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 Types of Fiber
There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Let me break each down for you.
Soluble fiber is indigestible carbohydrates from plants; as the name suggests, they dissolve in water. They can actually form a gel-like substance in a glass, if you don’t consume it after mixing with water, or in the small intestine. Examples of foods that contain soluble fiber: psyllium, fruit, oats, barley, and legumes.
Insoluble fiber comes from plant cell walls. It does not dissolve in water but it can add bulk to the stool; that allows it to pass easier. Foods that contain . . .
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Why You Need Fiber
One of the questions I get all the time is: What’s the big deal with fiber and why is it so important? In Real-Life Detox, my book that helps you naturally detoxify your body, I talk about the use of fiber during the fasting and detoxification process but didn’t cover it in great detail, so let’s take a closer look.
Fiber is the indigestible parts of plants. Because most Americans eat a diet very high in refined carbohydrates that have had the fiber . . .
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Is Sugar the Problem?
The questions I left you with on Thursday were related to the press and scientific reaction to the article about the sugar industry published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Was it worth all the press on CNN, Time, and even Treehugger.com? I don’t see it that way and I’ll explain why.
The Article
The paper in JAMA was not a study (1); it was a review of correspondence and papers published in the 1950s and 1960s. It was more investigative journalism than science . . .
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Sugar: New Villain?
Health by headlines continues, this time, from one of the Journals of the American Medical Association. The headlines revolved around how the sugar industry influenced research and scientific publications in the 1950s through the 1980s. A group of researchers, affiliated with the Philip Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, examined documents from the Sugar Research Foundation and correspondence between scientists who examined research on the role fat and sugar play in the development of cardiovascular disease. The scientists involved have all died; this was an examination of their papers archived in the universities where they spent their careers as well . . .
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Suicide Prevention
We spend so much time on the physical part of health, we don’t often give recognition to the mental part. A post from a long-time friend to his Facebook page drew my interest; he asked people to repost the information about this being Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. I can do better than repost—I’m sharing it with the thousands of people like you who get my message because today is World Suicide Prevention Day.
Here are a few items I found at the National Alliance of Mental Health website.
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School Daze
Tuesday was the first day of school in Grand Rapids. I’m sure the kids were excited, at least the younger ones; I think the parents were a little excited as well. In fact, my observation was that they were a little dazed. It seems they have lost all sense of traffic and parking laws in their quest to get kids to school.
When I went out for my run, 200 yards on both sides of my street were filled with cars near the intersection with the main road. Parents were walking their children into the first day of school . . .
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Why You Should Keep Moving
When I read the online articles published with the science-by-headline titles “Exercise Isn’t Enough,” it really got to me. If you’re in the category of following the recommended 30 to 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise five days a week, based on these articles it really doesn’t do you any good if you sit too much the rest of the day. What evidence did they provide?
The articles cited the results of several studies that had subjects fill out questionnaires about their daily activity with follow-ups to find out who got sick and . . .
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Does Sitting Cancel Out Exercise?
This past Friday, I ran 4.5 miles on a great running and biking trail in Grand Rapids; it was a great morning and with the canopy of trees, it was cooler than it would have been in the sun. The rest of the day, I recorded my radio show, read, wrote, and finished off the day watching some home improvement shows. I typically spend more than eight hours sitting while I do what I do.
Unfortunately, that run won’t reduce my risk of dying from cardiovascular disease—not based on the headlines for a scientific statement just released . . .
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Supplement Ingredient Follow-up
The Consumer Report messages on supplements also brought out the responses. There were a few that I thought I should write about to bring about some clarity on the topic.
From the list of “15 Supplement Ingredients to Always Avoid,” I wrote about only green tea extract in depth and mentioned caffeine powder. Most were herbs that are not found in conventional supplements such as multivitamins or coenzyme Q10. What seems to be a characteristic of most herbs on the list is that they cause liver and kidney damage when not used properly such as comfrey, kava, and usnic acid . . .
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Flossing Follow-up
I’ve written the memo for over 16 years and for the past 10 years, it’s been about health, but I never know what kind of response I’m going to get about what I write. Flossing and “dangerous supplement ingredients” really brought out some great questions. I’ll cover them in the next two messages.
Today, flossing. Many readers and listeners thanked me for addressing the issue and challenging the AP report. We think of teeth as being shaped like a blade, but most are closer to square at the gumline. That’s a lot of surface area . . .
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