Entries by Chet Zelasko

My Nutrition Questions for This Next Year

Is 100 years a long time? How about 10,000 years or a million? The answer: it depends on the reference point. In human terms, 100 years is a long time, but in terms of changes within a specific type of food or in terms of the microbiome, maybe not. In the next year, there are […]

I’m Alive: V2.53

When I opened my eyes this morning, I knew I had another year to do what I was created to do: teach people how to be healthy and fit. For those of you who are new readers, here’s the story: when I wake on May 10th every year, my superstitious belief is that I have […]

Knowing Your Health Patterns

The reason it’s important to track health variables is to find any patterns in the results. Remember the study on hs-CRP and cancer? Paula immediately looked up her CRP levels and found two things. First, it had gone down consistently over several years. Second, she hadn’t had it tested every year, but she will from […]

Track Your Health Issue

Over the past few months, I’ve written about my blood pressure increasing from being sedentary for five weeks after my knee replacement. I’ve also written about hs-CRP in the study on inflammation and cancer. In addition, I’ve gotten questions about the impact of foods on the digestive system and the variation in blood sugar readings […]

Causes and Risk Factors

Rather than making this a statistics Memo, I’m going to use a couple of examples that illustrate the problems with establishing what prevents or causes disease. Back in the late 1940s to early 1950s, there was a significant increase in cardiovascular disease. Trying to establish a single cause was complicated because there were so many […]

What Is Science?

Along with all the disagreements and conflicting info about covid-19, there has been some confusion about science. Many people seemed to think anything science discovered about covid was complete and final, but that’s not how science works. Science is a constantly changing body of knowledge, or as the Science Council puts it: Science is the […]

Side 2: Why Powders Are Better than Plants

You might have thought that I was a food-only proponent when it comes to nutrition. Not in the least—I’m a big fan of the right kinds of supplements. I think we should start with real food, but we also have to acknowledge that the average person’s plant intake is woefully low: one or two servings […]

Side 1: Why Plants Are Better than Powders

A month ago I addressed the increased interest in getting vegetables and fruits from powders; now let’s get into more detail. First, eating vegetables and fruits automatically increases our fluid intake. The exact water content of different plants varies, but the average plant is about 90% water by weight. The water is somewhat purified by […]

How C-Reactive Protein Can Predict Cancer Risk

High-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 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 […]