Periodically, readers seem to enjoy a column consisting of short, random health tips.

From Good Medicine, published quarterly by PCRM (Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine):

• Medical students learn little to nothing about the power of plant-based, whole food to prevent, treat, and reverse most of the chronic diseases that Americans suffer and die from. In 2024 New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that will make nutrition knowledge a priority for physicians.
• Native Americans suffer from a high rate of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, due to eating foods they are not genetically meant to eat. In 2024, former Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nex gave the following testimony before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: “To this day, government programs continue to harm the health of our people. Milk, cheese, and other dairy products were never part of our traditions. Dairy is a European custom, and today, the Dietary Guidelines still pushes us to consume milk. Meat was never central to the Navajo diet. Traditionally, our foods were mostly plant-based.”

From Nutrition Action, published 6 times a year by Center for Science in the Public Interest:

• Forever chemicals (PFAS–per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) were developed in the 1940s. Now there are over 14,000 different PFAS for which there are over 200 different use categories (such as cleaning products, cosmetics, stain-free sofas and carpets, water-resistant clothing, paints, food packaging). There is no way for living creatures or the environment to break down these chemicals. Although only a few PFAS have been studied, they appear to be linked to several health problems. PFAScentral.org from the Green Science Policy Institute can help you choose PFAS-free products.
• Stairs are good for you. As people get older, they often talk about moving to a single-level house. However, non-disabled people are more apt to maintain ability to do activities of daily living if they live in a house with stairs. Furthermore, walking up and down stairs after eating improves blood sugar levels.
• Artificial intelligence cannot be trusted to give accurate food advice.
• Blood pressure should be taken with the cuff against bare skin, and with your arm resting on a table so that the cuff is at heart-level. You should not talk during the measurement, your legs should be uncrossed, and the cuff should be the correct size for your arm circumference.

Sometimes you have to ask whomever is taking your BP to do it the right way.

From “American Sickness, by Elisabeth Rosenthal, M.D.

• Dr. Rosenthal writes about “the transformation of American medicine in a little over a quarter century from a caring endeavor to the most profitable industry in the United States — what many experts refer to as a medical-industrial complex.”
• She notes that “it is often only after Americans get sick in other countries that they understand just how broken their own system is.” She gives an example of a man who developed a kidney stone while at a hot springs spa in Japan. He saw a urologist at a private clinic, got an IV and pain medicine, blood and urine tests, and a CT scan in six hours. Similar treatment for a prior kidney stone in the U.S. cost tens of thousands of dollars, and he was worried about how he was going to pay the bill in Japan, but it turned out to be a total of $281.

Dr. Greg Feinsinger is a retired family physician who started the non-profit Center For Prevention and Treatment of Disease Through Nutrition. For questions or to schedule a free consultation about nutrition or heart attack prevention contact him at gfeinsinger@comcast.net or 970-379-5718.