Entries by Chet Zelasko

Mechanics: Reducing Back Pain

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On Tuesday, I talked about what causes bulging discs and one way to help reduce the pinched nerves that cause pain. Today I’ll give you the second tactic to help bulging discs, primarily those in your lower back in what is known as the lumbar region. The solution is simple:

Stretch and strengthen your core.

Specifically, stretch the muscles of the lower back, the hamstrings, and the quads; and strengthen the muscles in the abdominal region.

Most people have an anterior pelvic tilt: the front of the pelvis drops making the . . .

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Mechanics: Why Discs Bulge

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Lately I’ve heard many people saying they have “bulging discs” and the result is some form of back or leg pain. As an exercise physiologist with good training in biomechanics, the mechanics of movement have always fascinated me; this week, I’m going to talk about that subject, starting by stating a fact about those bulging discs:

Everyone who walks upright has discs that begin to bulge at some point in their lives.

Bulging discs are simply part of the deal that goes along with walking. Whether they cause pain or . . .

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The Real Problem with Food

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On Thursday I talked about the 1977 Dietary Goals for the U.S. In this message, I’m going to let you know how the Senate Committee recommended we achieve those goals. I’m also going to tell you what the real problem is that has lead us to this sorry state of body weight that exists today.

What no anti-carbohydrate guru tells us is how we were supposed to achieve those dietary goals of increasing carbohydrates while lowering fat intake. Listening to what they say, you’d think we were told to start eating white bread and sugary . . .

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The Origin of High-Carb, Low-Fat

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I got tired of hearing the anti-carbohydrate supporters rant and rave about how the decision to move to a high-carbohydrate diet doomed us to the obesity epidemic we have today. What were these goals that doomed us? The goals are summarized in a report from the staff of the Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (1), but before I give you the pertinent goals, take a look at what’s in the Committee’s report. I summarized what was said, but it might sound familiar:

Americans eat too much fat and . . .

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The Battle of Fat vs. Carb

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Sometimes I just can’t let go. Such is the case with this diet debate of fat versus carbohydrate. I’m going to address both of these questions this week. It won’t end the debate, but at least you’ll have the facts.

The debate comes down to two separate but related questions:

  • Does a diet high in saturated fat contribute to heart disease?
  • Is the high-carbohydrate and low-fat diet recommended by the USDA the cause of the obesity epidemic?

Let’s begin with scientific evidence that a high-fat diet . . .

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Keeping Track of Life’s Simple 7

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To complete American Heart Month, here’s an easy way to track your heart health called Life’s Simple 7 (LS7), developed by the American Heart Association. LS7 has been around since 2010 but it escaped my attention until recently. For those of you who like to track your progress to see how you’re doing, this is a great tool; you may remember I mentioned it last month, but I think you need the details to really understand how LS7 can work for you.

There are seven different categories of variables to track, hence the name Life’s Simple . . .

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The Link Between Fat Intake and Heart Disease

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The second batch of headlines I referred to Tuesday related to an article published in the journal Open Heart (1). The study was a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials done before the dietary guidelines on fat were put in place in 1977. The studies analyzed showed no reduction of heart disease when subjects were placed on a low-fat diet; therefore the current study’s authors concluded that the original low-fat recommendations in the 1970s had no scientific basis.

Sorry, but we didn’t need randomized controlled trials in this case—and here’s why.

In the late . . .

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Eggs Are Okay!

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Actually they were always okay, but I’m ahead of myself. As American Heart Month continues, we’ve seen more headlines regarding dietary fat and cholesterol in the past couple of weeks, and I’ll cover them in the next two messages. Let’s start with eggs.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are issued every five years. The Advisory Committee of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said we no longer have to be concerned about limiting dietary cholesterol to the amount in about one egg per day, a recommendation that’s been . . .

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The Mediterranean Diet and Stroke Risk

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As American Heart Month continues, let’s take a look at a recently published study on the Mediterranean diet and stroke (1); this study fits in nicely with Go Red campaign as well because it contained over 130,000 women educators who are part of the California Teachers Study. The study has followed these women since 1995, and over 300 articles have been published from data collected in this study.

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the study, I want to make sure you understand what a stroke is: an interruption in blood flow to the area . . .

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What Is the Mediterranean Diet?

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One of the studies published this month examined the benefits of following the Mediterranean diet and its effect on the risk of ischemic stroke. Before I talk about the study, let me review some basic information on the Mediterranean diet.

The diet is so named because it’s the typical dietary pattern of people who live in and around the Mediterranean Sea including Italy, Greece, and Spain. People in those areas who follow the traditional diet have lower rates of heart disease. Here are the characteristics of the Mediterranean diet:

  • Primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and . . .

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