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.
New Research on Sucralose
Everybody seems to be talking about sucralose. In the past week, I’ve gotten more emails about the artificial sweetener sucralose than I ever have before; I’ve also seen more commentaries on sucralose in health news feeds. The problem is that the issue really isn’t the sweetener itself—it’s a contaminant that may be found in the […]
Flavanols: The Real Brain Food
As I suggested in the last memo, the researchers did not prove their hypothesis that there would be an increase in measures of memory in all participants of the clinical trial. While disappointing, the secondary hypothesis might have been even more important because it was statistically significant. They found that those with the lowest intake […]
What’s Brain Food?
If I ask what you think a good brain food would be, what would you answer? I think for most people, it would probably be fish, especially cold-water fish such as tuna and salmon. I don’t think we can discount how important omega-3 fatty acids are to the function of our bodies, especially our nervous […]
Diet: It Just Doesn’t Matter
Long-time readers probably know I love using quotes from movies. One of my favorites is a Bill Murray line from the movie Meatballs. Although it’s part of a much longer rant, the key phrase is, “It just doesn’t matter!” That’s what I want you to remember from the study that examined the percentage of energy […]
Is Summer Paleo Diet Time?
Now that we’re past Memorial Day, we’re officially in the summer season. For many people, that typically means they grill more than at other times of the year—I know that I do. It also seems like we favor more vegetables and fruit. In a way, it seems to mimic the paleo diet approach: we eat […]
BE FAST for Stroke
So what did the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (actual brain surgeons) add to the mix? They added the acronym BE, which then makes the entire acronym BE FAST. What do the new letters stand for? B: loss of balance. I didn’t see any details about how to test that. It may be self-evident that someone […]
Suspect a Stroke? Act FAST
The other day, for no particular reason at all, I got really dizzy for a moment. I wasn’t spinning in circles or doing anything else that might have caused it, so I did what I always do: I acted FAST and looked for signs and symptoms of a stroke. The American Heart Association (AHA) has […]
Sucralose: A Treatment for Auto-Immune Disease?
In test-tube and rodent research, researchers have found that sucralose given in high amounts may help reduce the immune response, thereby preventing the body from attacking itself, which is the essence of an auto-immune disease. How about that? For all the negative comments about sucralose, wouldn’t it be a kicker if it turns out that […]
Eyedrops for Alzheimer’s?
A recent study is looking at eyedrops for glaucoma and the potential prevention or possible treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. I have a vested interest in that because I have glaucoma and use a form of the medication in question for it. The function of the medication is like a localized diuretic; the medication is absorbed […]
The Best Heart-Healthy Diet
In assessing popular diets to find out which one follows the AHA heart-healthy dietary guidelines the best, the panel did a credible job. Instead of just using their expertise, which is substantial, they developed an objective way of assessing each popular diet. They did have one diet that received a point for each of the […]
