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.
Side 2: Why Powders Are Better than Plants
You might have thought that I was a food-only proponent when it comes to nutrition. Not in the least—I’m a big fan of the right kinds of supplements. I think we should start with real food, but we also have to acknowledge that the average person’s plant intake is woefully low: one or two servings […]
Side 1: Why Plants Are Better than Powders
A month ago I addressed the increased interest in getting vegetables and fruits from powders; now let’s get into more detail. First, eating vegetables and fruits automatically increases our fluid intake. The exact water content of different plants varies, but the average plant is about 90% water by weight. The water is somewhat purified by […]
How C-Reactive Protein Can Predict Cancer Risk
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is a measure of inflammation in the body. This blood test looks for inflammation that’s not apparent; with severe infection you have a fever, but other types of inflammation may go unnoticed. This is subtle because you don’t feel anything. On top of that, CRP hasn’t been shown to be diagnostic […]
Three Ways to Really Reduce Your Cancer Risk
In the last Memo before Spring Break, I said I’d cover ways to reduce your risk of getting cancer that really work. Every cancer website has lists, ranging from 10 to 15 recommendations. I’m going to give you my top three ways to reduce the risk of cancer of the items you can control. You […]
Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer: The Bottom Line
In the paper on artificial sweeteners and cancer risk that I covered on Tuesday, the researchers made it clear that although the study was done well, cause and effect cannot be determined. They also acknowledge that because 80% of the subjects were women, the results couldn’t be applied to the entire French population, let alone […]
Do Artificial Sweeteners Increase Cancer Risk?
Last week, my health news feed filled up with headlines that almost all sounded like this: “Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Higher Cancer Risk!” This isn’t the first study to suggest that relationship and it won’t be the last. This French epidemiological study of over 100,000 subjects collected data for more than seven years. One of […]
Do You Need a Fruit-and-Vegetable Concentrate?
Vegetable-concentrate and fruit-concentrate products are popular now, judging by the number of ads on TV and the web; the implication is that they can replace real fruits and vegetables in the diet. For the fruit concentrate, manufacturers remove all the fiber and water, yielding concentrates from various fruits and phytonutrient blends plus aloe vera. The […]
Vitamins and Minerals in Supplements
I got an interesting question last week about a supplement that contained a blend of fruit and vegetable concentrates: vitamins and minerals aren’t included on the label, so are they in there? The answer is probably. It all comes down to the purpose of the supplement. A concentrate is typically the entire vegetable or fruit […]
Wait a Minute!
It was a beautiful day in Grand Rapids on Thursday: 65 degrees, hazy sunshine, no wind, and a perfect day to take a kid to the park. Riley likes basketball (as is required of all children in the Midwest); he can’t hit the rim with the net at 10 feet, but that didn’t stop him […]
The Default Is Always Exercise
Ever have one of those days? For no particular reason at all, you don’t really want to bother watching what you eat or doing any exercise. What do you do? Get on the floor and do five or ten push-ups or sit-ups, or get on your exercise bike and get your legs going for one […]
