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.
How Periodontal Disease Makes COVID-19 Worse
Aging with a Vengeance is more than gaining muscle mass and losing fat around your waist; it also means that your immune system is robust. I think we often over-emphasize supplementation; while I think it’s necessary, it really should serve as support for other actions that are equally or even more important. For example, taking […]
How Exercise Improves Sleep
To become the best version of yourself, it takes more than just eating better and moving more. One factor that gets overlooked is sleep. Sleep patterns change over a lifetime; in addition, isolation during the COVID pandemic can also impact sleep patterns. Moderate to strenuous exercise has long been known to have a positive impact […]
Vitamin C, Zinc, and COVID-19: Ask the Right Questions
As we left off Tuesday’s memo, I suggested that both the researchers in the study that was halted as well as the physicians who used dietary supplements as part of their treatment were wrong in their conclusions. At this point we don’t know for certain whether vitamin C and/or zinc can help with COVID-19. Let’s […]
Vitamin C, Zinc, and COVID-19
Last week, a study was published in JAMA Online that did a randomized controlled trial using vitamin C and zinc to treat people diagnosed with COVID-19. Several longtime readers asked me to review videos posted by physicians and other healthcare professionals who’ve used vitamin C and zinc to treat COVID-19 infections. I did and I’ll […]
Less Can Be More If…
Let’s dig into the results of the National Health Interview Survey analysis to see if less really can be more: does mortality decrease even with fewer than 30 minutes per day most days of the week as long as part of the workouts was vigorous? We’re not examining other potential health benefits of exercise such […]
Is Intense Exercise Better?
The national recommendation for exercise is 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week. That works out to 150 to 300 minutes per week or 2.5 to 5 hours. At one point or another, I think many people have asked “What’s the least amount of exercise that I can do and still get benefits?” […]
Why I Hate Cilantro
The All of Us genetic testing results I told you about Tuesday included four more genes; by examining the results, these genes explain a lot about my personal tastes. These are not world-changing genetic analyses such as risk for cardiovascular disease or celiac disease, but they’re nevertheless interesting. Here’s what else I found out about […]
All of Us: Genetic Results
Almost two years ago, I wrote about the All of Us Research Program. Their goal was to get 1,000,000 partners who would be subjects in the largest study ever done within the U.S. I decided to participate fully and that means answering questionnaires as well as giving blood samples and other basic health information. I’ve […]
Fighting the Mutants Among Us
Unless you’ve been avoiding all information about COVID-19, you know that there are now variants or mutations of the original virus. The first mutation was identified in the United Kingdom; soon after, another was identified in South Africa, and finally, another in Brazil. Will there be more? Undoubtedly. Is it a big deal? Maybe. If […]
Double-Up for Safety
This is Super Bowl week so let’s lead with a football analogy in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. “The best offense is a great defense” has been used as a way to deal with teams who have a great offense: if you stop them from keeping the ball, they can’t do much scoring. That […]
