Entries by Chet Zelasko

Could Your Rhythms Be Keeping You Fat?

You eat well and you exercise, but you still can’t lose any weight. What if the answer was in the natural rhythms of your body? I’m not talking about dance moves; I’m talking about circadian rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycles based on day and night. Since we can pretty much control the amount of light […]

The Bottom Line on Folic Acid

Based on the studies covered in the Tuesday and Thursday posts, you may be confused about what you should do when it comes to folic acid, especially if you’re pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. I read a lot of research to come up with this analysis and here’s what I found. There are three […]

Prenatal Nutrition: More on Folic Acid

The second study on folic acid supplementation before pregnancy examined similar blood and red blood cell folic acid levels at different times during pregnancy and in cord blood (1). The difference was that half of the subjects were randomly provided with 400 mcg folic acid to take during their second and third trimesters. As you […]

Prenatal Nutrition: Should You Worry About Folic Acid?

I’ve been working on updating the research for the second edition of the Healthy Babies CD, and that includes nutrients such as probiotics, vitamin D, and one of the most important nutrients, folic acid. Since folic acid was added to cereal grains in 1998, there have been significant reductions in neural tube defects, but folic […]

BMI, WHR, and Lifestyle

The study we’ve been examining is interesting on so many levels: large numbers of subjects; new statistical techniques due in large part to progress in computing capabilities; genetic analysis that allows for rapid analysis and identification of polymorphisms. It’s all very exciting. You’re probably anticipating a “but” coming and you’d be correct. This study demonstrated […]

Waist-Hip Ratio vs. BMI

In Tuesday’s message, I said researchers used a unique approach to answering the question of whether waist-hip ratio (WHR) is associated with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes regardless of BMI. They found 48 genes which were associated WHR, a unique approach using the genetic information with Mendelian randomization of epidemiological data. If that isn’t […]

Redefining the Risks of Extra Weight

Studies show that 70% of the population is overweight; by definition, that means that their body mass index (BMI) is greater than 25 or more. But are all overweight people at the same risk? Just because you’re overweight, are you automatically at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes? That’s what a group […]

Should You Exercise During Pregnancy?

While everyone wants a healthy baby, many women would like to control their weight gain and avoid gestational diabetes during pregnancy. That’s why I noticed one more article in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise issue I read; in addition, I’ve recording the updated Healthy Babies: From Conception to Breastfeeding audio and want […]

Can Vegetarian Protein Help You Build Muscle?

People often ask me which is the best type of protein to build muscle when weight training. The reason for the question is bodybuilder and weight-training websites that condemn vegetarian protein as not good enough to build muscle. In the same issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise as the paper from Tuesday, […]

Does Exercise Reduce Libido?

A recent health headline said that strenuous exercise reduces a man’s libido. I would propose that nothing gets men’s attention—and probably quite a few women—more than sex. Should you be worried? Researchers conducted an online survey targeting men that included questions about demographics, exercise habits, and sexual libido. What they found was that as exercise […]