Entries by Chet Zelasko

School Daze

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Tuesday was the first day of school in Grand Rapids. I’m sure the kids were excited, at least the younger ones; I think the parents were a little excited as well. In fact, my observation was that they were a little dazed. It seems they have lost all sense of traffic and parking laws in their quest to get kids to school.

When I went out for my run, 200 yards on both sides of my street were filled with cars near the intersection with the main road. Parents were walking their children into the first day of school . . .

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Why You Should Keep Moving

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When I read the online articles published with the science-by-headline titles “Exercise Isn’t Enough,” it really got to me. If you’re in the category of following the recommended 30 to 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise five days a week, based on these articles it really doesn’t do you any good if you sit too much the rest of the day. What evidence did they provide?

The articles cited the results of several studies that had subjects fill out questionnaires about their daily activity with follow-ups to find out who got sick and . . .

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Does Sitting Cancel Out Exercise?

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This past Friday, I ran 4.5 miles on a great running and biking trail in Grand Rapids; it was a great morning and with the canopy of trees, it was cooler than it would have been in the sun. The rest of the day, I recorded my radio show, read, wrote, and finished off the day watching some home improvement shows. I typically spend more than eight hours sitting while I do what I do.

Unfortunately, that run won’t reduce my risk of dying from cardiovascular disease—not based on the headlines for a scientific statement just released . . .

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Supplement Ingredient Follow-up

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The Consumer Report messages on supplements also brought out the responses. There were a few that I thought I should write about to bring about some clarity on the topic.

From the list of “15 Supplement Ingredients to Always Avoid,” I wrote about only green tea extract in depth and mentioned caffeine powder. Most were herbs that are not found in conventional supplements such as multivitamins or coenzyme Q10. What seems to be a characteristic of most herbs on the list is that they cause liver and kidney damage when not used properly such as comfrey, kava, and usnic acid . . .

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Flossing Follow-up

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I’ve written the memo for over 16 years and for the past 10 years, it’s been about health, but I never know what kind of response I’m going to get about what I write. Flossing and “dangerous supplement ingredients” really brought out some great questions. I’ll cover them in the next two messages.

Today, flossing. Many readers and listeners thanked me for addressing the issue and challenging the AP report. We think of teeth as being shaped like a blade, but most are closer to square at the gumline. That’s a lot of surface area . . .

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The Bottom Line on Green Tea Extract

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The Consumer Reports article on “15 Supplement Ingredients You Should Always Avoid” included green tea extract powder on the list. Paula and I have used it for a number of years, so I wanted to check out the research behind the potential health issues they claimed could happen to people who regularly use green tea extract powder as part of a supplement plan.

The problem is that the authors didn’t list any references. They had a document that listed their board of experts, the stores they shopped, and a list of criteria they used to select the ingredients; they . . .

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Supplements You Should Avoid

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The second Consumer Reports article about supplements was “15 Supplement Ingredients to Always Avoid.” The best place to begin is with the list so here it is:

Aconite
Caffeine powder
Chaparral
Coltsfoot
Comfrey
Germander
Greater celandine
Green tea extract powder
Kava
Lobelia
Methylsynephrine
Pennyroyal oil
Red yeast rice
Usnic acid
Yohimbe

Along with the list, there was a column that gave claims and benefits of each along with a column of hazards ranging from mild irritation to death. To me, most of the items on the list were herbs I’ve never used and . . .

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Are Supplements Making You Sick?

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Consumer Reports has been a go to source if you wanted to find out about purchasing a good automobile, toaster, oven, or other household product. Years ago they added health to their repertoire, including dietary supplements. In July they published a series of articles on the dangers of supplements. I’m going to talk about two of the articles this week.

The first article was provocatively titled “Supplements Can Make You Sick.” It began with a sad story about a premature baby, went on to talk about the dangers of using “unregulated” supplements that can contain illegal substances and even . . .

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The Bottom Line on Flossing

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Let’s take a closer look at the AP article that questioned the use of flossing for dental health (1). Based on the science to date, it appears there isn’t enough research for the government to recommend that everyone floss daily. Is there no research to support flossing? More important, does flossing contribute to dental health?

A dentist wrote an opinion piece for The Huffington Post blog (2); he addressed the AP article very well by taking a second look at an article the AP used as part of their claim for a lack of support for flossing. In . . .

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The Science of Flossing

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After reading the AP article on flossing, I did what I normally do: I checked the research (1). I specifically looked for research on flossing and periodontal disease, but there wasn’t much. Then I checked the research that the AP investigative journalist used; again the research wasn’t overwhelming and most studies weren’t really positive. If you check out the AP article, the references are listed at the bottom.

The AP article interviewed several experts in the field; most agreed that research as we know it today hasn’t been done to support the use of flossing for . . .

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