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.
Essential Amino Acids: The Basics
I’ve been getting many questions about essential amino acids lately. What are they? Why do I need them? Are they only for athletes? What can they do for me? In addition, I came across an interesting study that supports the use of EAAs in a specific population. The EAAs include the amino acids phenylalanine, threonine, […]
Triathlon Observations: Prepare to Compete
Let me be clear: I think that the single most important thing that you can do to be healthy is to exercise regularly. Whether walking, swimming, or one of the hundreds of other types of exercise, talking with your physician about it may be all that’s required for you to get started. Moving from exercise […]
Triathlon Observations: Heavy and Healthy?
The major observation I had as I volunteered at the Grand Rapids Triathlon was that the body weight distribution of the people participating in the triathlon mimicked the population of the U.S. We’re a fat nation; 70% of the population is overweight and half of those are obese. Those percentages also seemed to apply to […]
Triathlon Observations: The People
The Grand Rapids Triathlon was held this past weekend, and I volunteered to work at an aid station. The station happened to be at the transition area where everything is happening; I couldn’t have picked a better spot. People lined up to head to the river for the swim, coming back from the swim to […]
Yes, Supplements Matter
The study that was published in the Journal of American Academy of Cardiology created several issues that go beyond the headlines of supplements being of no benefit. Let’s first take a look at the published results of the study. The researchers found that most supplements such as multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin C do […]
Supplements: Helpful or Harmful?
About a week ago when a press release about a study published in the Journal of American Academy of Cardiology stated that vitamins and minerals don’t seem to help the health of those people who use them; they should stick to getting nutrients from the food they eat. As you can imagine, I got questions […]
Update on Prostate Cancer Treatment
The treatment of prostate cancer has been changing over the past few years. For most men with prostate cancer, wait and see has become the norm. It all depends on age, the location, and the aggressiveness of the cancer. The more aggressive types of cancer, located close to the outer capsule of the prostate, typically […]
Life Expectancy Is More Than Living Longer
What’s more important to you: living longer or living better with the years you have? Think about it as you read this Memo and I’ll come back to that later. The Upside of the Study There were three important lifestyle variables that clearly stood out (1). The more exercise you get, the better off you […]
How Much Does a Healthier Life Increase Life Expectancy?
This week is about life expectancy and the results of a recent study on how to possibly extend it. Looking at lifestyle’s impact on mortality, here are the criteria researchers applied (1). Smoking: never smoked BMI: 18.5–24.9 Exercise: at least 30 minutes daily of moderate to vigorous physical activity which included brisk walking Healthy diet: […]
U.S. Life Expectancy Is Down—Again
Life expectancy is the average time a person might live; a baby born in 2017 will be expected to live 78.6 years according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. That’s a long time, but it could be better. After reaching a high in 2015, U.S. life expectancy decreased in 2017 (1). It was only […]
