Ten health tips for men

[Bill Glasheen]

OK, so I found this in Men's Health. It's not like they're the premiere peer-reviewed medical journal out there. But still... much of what's in here are the kinds of things I preach both in my classes and on this Forum.

Some of it is provocative, such as encouraging people to eat steak. Well... maybe. There are other ways to get your selenium, B vitamins, and healthy fatty acids, and men in general can get too much iron (which will shorten their lives). Personally I'd rather have some nuts and take my multi. But sometimes you need to make a provocative point or two to enlighten people to the concept of eating a balanced, thoughtful diet.

I'm all for items 5 and 7. Obviously this is a magazine by and for men. "Honey, it's for my health! Humina humina..."

Warning - shameless product plugs in item 9. But the point is well taken.

- Bill

1. Grill a steak. You may think it's bad for your heart, but you'd be wrong. Beef contains immunity-boosting selenium as well as homocysteine-lowering B vitamins. And up to 50 percent of the fat is the heart-healthy monounsaturated variety.

2. Tell your wife to butt out. People who are exposed to cigarette smoke for just 30 minutes, three times a week, have a 26 percent greater risk of developing heart disease than people who rarely encounter secondhand smoke.

3. Take aspirin. Regular aspirin consumption cuts the risk of coronary heart disease by 28 percent in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

4. Drink more tea. Men who drink 2 cups of tea a day are 25 percent less likely to die of heart disease than guys who rarely touch the stuff. The reason: flavonoids in the tea, which not only improve blood vessels' ability to relax, but also thin the blood, reducing clotting.

5. Touch her. Ten minutes of skin-to-skin contact (hand-holding, hugs) with your mate can help keep your blood pressure and pulse from spiking during stressful times, according to University of North Carolina researchers.

6. Go fishing for tuna. Omega-3 fats in tuna help strengthen heart muscle, lower blood pressure, and prevent clotting — as well as reduce levels of potentially deadly inflammation in the body.

7. Pair up. Married men are less likely to die of heart disease than bachelors. Scientists looked at men with mildly high blood pressure and found that after 3 years of marriage, the happily married men had healthier hearts than their unmarried brothers.

8. Adopt a dog. All that love ("You're a good boy, yes you are!") and aggravation ("Bad dog! Don't eat Daddy's crab dip!") makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

9. Rinse, brush. Rinse your mouth with Cool Mint Listerine and brush with Colgate Total toothpaste. They'll reduce oral bacteria, which can decrease your risk of a heart attack by 200 to 300 percent.

10. Make friends at work. Men with the most work friends also have the lowest heart rates and healthiest blood-pressure levels, even during times of stress.

[Sochin]

6. Go fishing for tuna. Omega-3 fats in tuna help strengthen heart muscle, lower blood pressure, and prevent clotting — as well as reduce levels of potentially deadly inflammation in the body.

may be a little out of date now that the mercury levels of tuna and other fatty fish have been found to be unacceptably high.

Omega-3 fats in capsule form seems to be just as good.

[Valkenar]

Some value here but also some very questionable stuff.

And up to 50 percent of the fat is the heart-healthy monounsaturated variety.

So 50+ percent or more of steak fat is unhealthy. And "up to" in a context like this usually means 10% in most cases and 49% if you spend a lot of time researching your beef and get just the right cut from just the right farm.

7. Pair up. ... the happily married men had healthier hearts than their unmarried brothers.

Is this properly isolating other lifestyle factors? Seems unlikely.

8. Adopt a dog. All that love ... and aggravation ... makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

Hmm, sounds dubious. I get that pets lower blood pressure, but using the stress as a conditioning routine? Not sure I buy that. Maybe you should intentionally screw up at work so you can give your heart practice at handling fear of losing your job.

9. Rinse, brush. Rinse your mouth with Cool Mint Listerine and brush with Colgate Total toothpaste. They'll reduce oral bacteria, which can decrease your risk of a heart attack by 200 to 300 percent.

Ug, what a crass plug. How unscrupulous is it to throw in product placement like this? As if Listerine and Colgate are better than say, Scope and Crest. I'll believe oral bacteria correlates with heart attacks, I suppose, but this kind of unsubtle advertising trashes what little credibility the article might have. Seriously, how can you trust that the whole thing wasn't just bought by producers of the goods they're recommending?

Otherwise, some decent tips (aspirin, tea, relaxation, eg)

[jorvik]

Actually I have heard that colgate and listerine are the only thing that kills mrsa in the mouth......something to do with a chemical in both

[Bill Glasheen]

Actually I have heard that colgate and listerine are the only thing that kills mrsa in the mouth......something to do with a chemical in both

I don't know about that, Ray.

I do know that VERY FEW dental products have been endorsed by the American Dental Association. Listerine is the only mouthwash that I know of that's received the honors.

The active ingredient(s) in Lysterine is a combination of chemicals that are classified as phenols. They've been around a long time. More importantly, they've been proven in fairly extensive studies to work in preventing tooth decay by killing bacteria in the mouth.

Colgate Total got rave reviews in the business community as a "breakthrough product" before the advertising kicked in. Its claim is that it continues to prevent bacterial growth for 12 hours or longer after use. Other than the usual ingredients (detergents, flavors, colors, etc.) it has a substance called "PVM/MA copolymer." I assume that's the "secret sauce" in the toothpaste. I'll reserve my judgement on it until years of good research are done. In the mean time, I was sold by the business intelligence. It is my toothpaste of choice until I find a better one. (FWIW, I'm not someone who cares to find the latest, greatest tooth whitener.)

> 7. Pair up. ... the happily married men had healthier hearts
> than their unmarried brothers.

Is this properly isolating other lifestyle factors? Seems unlikely.

There's plenty of evidence to support this. It really isn't news.

Are you familiar with Dean Ornish?



He's a Harvard cardiologist who has made himself famous by showing (in the peer-reviewed literature) that you can actually REVERSE coronary artery disease via diet, exercise, and stress reduction. The diet he recommends is extremely low in fat.

You might find this book interesting.

Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy

Through anecdotes and dozens of scientific studies, Ornish demonstrates that personal intimacy and other aspects of emotional well-being--all the elements that make up what we call "love"--are as important to our physical condition as to our mental health. Not only do these positive emotions motivate us to make better lifestyle choices, Ornish argues, they also have a powerful direct effect on our bodies, giving us stronger immune systems, better cardiovascular functioning, and longer life expectancies.

> 8. Adopt a dog. All that love ... and aggravation ...
> makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal
> with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

Hmm, sounds dubious. I get that pets lower blood pressure, but using the stress as a conditioning routine? Not sure I buy that.

This is more of the same. You must have missed these classes in school.

In his book Heart Sense for Women, (Dr.) Sinatra mentions the various benefits pets can have on our health. One of the most important is alleviating loneliness.

In fact, loneliness is one of the most damaging risk factors in people recovering from heart disease. Studies have shown that patients who suffer heart attacks but own pets are likely to have five times the survival rate of patients who are not pet owners, according to Sinatra.

Another big benefit of being in the presence of a pet is that it can induce relaxation. The simple act of petting an animal is known to cause a person's blood pressure to drop, says Alan Beck, ScD, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University.

The relaxation doesn't just affect people, it affects the animal, too. "We've shown that when you pet a dog, not just your heart rate slows down and blood pressure drops, but so does the animal's," Beck says. This indicates a true, mutual human-animal bond.

While petting an animal can make us feel more relaxed, signs now point to the health benefits of pet ownership. One recent study by researchers at the State University of New York, Buffalo, looked at the effects of pet ownership on 48 stockbrokers who were already taking medication for hypertension. It found that the 24 stockbrokers who were given a pet had significantly more of a reduction in high blood pressure accompanying stress than did those without pets.

"Most studies show a direct benefit from stroking a pet, for example, but this one goes a step further in that the act of owning a pet lowered blood pressure," says Alan Entin, Ph.D., past president of the division of family psychology of the American Psychological Association.

Pets can be, as Entin put it, emotional lifesavers as well, because they help people adapt, adjust and deal with many changes and losses in life. Pets' unconditional love gives their owners a sense of worth and responsibility when caring for them; pets can help people learn about the continuity of life — birth, death, loss and grief — and offer a sense of intimacy. They are even a way to help couples prepare to have children, he adds.

Dog Walkers Have More Fun
Dogs especially can encourage good-risk behaviors. Research shows that when walking a dog, people tend to make more eye contact and have more people interact with them. People with dogs also tend to walk more on average.

"A lot of people usually hate to walk because it's lonely, but if they have a dog, they find it's something they look forward to doing," Sinatra says. "And it's the best form of exercise for people and dogs."

One recent study by British researchers from Warwick University found that 40 percent of dog owners say they make friends more easily as a result of having a dog. This study also monitored the outdoor routines of pairs of people — one walking alone and the other accompanied by a dog — and found that people routinely initiated social contact with the dog owners.

- Discovery Health

[Glenn]

3. Take aspirin. Regular aspirin consumption cuts the risk of coronary heart disease by 28 percent in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

Isn't this advice a bit too general? My understanding is that those at risk of heart disease should take a "baby" aspirin a day, but that taking too much aspirin, a regular adult dose a day for example, over the long term runs the risk of complications such as irritation of the lining of the stomach/intestinal tract, ulcers, etc.

[jorvik]

Quote
"I don't know about that, Ray.

I do know that VERY FEW dental products have been endorsed by the American Dental Association. Listerine is the only mouthwash that I know of that's received the honors. "

I'm not argueing with you here Bill coz you know more about this than I do........however my wife is a nurse and mrsa is rife in the UK ..... she was told this by a doctor..........the active ingrediant involved was Triclosan

[Glenn]

I found this related article:
Meat, diet soda linked to heart disease

People who eat two or more servings of red meat a day are much more likely to develop conditions leading to heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Eating two or more servings of meat a day increases the risk of suffering from a cluster of risk factors known as metabolic syndrome by 25 percent compared to those who had only two servings of meat a week, the researchers reported in the journal Circulation.

The symptoms of metabolic syndrome include excessive fat around the waist, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure.

The study also found that diet soda consumption was linked to these elevated risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, echoing the findings of a study published in July.

"When we found that diet soda promoted risk we were surprised," said Dr. Lyn Steffen, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.

"But then we thought about other behavior patterns," she added in a telephone interview.

"It may be associated with compensating for eating higher calorie food. People may say, 'I can eat this cookie because I am drinking this diet soda."'

[Glenn]

And this just announced last week:
ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS LINKED TO WEIGHT GAIN

Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Psychologists at Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn't make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

[Bill Glasheen]

3. Take aspirin. Regular aspirin consumption cuts the risk of coronary heart disease by 28 percent in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

Isn't this advice a bit too general? My understanding is that those at risk of heart disease should take a "baby" aspirin a day, but that taking too much aspirin, a regular adult dose a day for example, over the long term runs the risk of complications such as irritation of the lining of the stomach/intestinal tract, ulcers, etc.

The advice IS too general. I certainly don't do this. However a doctor may prescribe this for certain people at risk for a heart attack.

I personally prefer the fish oil capsules. They pretty much do the same thing for otherwise healthy people. And you don't get that annoying black-and-blue side effect after kotekitae.

It is however a good idea to have aspirin in the house. If you are having a heart attack, chewing an aspirin right away very well may save your life.

Psychologists at Purdue University's Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn't make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

One needs to be careful with the interpretation of this study.

What it shows is that - under these no-restricted-food conditions, an artificial sweetner stimulates the rat's appetite for yogurt - a food which naturally contains a fair amount of sugar (lactose) and saturated fat.

The epidemiologic studies similarly show that people who drink diet sodas with their cr@p will eat more cr@p.

NOBODY is telling people to go back to drinking the regular sodas with the high fructose corn syrup. What they are doing is telling people that they need to stop eating so much unhealthy, calorie-dense food.

Good nutrition isn't about denial. It's about teaching the body to love the right kinds of food.

- Bill

[TSDguy]

> 8. Adopt a dog. All that love ... and aggravation ...
> makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal
> with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

Hmm, sounds dubious. I get that pets lower blood pressure, but using the stress as a conditioning routine? Not sure I buy that.

stuff

You didn't address the dog induced stress as a benefit. We all already know that pets can potentially reduce stress. They CAUSE a hell of a lot of stress, and I am also dubious that pets pissing you off is a good thing. It is possible the bad is out weighed by the good, but I am dubious the bad IS good.

[Bill Glasheen]

On the pet thing...

Let's start with the original article. Let's start with what I posted.

Some of it is provocative, such as encouraging people to eat steak. Well... maybe. There are other ways to get your selenium, B vitamins, and healthy fatty acids, and men in general can get too much iron (which will shorten their lives). Personally I'd rather have some nuts and take my multi. But sometimes you need to make a provocative point or two to enlighten people to the concept of eating a balanced, thoughtful diet.

Was I clear enough on this point?

Folks are taking some aspects of the list way too literally. That's fine... We dissect, discuss, and argue here. We learn from the give-and-take.

That being established...

***

8. Adopt a dog. All that love ("You're a good boy, yes you are!") and aggravation ("Bad dog! Don't eat Daddy's crab dip!") makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

***

Once again, the author is being provocative. He made a flip comment.

The author is making it clear that every day with a pet is not a sun-shiny day. Any pet owner and lover knows this, and factors it into pet ownership. Raising a puppy is a bit like raising an infant. Unless you have the thing locked up in a pen and only allow it outside, expect bad things to happen around the house.

My dog routinely does things to pi$$ my boys off. For instance... When my older boy comes home and lets him out of the kennel, he'll make a B-line to some clothes that my son left on the floor, grab a shirt, and run off with it. You gotta know that he KNOWS he's doing something to tick my older son off. On the other hand... Other than a mile walk (or two) with me during the day, he gets bored and restless. And then the boy who INSISTED we bring the dog into the family has pretty much abandoned doing the basics for him. So... This dog is smarter than my older son. At least he knows how to get negative attention from his "owner." That's better than no attention at all. So while Maverick is running around the house with Lacoste shirt in mouth and older son screaming after him, I'm just chuckling.

Puppies do that.

Dogs do that.

It's what makes them what they are. You either get that, or you don't.

Puppies will pee on the carpet when you don't figure out how to manage their gastrointestinal behavior.

Puppies will chew on your favorite (name something precious) when they are bored and you are stupid enough to leave it out.

Animals will get sick, and provide fluids from all body cavities at the most inopportune time and place.

It is a labor of love.

*** OR ***

Some people have no business getting a dog (or cat, or fish, or...). Trust me on this. I did open heart surgery in my research lab on hundreds of "death row" dogs. At least with me they got 8 more weeks of life while we de-wormed them and fattened them up a bit. I NEVER had a shortage of dogs to work on - even with many localities passing laws preventing researchers from using these "death row" dogs.

But when a human and dog bond, good things happen to both. The human cannot be good to the dog without first being good to himself. In order for the dog to be on a proper schedule, the human must put him/herself on a proper schedule. And if you don't, a smart dog will let you know. Sometimes if you are lucky, you'll learn to listen to your dog when (s)he is speaking in dogspeak. And if you aren't, you learn it the hard way. But one way or another, an animal lets you know when you are slipping up.

And it is an established fact that touching releases oxytocin. That's good for you. It's the "bonding" chemical that causes mothers to learn to love their ugly newborns. It's what causes families, friends, and lovers to bond to each other.

Plus... Dogs are amazing creatures. Unlike cats, they are capable of loving unconditionally. I see my boys being dreadful "owners", and yet their dog will curl up with one or the other of them at night and love them as if they were the perfect owners.

So bottom line...

• The Mens Health author was being a bit tongue-in-cheek. In being so, he was provocative. And in being provocative, he got his point across.
• Dogs affect their owners in myriad ways. The net is a positive thing. It is pretty much an established fact (through research) that people who live with other people and/or a pet live longer. It's up to the smart people to dissect how that may be because of or in spite of all that goes on.
• If you don't want a dog, DO NOT GET ONE. And maybe this is part of the issue. There very well may be a selection bias here. The kind of person who doesn't want a dog very well may have the kind of disposition and/or lifestyle that would lead to a shorter life.

- Bill

[TSDguy]

I don't think he's being provocative, I think he's making stuff up that isn't true. He didn't mention ANYthing about the points we all know dogs are good for (not being lonely, touching, etc.) In other words he skipped mentioning the proven benefits of dogs. Instead he made up some BS about dogs training your heart to react well to stress by putting it under a lot of (the bad kinf of) stress. Idiotic.

[Bill Glasheen]

Instead he made up some BS about dogs training your heart to react well to stress by putting it under a lot of (the bad kinf of) stress.

OK, here is what he said.

***

8. Adopt a dog. All that love ("You're a good boy, yes you are!") and aggravation ("Bad dog! Don't eat Daddy's crab dip!") makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

***

I don't get how you come to the conclusion that he's saying what YOU say he is saying. I do not interpret him as saying that stress from pet ownership is good for you. He's saying that the love and aggravation of pet ownership is good for you.

My dad whipped my butt. Did a leather belt make me a better human being? Not really. Behavior modification made me a better human being. In the end (oops...), my butt and leather had nothing to do with character. My BEHAVIOR and my CHOICES make my character.

Again - as stated above and dissected with the references I provided - when you aren't doing what you should be doing with a pet, you will experience aggravation. Aggravation causes you to modify your behavior. It is unique behavior patterns as well as physiological responses to your pet which are correlated with good health.

Re-read it!

There are many ways to raise a kid. At times when I can afford to take the chances, I am a student of the school of hard knocks. Case in point... Spouse used to hound number 1 son about his behavior on the ski slopes. She fretted and nagged. But when I took him to the ski slopes, I told him to be careful and let him go. He did something dumb (ski jumps off the snowboard course) and broke his wrist. He didn't kill himself, but he did learn a really important lesson. DON'T DO THAT!

I feel my son is a smarter young lad now in ways that I never could have made him smart via countless lectures that he never would have listened to. Maybe now he's less likely to dive off the shallow end of a swimming pool, etc.

Pain and aggravation are good teachers. Only the really stupid choose not to modify their behavior to avoid it.

- Bill

[TSDguy]

***

8. Adopt a dog. All that love ("You're a good boy, yes you are!") and aggravation ("Bad dog! Don't eat Daddy's crab dip!") makes your heart more adaptable and better able to deal with the stress that can lead to heart disease.

***

I'm not making anything up here, Bill. It's right there in the bold. He talks nothing about dog's changing your eating habits or whatever benefits dogs may actually do... he plainly states something that is plainly false.

You're reading way too far into the one sentence he wrote, and missing what he actually said. Great! Dogs are good for you. The reason he listed is bullshit.