Tag Archive for: supplements

Planning Your Infrastructure Upgrade

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In order to give you some ideas to help you focus on your body’s infrastructure, I’m going to share my list. I’ll give you my issues and why I feel they’re problems for me; I hope that will stimulate your thinking so you can determine your infrastructure upgrades for 2021. I don’t know that I can accomplish all of them in a single year, but I do know I can make a good start, and that’s what I’m hoping you will do as well.

Increase Muscle Mass

If there’s one getting-older issue that I completely underestimated, it’s the loss of muscle mass. It just sort of crept up on me and while I can’t quantify it in terms of pounds or percentage, I know I’ve lost strength in my upper body, and my legs seem to be a shadow of their former selves. Part of the reason that my legs lost so much mass, I believe, is directly tied to my inability to run consistently. I have no idea when I’ll be able to run freely again, if ever, so strength training is going to be critical to increase strength if not mass.

Improve Skin Quality

I have to confess that I never examine my skin. I don’t spend a lot of time looking at my face in the mirror, and I ignore my arms completely. But lately I’ve noticed that my skin is thinner and a slight scrape against the door frame that doesn’t even hurt can leave a huge purple spot. I’m not trying to recreate the quality of skin I had in my 20s, but I know it can be better than it is. (Has anyone in my household been nagging me about this for years? Um, maybe.)

Decrease Body Fat

The one that drives me crazy is the increase in body fat around my waist. I weigh 45 pounds less than my highest body weight ever, yet my waist circumference is greater now than it was then. The reasons are complicated, from the loss of muscle mass reducing metabolic rate to the gradual reduction in hormones as I get older. I know that there’s no such thing as spot reduction, and I don’t know if the general rule “you lose it first from where you put it on last” applies as you get older. But aside from increasing muscle mass, this one is just not acceptable and is a priority for me.

Increase Bone Mass

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have osteopenia. In fact, I’m one-tenth of a Z-score from having osteoporosis. I have improved my vitamin D and calcium intake since my last bone-density test. I’ll find out in April whether that has resulted in any change. I’m not interested in continuing to be the amazing shrinking man, so this is an internal infrastructure change that must happen in 2021.

Improve Posture and Balance

This one seems a lot less obvious, but it’s still critical to overall health. Why? Because working on improving posture now, which means resetting the resting “tone” of the postural muscles will help with balance as we get older, and balance is critical if we hope to make it to an advanced age. The inner ear is part of it, but our ability to be able to move and do the things that we want to do can be dramatically impacted by poor balance. The modifications in muscle mass and fat mass, as well as bone mass, will have an impact, but it’s also critical to specifically work on posture and balance movements as well.

The Bottom Line

There you have it: my infrastructure plan for 2021. I’ve begun working on some, but there’s still research to read to find better solutions. That will include different approaches to exercise, whether weight training, stretching, or aerobic exercise. There could be specific dietary approaches that apply rather than just cutting calories. Supplementing with nutrient isolates and specific dietary supplements may also be part of the solution.

How about you? You may have cholesterol and HbA1c that needs to get lowered, cardiac output that needs to increase, and a microbiome overhaul; maybe you need to build strength in specific areas to compensate for arthritis and loss of cartilage.

Identify your three to five areas and write them down. As the year progresses, I’ll share the solutions I’ve found with you because my goal hasn’t changed: to help you become the best version of yourself. Specify where you want to go and let’s get started.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

The Bottom Line on Cats and Dogs and Supplements

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One of my all-time favorite movie lines is by Bill Murray’s character in the original Ghostbusters. He goes on a rant about the coming plague of ghosts and says “…dogs and cats living together…” It’s the delivery more than the words, but it still makes me laugh. I often blurt it out when people talk about all the things that could go wrong if X happens.

I decided to search the literature for specific supplements that can benefit cats and dogs, whether they live together or not. There’s no research on multivitamins-multiminerals per se, although there’s some info on the use of vitamins and minerals as additives to food.

Cats and Supplements

There are two primary areas of research on supplements in cats. The first is the amino acid taurine and the other is joint issues. The lack of taurine in a cat’s diet can result in compromised immune systems, eye problems including blindness, deafness, cardiomyopathy and heart failure, and reproductive issues. Researchers have found that taurine supplementation can increase the taurine level in a cat’s cardiac tissue. One more thing: soy interferes with taurine absorption or utilization, so make sure that the food you feed your cat is soy-free.

The other issue is joint problems such as arthritis. In research on cats, the same blends used in humans that consist of glucosamine, chondroitin, Boswellia, and fish oil help alleviate pain as assessed by owner and veterinarian pain evaluations.

Dogs and Supplements

The big issue with dogs is joint problems such as osteoarthritis. Research shows that the same nutrients recommended for cats and humans are appropriate for dogs: glucosamine, chondroitin, Boswellia, and fish oil. When it comes to amino acids, dogs require 10 essential amino acids to be healthy. While they can get that from vegetarian protein, research shows that dogs can smell it when meals don’t contain all the essential amino acids and will avoid them. That’s some sniffer dogs have!

In the category of interesting research, the amino acid l-arginine together with antioxidants has been shown to benefit dogs with memory issues. Also medium-chain triglycerides are being tested in epileptic dogs to see if the supplement can help reduce seizures. Maybe a teaspoon of coconut oil every day can benefit these dogs—there’s no harm in it while waiting for the research to be completed.

The Bottom Line

We love our cats and dogs and want them to being as healthy as they can be. Targeted supplementation for specific issues is certainly warranted, and it’s probably good to use the same recommendations for us humans and for our best friends: eat better, eat less, and move more. You’ll both be healthier for it!

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. Vet Med Sci. 2019 Aug;5(3):325-335. doi: 10.1002/vms3.1822.
2. J Nutr. 1995 Nov;125(11):2831-7. doi: 10.1093/jn/125.11.2831.
3. Am J Vet Res. 1992 Feb;53(2):237-41.

Do Cats Need Vitamins?

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Absolutely no way I could write about dogs without talking about cats as well, and there’s good reason: my daughter-in-law is an ardent cat advocate. She and our son act as foster parents for kittens from their local animal society until they’re ready for adoption so that when they join a family, they’re accustomed to being around people. When you have grandcats, even only for a few weeks, you want to see how they’re doing and what Matthew and Kerri have named the latest pair. I also want to see that they do well, so the topic was relevant: can cats take vitamins and minerals?

When the National Academy of Sciences put together the report on dogs, they also did the same type of brochure for cats, and again the quantities seem proportional to body weight.

One difference I noticed about cats is that they require the amino acid taurine to be healthy. As a result, while dogs could do well on a vegetarian diet with enough protein, cats require animal protein. You can check out the entire PDF to get additional information.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: www.nap.edu/resource/10668/cat_nutrition_final.pdf

Do Dogs Need Vitamins?

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I recently got a question from a long-time listener who asked if it was okay to give the dog a partial serving of their multivitamin-multimineral. I didn’t have a clue—I don’t deal with supplements and animals, with the exception of glucosamine and fish oil. Both are good for dogs, but what about the rest of the supplements?

One supplement I know they don’t need is vitamin C, because dogs can make their own vitamin C. In fact, only humans and one variety of bat can’t make their own vitamin C; all other mammals can. While too much C can be hazardous, the amounts found in most multis for humans should be fine for dogs. But what about the rest of the vitamins and the minerals?

Wouldn’t you know that the same organization, the National Academy of Sciences, that establishes the Dietary Reference Intake for humans has done the same for dogs. In examining the list, they’re in proportion for what humans would take, but proportional based on body weight. The document also goes through the entire nutrition lifecycle of a dog. If you have a dog or dogs, just download this PDF.

And before you ask, we’ll talk about cats on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: www.nap.edu/resource/10668/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf

COVID-19: What We Don’t Know

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I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “What we don’t know could kill us” and that’s truer today than at any other time. While we may argue about masks and social distancing, there’s just still too much we don’t know about the novel coronavirus. The critical factor is that because of what we don’t know, we aren’t able to work on treatments that can be administered to more people sooner once they’ve been diagnosed.

The Microbiome

You’ve heard me repeatedly say that the immune system starts in the gut; I don’t think many healthcare professionals would debate that anymore. That’s why knowing how the microbiome deals with COVID-19 is critical to establishing prevention and treatment programs. I don’t mean preventing people from catching the virus—I mean preventing them from getting a very serious form of the infection that results in hospitalization and severe treatments such as intubation and respirators.

We know that the digestive system is full of ACE2 receptors as I’ve written about before. What we don’t know is how to specifically make the microbiome more robust. What specific foods should we eat? What specific strains of microbes should we ingest to help immune function?

If we should eat more vegetables, should they be raw or can they be cooked? There are 6,500 different microbes that we know of at this point with multiple strains; if we’re supposed to take specific microbes, which strains are the most effective? We just don’t know enough to make our personal immune system stronger. We should still do the things that we’re doing by eating more vegetables, taking fiber and probiotics, but we could do better if we had more specific information.

Genotype and Phenotype

We know that age is a risk factor for a serious case of COVID-19; we also know that conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes are also associated with a serious COVID-19 infection. And that’s about it for right now. Let me give you three questions that may or may not be important but certainly have to be checked out.

Does race have an effect? In addition to the observations about co-morbidities and healthcare opportunities, there may be some impact related to race that hasn’t been examined yet. Or instead of race, maybe it’s ethnicity. Think about it; from an ethnic perspective, what was different between the people of Italy and Spain, where there were significant deaths, from those who lived in Norway and Denmark? What about male pattern baldness? What about familial hypercholesterolemia? Could either of those be a genetic risk factor?

What about phenotype? Are people who are ex-smokers at greater risk than those who never smoked? We would think so, but nobody’s studied it. What about people who’ve lost a significant amount of weight and maintained it? What about people who exercise regularly compared to those who never exercise? All those traits would be associated with a healthier lifestyle, but we haven’t tested their impact of the risk of COVID-19. Lifestyle can impact the expression of your genes. And in some ways, once genes are expressed or turned on, they may not be downregulated or turned off. That could be important.

Do supplements help? It’s easy to say massive amounts of vitamin C and vitamin D and turmeric will help, but do they help everyone? What if you already have adequate vitamin D levels? Could adding even more be counterproductive? The same is true for vitamin C. We know that vitamin C is an antioxidant, but in high quantities, it may act as a pro-oxidant and increase free radical damage. How much is the right amount? Think of all of the supplements that we all take. It would be nice to know which are the key supplements to help our immune function against this virus and which ones just help our bodies in our day-to-day activities. At this point, we don’t have enough information.

Better Treatments

The whole point of treatments for COVID-19 is to force the virus to back off long enough to allow the immune system to do its job. There are no medications that I’m aware of that can target the virus and kill it; that means it’s up to the body to do the killing, and even after a vaccine is available, that will still be the case. We need better treatments that can neutralize the impact the virus has on the body so that the immune system can, in effect, clean up the mess.

There have been a lot of debates about some medications such as hydroxychloroquine. There are hopeful additions that include steroids, although they have issues as well. We may even find out that specific types of diets including fasting may be beneficial. Or they may be disastrous. We need more research to find better treatments, and we need that research now.

As it relates to a vaccine, we really don’t know if there ever will be one or how effective it will be. Even if one is developed, the logistics are just incredible. How are we going to get 330 million doses of a vaccine ready for administration when we still don’t have enough tests available or enough gloves and masks for healthcare workers? Early testing means early treatment. But if you can’t test people to begin with, and you can’t get the results to them quickly, using better treatments could end up being too little too late for any given individual.

The Bottom Line

The novel coronavirus will be with us for a while longer. Maybe indefinitely. As I wrote a couple months ago, we don’t have to fear it; we have to respect it. Your job is simple: take care of your body the best that you can with diet, exercise, supplements, and reducing stress. If you’re going to venture out of your home, wear a mask, social distance, and wash your hands frequently. That’s our job. And know that there are people who will keep trying to find the answers we need and still more people who will help us if we get sick. We can give them time to work and lighten their load if we do our part.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Sorry, but Some Health Writers are Scammers

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The typical research paper may have findings that are controversial, but researchers are using the techniques of their profession. I may disagree with their conclusions for a variety of reasons, but at least it’s contained. Following the threads this author created was a challenge but fruitful, especially the first one.

The readers of her columns were told to hop on over to the FDA website to see how easy it is to get beneficial statements on the label. I read the entire set of guidelines, and here’s the bottom line: it’s most definitely not easy to get a label claim approved.

She asked the industry rep to give her the name of a scientist who is not in the supplement industry who believed the health claims on supplement labels were meaningful. The rep couldn’t think of anyone.

She made a big deal over that one: no independent scientist supports the claims on labels. “Just think about what that means,” she added. It means that the supplement industry rep isn’t acquainted with scientists outside of her area of expertise. Why would she be? It’s not her area. But if you’ve been a science writer for over 22 years, you would certainly know plenty of scientists. Why didn’t she contact them for their opinion?

The writer then talked about a conversation with an executive for a well-known nutrition watch-dog group. He talked about the gold standard for removing a product from the marketplace: ephedra was banned back in 2003 because people who took the weight loss product had died.

Actually, it took the death of a professional football player to get everyone interested in ephedra, which is more like medicine than a supplement. People died, but in most of those 55 cases, it was the abuse of the herb that caused the issue, not the recommended use. I wasn’t an ephedra fan because weight loss is calories in, calories out; you would expect that messing with metabolism to cause issues, especially when overusing an herb.

Then it was a wandering rehash of other studies on increased risks of cancer. It was her responsibility to do the reading before she wrote the article. Was she being one-sided in what she wrote? I think a better way to say it was that she didn’t complete her background research.

There was some talk, silly in my opinion, with a religion professor about the psychology of why people take supplements. And then she completed her comments by saying that people who take dietary supplements are wasting money on products that will never help them.

The Bottom Line

All in all, it was a poorly researched article about the benefit, or lack thereof, of dietary supplements. What was clearly apparent was that her lack of nutrition education meant she really didn’t know what questions to ask. Based on what she said, she never really read the FDA Guidelines for supplement manufacturers. If she had, she could have picked a product with a wild claim, and I can think of several, checked the background research, and then evaluated it according to the law to determine whether it complied or not, rather than simply saying it was easy.

Health writers, and in fact, any writer who writes about science, needs to be a critical thinker, not one that criticizes without thinking. In this case, she failed to do her job. The big problem with that is most people don’t have the science background to know whether what she said is trustworthy and many people will be misinformed, perhaps to the detriment of their health.

What about her claim that people are wasting money on supplements? We all know from our own experience, as well as from science, that supplements can make a difference in our health. As I’ve always said, no amount of supplements will make up for an unhealthy lifestyle, but using specific supplements are an important part of staying healthy.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: FDA Link: https://bit.ly/2QLDRa2

Investigating Supplements

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Let’s turn to what the author I wrote about on Tuesday said and examine it in detail. She interviewed a variety of experts; I checked them out and they were most definitely legit, especially those who worked in the research arms of the NIH. She asked them a simple question that went something like “Which supplements have well-established benefits?” The scientist who works in the complementary and natural approaches research arm said the list was short: ginger for digestive issues, peppermint for the same, melatonin for sleep, and fish oil for cardiovascular disease all have established benefits. The clinical trials that weren’t as beneficial were for turmeric, St. John’s wort, ginkgo biloba, and echinacea. (That doesn’t mean they won’t work for you; we’re all different.)

Then she talked with an expert in vitamins and minerals who recommended folic acid for neural tube defects, vitamin B12 for vegans and the elderly, the combination of nutrients that seems to help with an eye condition and finally, that multivitamins have some benefit.

She then asked the same question of a senior representative of a dietary supplement industry group. The person replied with much the same list of supplements and benefits.

In effect, the government agencies and the industry group agreed about benefits from some supplements. The next logical question in the writer’s mind was “What about all those supplements that neither group addressed? What about those supplements that fill the shelves of pharmacies, health food stores, and on the Internet? The type that say ‘good for energy,’ ‘may help your immune system,’ and so on.”

The author suggested that a curious person should just bop on over to the FDA website to see how easy it is for companies to get these statements on the product labels. So I did. I’ll let you know what I found out and finish this on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Don’t Fall for a Bad Headline

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The headline of the Life and Culture section of my local newspaper was this: “Supplements Are a Scam.” You know that has to get my attention. Wouldn’t it get yours? Most of us take dietary supplements every day, so I read the article.

To paraphrase the opening, it went something like this “Wake up people! There are conspiracies about vaccinations and fluoridation floating around the internet. Why aren’t you pulling back the curtain to see the fraud right under your nose! They are selling you snake oil and you’re giving them a free pass. Who? The supplement industry, of course.”

The article contained some of the same-old, same-old arguments that we always see in these articles; more about that later. The question I always begin with is: “Who is doing the writing and how qualified are they?” This author has been writing about health for major newspapers and magazines for over 20 years. If she’s lasted that long, she must be a decent writer.

But does she have a solid background in science and nutrition? She got her undergraduate degree in English. That’s it. I’m not trying to be snooty, but that puts her into the category of someone who is self-taught. Whether it’s a person who was on death’s door but recovered when they discovered a supplement or diet that helped them or someone who’s a journalist as the author is, they need solid basic science and nutrition education and training. If not, they don’t know if they are asking the right questions, and that’s often a problem when it comes to nutrition research. As I’ve stated many times before, even those who do have health training often don’t ask the right questions but have no problems sharing opinions.

Are supplements a scam? Short answer: no. We’ll look at the claims the author made on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

You’re Invited to a Live Dr. Chet Seminar in Atlanta!

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The next stop on the Dr. Chet tour is going to be in Atlanta, GA, to talk about Nutrition for the 21st Century.

I’ll start with the most important question: what’s the best diet? The keto craze is in full swing, with Paleo right behind. The opposite side is going vegan, an all plant-based diet. What’s best for weight loss? For more energy? For weight maintenance? I’ll let you know the pros and cons of each approach so you can make the right choice for you.

Second, no matter which diet you choose to follow, will you get adequate nutrients? No matter how healthy the diet, there will always be gaps because of the way our food is grown and processed. This time around, it’s not just getting the right nutrients for your body but also your microbiome, the microbes in your digestive system that are critical to your immune system. They require healthier choices as well. I’ll cover the basic nutritional supplements for adults and children to lay a good foundation.

How do you decide on a quality manufacturer? There are new companies being started every day, and I’ll give you specific criteria you can use to evaluate supplement manufacturers. If you’re going to put supplements in your body, you want to be certain they’re safe and effective. I’ll let you know how to do that.

Next, there are some conditions that may be the result of a lack of adequate nutrients. Supplements don’t cure diseases, but the right nutrition may help your body help itself. I’ll cover some common conditions.

I’ll also have time to answer your questions. The goal is to provide you with enough information for you to make healthy choices every day. Please join me to get the latest information to do exactly that.

Who should attend? People who find themselves confused by the nutrition information available; one day something’s good, the next day it’s bad. I’ll clarify that for you. If you’re concerned about your personal health or that of your family, or you’re a business owner who wants to understand supplementation and diet better, you should be there. Everyone will walk away with something that will help them make healthier choices.

Nutrition for the 21st Century
March 22, 2020, 2 – 5 p.m.
Dunwoody Country Club
1600 Dunwoody Drive
Atlanta GA 30350

$29.95

Important note: Country club rules say you can’t buy tickets at the door, but you can buy them on your smartphone in the hallway or on your way there by going to drchet.com; please complete your purchase by 1:45. Your name will be added electronically to the list.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Maintaining Bone Health

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In trying to live every day we’re alive, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the ability to move, but it’s not just about muscle. Those muscles connect to bones for the most part, and the bones must be healthy as well. One of the basic tenets of healthy bones is Wolfe’s law, which can be summarized as “function determines structure.” In everyday terms, to have healthy bones you must stress them regularly. Exercise is critical to that effort. But it’s not as simple as that.

Hormones and nutrients are also critical to bone health. Our ability to make hormones and absorb and utilize nutrients diminishes as we get older. Hormone replacement therapy has been controversial, and that’s a discussion a woman should have with her physician. In terms of nutrients, the ones critical to healthy bones are calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin K2.

Before increasing any nutrients via supplements, have a bone-density test as well as a vitamin D test. If either test has low results, then taking a combination of the nutrients mentioned earlier would help the bones when combined with exercise. Any exercise that’s weight bearing is beneficial such as walking, but not swimming, with added benefits for weight training.

Maybe the best we can do is to stop the loss of bone mass, but that will help you live better for longer. We’ll move from bones to joints on Thursday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet