a son?” “No,” said I. “I was wondering because there’s this guy on the radio, […]
Are Peptide Shots Safe?
The FDA held a meeting at last Friday to define what constitutes “from foods” in dietary supplements. The focus was on peptides, short chains of amino acids that have many functions in the body. For example, GLP-1 receptor agonists that are popular for type 2 diabetes and weight loss is a peptide. Insulin is also […]
Everything Old Is New Again
In Tuesday’s Memo, I said I’ve heard this song before. Actually, I’ve heard it twice before. Due to the nature of this trip around the world of high protein, the song “Everything Old is New Again” seems completely appropriate. The first time I heard the high-protein song was in the early 1990s. When the first […]
Hamburger Cereal?
Paula mentioned in passing that she had read about a hamburger cereal. I just shook my head, and then it really hit me: a hamburger cereal? I had to check it out. Turns out there is a “cereal” out there that contains 20 grams of protein from dehydrated ground beef per ½ cup serving. The […]
Vitamin D vs. Long COVID
Returning to the vitamin D study, the rest of the headline suggested that taking vitamin D upon getting COVID may reduce symptoms of long-term COVID (LTCOVID), a serious aftereffect of a COVID infection that can impact the nervous and muscular system. Brain fog, chronic fatigue, and pain are some of the common symptoms. The reason […]
