Dr. Chet’s Health Memos
If it’s in the health news today, I’ll be writing about it as soon as I read the research, both old and new. With my email Health Memos, you’ll know more about making lifestyle choices that will help you get and keep good health. These free, concise updates on health are emailed to subscribers twice a week. Subscribe today and get a free MP3, in English or Spanish, of Dr. Chet’s Top Ten Tips—Small Changes for a Healthier Life.
Further Research: Exercise and ADHD
One of the characteristics of children with ADHD is that they seem to have plenty of energy. Too much energy. They want to talk, they want to move, they need to be doing something. Today’s study examined the research on children with ADHD and exercise.
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis on studies that examined the effects of exercise on the symptoms associated with ADHD. Those symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, anxiety, learning and memory difficulties. The analysis showed that even short-term aerobic activity improved almost every symptom of ADHD.
What constitutes short-term aerobic activity? Running, skipping, jumping . . .
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Further Research: Fat Intake and Learning
I always find more research than I can actually use; either the study was too small or the study didn’t exactly apply to the topic. It doesn’t mean it wasn’t good research, but I have to stop somewhere. This week, I’m going to share my take on three research articles I found when I prepared for the ADHD webinar.
The first involves an examination of dietary fat in kids and their ability to learn. The researchers examined the diets of 70 children 9 to 11 years old. Their hypothesis was that as the ratio of omega . . .
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How to Exercise in the Heat
When the temperature rises, with or without humidity, and you have to get that workout done outdoors, the solution is high-intensity interval training, but only if you’ve been cleared by your physician and cardiologist for intense exercise. Walking, running, swimming, or biking, intervals can help you get an intense workout in a short time. That’s the approach I used in Austin, and you can, too.
The location where I stayed in Austin was on a very hilly road—more mountain than hill. I have nothing like that kind of hill anywhere near my neighborhood. The approach was . . .
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Exercise and the Heat
How do you know if you should exercise outdoors during the day in the heat and humidity we’re having this summer? I’ll make it simple for you: don’t.
Unless you can exercise in the morning before the sun rises, stay indoors. When I ran in Austin this past weekend, it was before the sun came up and the day was overcast to begin. It was in the 70s but not hot.
Our cooling mechanism is the problem when exercising in the high heat and humidity. If the outside temperature, combined with the humidity, is too high, your . . .
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Heat, Water, and Sports Drinks
While I was in Austin doing a seminar this past weekend, I posted a thought on Facebook about drinking fluids when it’s hot. And it was hot in Austin; the temperature topped out at 100 degrees. It’s also been hot in Grand Rapids with temperatures hitting the 90s with some humidity to make it even worse. If you’re going to work outside in that type of heat and humidity, you have to drink fluids.
Water is important but when you sweat, you lose sodium and potassium as well. You should alternate four ounces of water with four . . .
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Observations from the Road: Fitness vs. a Healthy Heart
As I finish my observations from my last trip, I’m on another trip to Austin to do another seminar. I’m sure I’ll have other things to talk about because I’m always looking and listening.
During my run a week ago in Denver, I repeatedly passed two women who were out for an early morning walk. They carried on a conversation the entire time. I think that’s great; having a walking or running buddy or group can get you moving on those days when you don’t want to, and sometimes the gossip is what gets . . .
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Observations from the Road: Ankle and Wrist Weights
As I was running Sunday morning before the flight home from Denver, a woman about 60 was walking around the lake path. She had on the requisite earphones listening to something, bandana to keep her hair in place, and ankle weights. I don’t see them much anymore and that’s good. Research shows that they provide no benefit and in some cases, can cause harm.
The perceived benefit is that a person wearing ankle weights or carrying weights in their hands when they walk will get some additional benefit, perhaps increasing muscle strength or burning more calories. One would . . .
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Observations from the Road: The Mile-High City
Whenever I travel, I observe people and especially what they do. This past weekend was no different as I traveled to Denver to do a seminar. Because Denver is called The Mile-High City, I thought altitude was a great place to begin.
There are at least two things that happen when you move from sea level to 5,000 feet: the oxygen level of the air drops about 3%, and the density of the air decreases. The net effect to the body is that it’s more difficult for the hemoglobin of your blood to saturate with oxygen and . . .
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Type 2 Diabetes: The Only Cure
In this week’s messages, I’ve looked at medications and bariatric surgery as cures for type 2 diabetes. They’re treatments that can help with the symptoms, but they’re not cures. Considering the expense and the side effects of both, they’re not even very desirable treatments.
Let me be clear: they’re both effective, but effective and desirable are two different things. Reducing blood sugar and HbA1c are critical to slow the damage to the body caused by type 2 diabetes; we’re lucky those options are available. If your doctor wants you to do either, especially . . .
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Type 2 Diabetes: Is Surgery the Cure?
About 20 years ago, I attended a conference on obesity convened by the National Institutes of Health. Every weight loss expert who was anybody was there and every approach to weight loss was discussed. The conclusion of the ending panel discussion was that while the concept for weight loss is simple, it’s not easy to sustain weight loss. At that point, a physician summarized the conference something like this: “What you’re saying is that after all the data presented this week, bariatric surgery is the most successful way to lose weight and maintain it?” It didn’t really . . .
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