Entries by Chet Zelasko

Too Old to Test

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The next comment on excessive testing concerns unnecessary prostate and breast cancer screening in people who are 65 and older. Based on the current U.S. census, that would be about 40 million Americans.

Researchers used data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This telephone survey is a minimum 190 questions and can be up to 410 questions. As the title suggests, it asks about all aspects of health from diet, exercise, previous conditions and diseases, and current conditions and diseases. The researchers were interested in the number of people 65 and older who responded to . . .

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Too Many Mammograms?

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An interesting opinion article this past week concerned mammograms and whether they should be done as frequently as they are. The authors commented on what they view as politically mandated care instead of evidence-based care.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) had traditionally recommended that based on the evidence, mammograms should begin when a woman turns 40 and then every two years. In 2012, the recommendation was changed to mammograms beginning at 50. The reason for the change was statistics: few lives would be saved by beginning tests earlier. Needless to say, women were not happy. The . . .

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Why You Need Your Seven

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Green leafy vegetables and fruit convey health benefits to eyes and men’s sexual function. Why? It all comes down to blood flow and specifically, how those foods help blood vessels.

Nitrates cause dilation of blood vessels, especially the minute blood vessels in the heart, the eyes, and other organs, exactly when we need it most. Most people associate nitrates with processed meats, but green leafy vegetables and root vegetables such as beets have a far greater nitrate content without dragging along a lot of fat and sodium. The nitrates provide the raw materials that help the nitric oxide system . . .

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Fruit Intake and Men’s Health

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On Monday I talked about a recent study on vegetables and glaucoma. Today the subject is fruit intake and men’s health, specifically, the relationship between eating certain types of fruit and erectile dysfunction. Wonder why I didn’t put that in the title? Because it would have ended in up in your spam folder. But this isn’t about inanimate objects such as computer programs and how they evaluate subject lines, it’s about phytonutrients.

Researchers again examined the data from the Healthcare Professionals Follow-up Study. This time, they examined the relationship between the specific phytonutrient intake typically . . .

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Green Leafy Veggies and Glaucoma

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Vegetables and fruits led the health news last week. You know my mantra: Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Research reported this past week provides some insight into the benefits of eating better. Let’s start with vegetables.

Researchers analyzed data from the Nurses Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. They were interested in the relationship between dietary nitrates and glaucoma; as the nitrate intake increased, the risk of glaucoma decreased when compared to the lowest intake. This is a longitudinal study and used Food Frequency Questionnaires as the source of the food intake. I’ve ranted about . . .

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Why the Experts Hate the Dietary Guidelines

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One more time, I hope that you’ve taken the time to read the link I gave you for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. It’s a summary that’s easy to read. Is there more information? Absolutely, good information, and you can spend some time looking around using the links in the left hand side of the summary. I especially love the section on what Americans currently eat. Do you know that adults eat less than one serving of whole grains a day? And men . . .

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Why You Should Follow the New Guidelines

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Did you do your homework? Did you read the Executive Summary of the Dietary Guidelines as I asked you to do on Monday? If not, do it right now: click on the link below and take the 10 minutes to check it out before you read on.

Here are my thoughts.

There are really no arguments with the five Dietary Guidelines. They’re intentionally vague, but they resound in my mind. For example, the first recommendation says to eat healthy over a lifespan. That implies you should consistently eat healthy—not just kale, because it’s the hot new veggie . . .

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The 2015 Dietary Guidelines

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Before you begin reading, answer these questions: What are the Dietary Guidelines that were published in 2010? Can you remember any of them? Can you remember even one of them?

The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines were published late last week. Research was reviewed. Meetings were held. Comments were given. Experts have given input. Millions of dollars were spent. Is there anything groundbreaking in the 2015 Guidelines? You’ve probably heard about some of the changes: eggs are okay again, the current sodium intake is not, and we should lower our sugar intake. But that’s headline stuff.

Here’s what . . .

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“In Defense of Food”: The Key Omission

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The movie “In Defense of Food” is a must see, as I’ve said. I think it makes the most reasonable presentation for what we should and should not eat to be healthy. But it also has a glaring omission.

In the movie, a segment focuses on the Hadza, a nomadic tribe in Tanzania and one of the last cultures who are still hunter-gatherers. They eat what they find and occasionally kill. A staple of their diet is very fibrous root vegetables.

The movie also does a segment on a group of elderly 7th Day Adventists. They believe their . . .

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“In Defense of Food”: The Time Factor

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I’ve heard from a number of you who’ve seen “In Defense of Food” by now. If you haven’t, find it and plan to watch it; this is one movie the whole family should watch together. As I said on Tuesday, I think it’s the most fair and balanced presentation I’ve seen on what to eat. But there were a couple of things I don’t think were covered as well as they might be.

One of the segments focuses on teaching kids in inner cities how to grow produce and how to cook it, in . . .

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