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.
Can You Lose Weight by Sleeping More?
That doesn’t seem to make any sense; you’re not going to be as active because you’re sleeping, so how can that help you lose weight? Well, if you’re sleeping you’re not eating, but there must be more to it than that. Let’s go back to the SCN, the pacemaker of rhythms. Researchers have found that […]
Could Your Rhythms Be Keeping You Fat?
You eat well and you exercise, but you still can’t lose any weight. What if the answer was in the natural rhythms of your body? I’m not talking about dance moves; I’m talking about circadian rhythms, the natural 24-hour cycles based on day and night. Since we can pretty much control the amount of light […]
The Bottom Line on Folic Acid
Based on the studies covered in the Tuesday and Thursday posts, you may be confused about what you should do when it comes to folic acid, especially if you’re pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. I read a lot of research to come up with this analysis and here’s what I found. There are three […]
Prenatal Nutrition: More on Folic Acid
The second study on folic acid supplementation before pregnancy examined similar blood and red blood cell folic acid levels at different times during pregnancy and in cord blood (1). The difference was that half of the subjects were randomly provided with 400 mcg folic acid to take during their second and third trimesters. As you […]
Prenatal Nutrition: Should You Worry About Folic Acid?
I’ve been working on updating the research for the second edition of the Healthy Babies CD, and that includes nutrients such as probiotics, vitamin D, and one of the most important nutrients, folic acid. Since folic acid was added to cereal grains in 1998, there have been significant reductions in neural tube defects, but folic […]
BMI, WHR, and Lifestyle
The study we’ve been examining is interesting on so many levels: large numbers of subjects; new statistical techniques due in large part to progress in computing capabilities; genetic analysis that allows for rapid analysis and identification of polymorphisms. It’s all very exciting. You’re probably anticipating a “but” coming and you’d be correct. This study demonstrated […]
Waist-Hip Ratio vs. BMI
In Tuesday’s message, I said researchers used a unique approach to answering the question of whether waist-hip ratio (WHR) is associated with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes regardless of BMI. They found 48 genes which were associated WHR, a unique approach using the genetic information with Mendelian randomization of epidemiological data. If that isn’t […]
Redefining the Risks of Extra Weight
Studies show that 70% of the population is overweight; by definition, that means that their body mass index (BMI) is greater than 25 or more. But are all overweight people at the same risk? Just because you’re overweight, are you automatically at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes? That’s what a group […]
Should You Exercise During Pregnancy?
While everyone wants a healthy baby, many women would like to control their weight gain and avoid gestational diabetes during pregnancy. That’s why I noticed one more article in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise issue I read; in addition, I’ve recording the updated Healthy Babies: From Conception to Breastfeeding audio and want […]
Can Vegetarian Protein Help You Build Muscle?
People often ask me which is the best type of protein to build muscle when weight training. The reason for the question is bodybuilder and weight-training websites that condemn vegetarian protein as not good enough to build muscle. In the same issue of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise as the paper from Tuesday, […]
