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.
How C-Reactive Protein Can Predict Cancer Risk
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoHigh-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a measure of inflammation in the body. This blood test looks for inflammation that’s not apparent; with severe infection you have a fever, but other types of inflammation may go unnoticed. This is subtle because you don’t feel anything. On top of that, CRP hasn’t been shown to be diagnostic […]
Three Ways to Really Reduce Your Cancer Risk
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoIn the last Memo before Spring Break, I said I’d cover ways to reduce your risk of getting cancer that really work. Every cancer website has lists, ranging from 10 to 15 recommendations. I’m going to give you my top three ways to reduce the risk of cancer of the items you can control. You […]
Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer: The Bottom Line
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoIn the paper on artificial sweeteners and cancer risk that I covered on Tuesday, the researchers made it clear that although the study was done well, cause and effect cannot be determined. They also acknowledge that because 80% of the subjects were women, the results couldn’t be applied to the entire French population, let alone […]
Do Artificial Sweeteners Increase Cancer Risk?
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoLast week, my health news feed filled up with headlines that almost all sounded like this: “Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Higher Cancer Risk!” This isn’t the first study to suggest that relationship and it won’t be the last. This French epidemiological study of over 100,000 subjects collected data for more than seven years. One of […]
Do You Need a Fruit-and-Vegetable Concentrate?
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoVegetable-concentrate and fruit-concentrate products are popular now, judging by the number of ads on TV and the web; the implication is that they can replace real fruits and vegetables in the diet. For the fruit concentrate, manufacturers remove all the fiber and water, yielding concentrates from various fruits and phytonutrient blends plus aloe vera. The […]
Vitamins and Minerals in Supplements
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoI got an interesting question last week about a supplement that contained a blend of fruit and vegetable concentrates: vitamins and minerals aren’t included on the label, so are they in there? The answer is probably. It all comes down to the purpose of the supplement. A concentrate is typically the entire vegetable or fruit […]
Wait a Minute!
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoIt was a beautiful day in Grand Rapids on Thursday: 65 degrees, hazy sunshine, no wind, and a perfect day to take a kid to the park. Riley likes basketball (as is required of all children in the Midwest); he can’t hit the rim with the net at 10 feet, but that didn’t stop him […]
The Default Is Always Exercise
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoEver have one of those days? For no particular reason at all, you don’t really want to bother watching what you eat or doing any exercise. What do you do? Get on the floor and do five or ten push-ups or sit-ups, or get on your exercise bike and get your legs going for one […]
Lessons from the Starvation Study
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoThe analysis of data in the Minnesota Starvation Study was immense—1,385 pages in two volumes—but I found two fascinating quotes from interviews with the subjects and lead author Dr. Ancel Keys. Let’s begin with a quote from one of the subjects in an interview 40 years later. Lesson 1: How You Know You’re Restricting Food […]
The Right Meal Plan for You
/in Memos/by Chet Zelasko“On Day 1 of semistarvation, February 12, 1945, the men sat down to a meal that included a small bowl of farina, two slices of toast, a dish of fried potatoes, a dish of jello, a small portion of jam, and a small glass of milk.” This was a quote from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment […]