Entries by Chet Zelasko

Yum, It’s Fiber Soup!

Every day, I put a combination of psyllium fiber, inulin fiber, and a probiotic into a glass, add water, stir it up, and drink it down. Then I follow it with another glass of water to make sure the fiber doesn’t have to draw fluids from my gut. That gives me around six grams of […]

Giving Up Those Pointless Battles

Every morning you can hear a “boink” on one of the back windows of the house. Every 15 seconds or so, another one. Then it begins to travel to another window. Boink. Boink. Boink. It’s a female cardinal. Time after time after time. Day after day. Upstairs windows, downstairs windows; the back of our house […]

Your Payment Is Due

Today is Tax Day here in the U.S.—if you owe the government any money, today is the day you have to file your taxes and pay up. There are penalties if you’re late, so you want to be sure you pay up on time. Good health is the same way. The things you do that […]

It’s All in the Dash

In this Memo, we’re going to pretend the survey’s treatment options for high blood pressure are real. The choices were a pill, a cup of tea, exercise, and an injection once a month. If they were real, which one might be the best option for you? To me, it all comes down to The Dash. […]

The Survey’s Most Surprising Results

Before I get into what I found surprising, I want to point out that this was a survey about hypothetical treatment options. It was just a preliminary or pilot project just to see how people would answer; the head researcher said as much. The other factor was that subjects were 45 and younger. If an […]

What Would You Pay for More Time?

What price would you pay if you could gain an extra month of life? How about a year? How about five years? I think the longer you get, the more incentive to pay a higher price. It seems a large group of subjects agree with me according to a study reported this past weekend at […]

Can We Prevent Sarcopenia?

Based on the research presented in Thursday’s Memo, the earlier we address the possibility that sarcopenia will affect us, the more likely we’ll succeed (1). I use fudgy words such as “likely” because we don’t know for sure, but based on the current status of research, here’s what we can do to prevent sarcopenia. Use […]

Research Update on Sarcopenia

We know what sarcopenia is, but what can be done about it? Recent research may give us a clue. Researchers in the United Kingdom examined a variety of variables related to sarcopenia in a group of men. Remember, a motor unit is a nerve and all the muscle fibers to which it attaches. They looked […]

So You Lose a Little Muscle—So What?

Any of my former students who read the Memo should remember the following definition quite well: A motor unit is a nerve and all the muscle fibers to which it attaches. It’s called a unit because both sides of that equation are important. Muscle fibers contract when stimulated by a nerve. Reduce the number of […]

Exercise: It All Counts

Here’s something to ponder the rest of the week: why do you exercise? If you don’t, what would your purpose be if you did? I think there are two primary reasons. First, burning calories helps lose weight. Second, if you exercise regularly, you might live longer. But then you hit those exercise recommendations: 150 minutes […]