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.
Quality Manufacturing: Establish Rules
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoLast week’s Memos were about supplements that were tainted with pharmaceuticals. What can manufacturers do to insure their products are not tainted? Mistakes can always happen, but what can be done to get those errors as close to zero as possible? That’s what we’ll cover this week. Let’s begin with this premise: no manufacturer of […]
Tainted Supplements: Buyer Beware
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoThere was a big problem with the papers that were published in JAMA and the resultant media headlines: the authors and commentator lumped the tainted products into a single category of dietary supplements and categorized these questionable manufacturers and their tainted products with all manufacturers of dietary supplements. That was simply wrong, and people in […]
Which Products Were Tainted?
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoThe logical concern is this: what products were on the list of supplements that made up all those headlines? There were over 700 products on the FDA list of tainted products, so I think there’s a better way to ask the question: what were the categories of products? 1. Sexual performance was the overwhelming leader. […]
Tainted-Supplement Headlines
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoI’d like you to read these three headlines, stop, and identify the first thought that comes to your mind: “Hundreds of Supplements Are Tainted With Hidden Pharmaceutical Drugs” “Hidden Drugs and Danger Lurk in Over-the-Counter Supplements, Study Finds” “Supplements Often Tainted by Hidden Drugs” No matter what supplements you’re taking, the thought “I wonder what’s […]
Vitamin D: Stay the Course
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoLet’s finish this look at the recent paper on vitamin D (1). As you could read in Thursday’s Memo, they included some curious studies in their review. Let’s take a look. Mixed-Purpose Studies Have you ever eaten leftovers? Sure. Did you take all the different leftovers—the spaghetti, the fried rice, the mashed potatoes and gravy—mix […]
A Potpourri of Research on Vitamin D
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoScientists try to follow some strict guidelines when they select studies to be included in a meta-analysis. With that in mind, here’s some of what I found in reviewing the studies. Remember, they were looking at fractures, falls, and bone-mineral densities. The length of the studies ranged from as short as eight weeks to as […]
Update: Vitamin D’s Health Effects
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoWith all the political headlines last week, an important health headline could have been overlooked. A group of scientists published a paper suggesting vitamin D doesn’t prevent fractures and falls or help increase bone-mineral density, and they recommended that it not be used for that purpose. I’m a strong believer that vitamin D is one […]
Absolutely True, Relatively Meaningless
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoIn this final Memo about the retraction of several of Dr. Brian Wansink’s publications, there are several important questions that need to be addressed. What do the errors mean? Did Dr. Wansink intend to deceive? Finally, who was making the accusations? Publication Errors and What They Mean Let’s take a look at the errors […]
The Reasons for Retraction
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoPublications related to food habits are important if you’re in the weight loss field; I rely on them to help people achieve their weight loss goals. If the studies were poorly done, that’s unfortunate but behavioral science is an inexact science anyway. But if someone intentionally manipulated the data to get a specific outcome, that’s […]
Scientific Retractions
/in Memos/by Chet ZelaskoOne of my favorite observational scientists has been Dr. Brian Wansink, former Director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University. I’ve written about his research and used it in presentations several times over the years. One of my favorite tips came from one of his studies: use a salad plate instead of a […]