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.
Don’t Forget Fluids
With the unseasonably warm weather many of us are experiencing, I thought it was time to remind you that it’s not all about water: the emphasis should be on fluids. Coffee, tea, milk, soda, sports drinks, soup—all of those count toward your daily fluid intake. It’s true that some drinks are better than others. Sugary […]
Taking Biotin? Tell Your Doctor
Biotin is a B vitamin often used for skin health among other benefits; it’s involved in many metabolic processes in the body. Due to its chemical nature, it’s used as a coenzyme in several tests. One of those tests is for troponin, a protein released from the heart into the bloodstream during a heart attack. […]
Still in Doubt? Check It Out Again
In the last Memo, I said we weren’t done with the person who had waited three days. We spoke again after a couple of days, and she still had the same pain profile: back and chest, not as intense. She’d had a heart catheterization that came back clear: no blockages in any of her coronary […]
Three Freaking Days!
When it comes to health, my experience has shown that women tend to take a little better care of their health than men do. I checked back to when I began to use the phrases, “Never, never, ever, ignore chest pain” and “When in doubt, check it out!” It was about 20 years ago. And […]
When In Doubt, Check It Out
Father’s Day reminded me of some of the wonderful men I’ve known who’ve passed on. The one I miss the most is my best friend Jim even though he’s been gone over 20 years. I can’t help but believe he might still be with us if had done just one thing: check it out. Jim […]
Science Says Coffee Is Good
Research is based on curiosity; in order to do good research, you have to ask good questions. Researchers in the coffee study asked: Will a little sugar negate the benefits from drinking coffee? We don’t know whether this was the initial question or if researchers wanted to find out whether artificial sweeteners might have negative […]
Coffee: One Sugar Please
I have a strong relationship with coffee. I began drinking coffee when my mother put coffee in a bottle with a little sugar for me when I was a toddler. These days, a mother would get reprimanded by somebody if she did such a thing, but in the 1950s there weren’t the variety of drinks […]
Supplements and Safety for Kids
The real issue with melatonin and children is not with the actual overdose. Of the 260,000 calls to the U.S. Poison Control Centers, 218,000 were about kids under five years old. Kids will put just about anything in their mouths, especially those younger than five. The issues as I see them are the delivery system […]
Melatonin: Is It Safe for Kids?
Health headlines can dictate what I write about if they concern nutrition, exercise, or supplements: one article in my newsfeed, and my world gets changed. Such is the case when the CDC published an article in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report titled Pediatric Melatonin Ingestions—United States, 2012–2021. The resulting health headlines said Melatonin Poisoning Cases […]
Soreness and Specificity of Training
The first Super Bowl Webinar I ever did was about specificity of training. A running buddy years ago summarized how to run faster this way: “If you want to run faster, you gotta run faster.” In other words, even short bursts of running very fast would eventually help build speed more than slow, long runs. […]
