Steps You Can Take Now to Prevent Chronic Disease
Welcome to this week’s edition of Public Health without Politics. This edition highlights which health fads may actually harm you, how smart diet choices and regular exercise can protect against disease, and simple ways to build habits that strengthen your body and mind.
Trending in Health this Week
Experts say trends like the carnivore diet, lemon-in-coffee, mouth taping, and other trends may be popular but can be harmful. The authors correctly call for more studies to replicate theirs and note that the mechanism by which this happens in the body is not known.
A new study finds that even a few days on a high-fat diet may impair memory by disrupting brain function.
September is the perfect time to hit “reset” with digital minimalism—stepping back from screens to reclaim mental space. Maybe use September to decide how much to step back forever.
New evidence shows that while keto can help with weight loss, over time it may harm blood sugar and liver health. It’s a mouse study and, again, should be verified by more research. Perhaps one takeaway is to not go on “extreme diets” that focus on one macronutrient (fats, carbs, or protein).
A Mediterranean diet can apparently ease psoriasis symptoms in just 16 weeks.
The Air Force is rolling out new fitness tests that track running, strength, core, and waist-to-height ratio. Hopefully, this kind of thing catches on beyond the Air Force for people of all ages.
The U.S. Is Struggling to Cut Chronic-Disease Deaths
While global rates of chronic disease deaths have broadly declined, progress in the United States has slowed—especially among younger adults—suggesting that prevention efforts must do more to reach earlier generations.
The U.S. has seen weaker improvements in reducing deaths from chronic illnesses compared to other countries.
Death rates are rising or flattening in younger adults, reversing earlier trends of steady decline.
Experts point to poor diet, inactivity, and obesity as key drivers holding back U.S. progress.
My thoughts: It’s a national problem and we must do more than focusing on a few issues like colors or pesticides. There are many equity issues that have risen to popularity but maybe we should start to prioritize a little because, as the old Geritol commercial said,
“We’ve got so much to be thankful for. We’ve got our health and when you’ve got your health you’ve got just about everything.”
How Exercise Fights Cancer
A single workout can spark molecules in your blood that help slow cancer cell growth—especially with interval or strength training.
Cancer survivors who exercise regularly have lower rates of recurrence.
Interval training showed the strongest cancer-fighting effect.
Exercise is now seen as an important part of cancer care, not just an add-on.
Which Exercise Burns the Most Calories?
Some workouts torch more calories than others, but the key is finding what keeps you moving.
Running, HIIT, and rowing are among the top calorie-burners.
Moves that use lots of muscles at once—like swimming or circuit training—boost calorie burn.
The best exercise is the one you enjoy and can stick with over time.
Inspirational Quote
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
— Confucius
Have a great week,
—Richard