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.
The Bottom Line on Fasting
In the past four Memos, I’ve focused on explaining fasting. The questions I left you with on Saturday were: “Is it worth it to fast? Is it effective? Is there science to support it?” The answer to all three is yes. I think it can be summed up in one quote from the reference. “In […]
Fasting: Two Approaches
It’s time to get into some real fasting. While there’s nothing wrong with the abstinence approach, abstinence is not really fasting. I’m going to cover two different approaches. The first is known by the moniker 5:2. That means you eat reasonably five days out of the week and you fast two days per week. The […]
Fasting: Abstinence Models
How did you do on your 18:6 abstinence from food if you tried it? The ratio of abstinence to eating can vary. I asked you to try an 18:6 approach. Personally, I did fine—that’s just about my normal eating pattern anyway. I’m going to give you one version of an abstinence model today. I’ll give […]
Fasting vs. Abstinence
Before I talk about the differences between fasting and abstinence, I want to make it clear that I’m in favor of both approaches when used wisely. I don’t think either is the way you should eat for the rest of your life, but if you have specific objectives to control your weight or to reduce […]
The Fasting Dilemma
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Because we’ve entered the “weight-gain portal” time of the year, let’s talk about the fasting craze that some people are doing and the rest are thinking about trying. As I see it, the problem is the lack of clarity in terminology and subsequently the execution of a […]
Happy Thanksgiving
Paula, Riley, Jamie, and I would like to wish every one of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Normally, we would send these good wishes next week, but after a battle with brain cancer, Jamie’s sister passed away on Thursday leaving behind two young children. With the activities associated with passings, it seemed fitting to take care […]
Cancelled!
Thank you all for the prayers, good thoughts, and well wishes. I’m going to hang on to them for a while. My surgery was cancelled for this morning; Paula and I didn’t find out until we arrived at the hospital at 7:30 to check in. I was not alone. My surgeon had three surgeries cancelled […]
Prehab Is Over
One of the tests I took in preparation for surgery was to measure my levels of Staphylococcus aureus. In this case, they tested the nasal area, a common area for this serious pathogen. The test came back at zero. I was pleased because for the past three years I’ve been taking a Bacillus probiotic called […]
Building a Healthy Microbiome
After last week’s Memos on the importance of a healthy microbiome and immune health, let’s review how to have a healthy microbiome to protect your brain and boost your immune system. First, eat a mostly plant-based diet: some raw, some cooked, some fermented. The raw will give you probiotics and fiber. The cooked, especially whole […]
Science at Work
The challenge this week was to watch two video podcasts, think about what you heard, and then provide comments and questions. For those of you who did it, thank you. For those that didn’t, I recommend that you take some time this weekend and listen to them. I’m going to share my thoughts but there’s […]
