Healthy Choices for Men
By Chuck Kelly, compounding pharmacist
Leading a healthy lifestyle and making reasonable lifestyle choices should be the theme for improving our quality, and therefore quantity, of life. Whether male or female, we all live with some health risks. Some of them are hereditary, however many are related to lifestyle choices and simple changes can essentially mitigate those risks.
An overwhelming cause of many of today’s chronic illnesses is obesity. For the man in the family, abdominal obesity presents a particularly bothersome risk. Abdominal obesity has been linked to many health issues including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers to name a few.
What is abdominal fat? Abdominal fat is described as excessive fat deposition in the abdomen. It is determined by a waist-to-hip ratio measurement, but as a rule, if your waist is greater than 40 inches, you probably have excessive abdominal fat. Abdominal fat occurs predominately in men and can be an indicator for pending chronic diseases. Cardiovascular disease is of particular concern, and carries with it the potential for increased blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.
Diet and exercise can reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease. Dietary considerations are rather straightforward. Reducing intake of simple sugars, supplementing diets with complex carbs such as whole grains and some vegetables, reducing portions, and not eating between meals have proven effective for weight loss.
Additionally, we need to add fiber to our diets, particularly soluble fiber such as that found in Konsyl. Fiber has been shown to aid in reducing total cholesterol, and it is also beneficial for good digestive health. Exercise helps raise HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) which helps eliminate LDL (bad cholesterol) from our tissues. Improving your HDL/LDL ratio actually decreases a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. If high triglycerides (fats in the blood stream) are an issue, many times they can be reduced through diet and niacin supplementation. Try Konsyl’s CholestWin, which contains a combination of psyllium fiber and niacin.
Type II (adult onset) diabetes continues to be on the rise in our aging population and obesity is most certainly a contributor to this condition. This is because fat cells tend to be somewhat resistant to insulin, the all-important hormone that lowers our blood sugar. The pancreas produces insulin which is released after consuming sugar (glucose). Insulin, then, is secreted in response to a high sugar load in order to remove excess sugar from the blood stream. Insulin lowers blood sugar by sending the excess sugar into our cells and out of the blood stream.
As we all know, excess blood sugar in the blood stream can be quite damaging to vital organs, such as the heart, kidneys, eyes, gastrointestinal system and the blood vessels themselves, just to name a few. Regular diet and exercise can help prevent or lessen this problem. Reducing your consumption of sweets and simple sugars, and replacing them with a diet high in fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates found in certain vegetables and grains, will aid in improving blood sugar control. Fiber has the added benefit of slowing down the body’s absorption of sugar, thereby diminishing the workload on the pancreas over time.
What are the benefits of exercise beyond sore muscles? Regular exercise improves mood and your sense of well-being by stimulating chemicals called endorphins. If you are a runner or regularly exercise, you will recognize this feeling. Exercise raises your HDL, or good cholesterol, benefiting your cardiovascular system. Exercise has been shown to lower blood pressure and improve circulation. It also helps to lower blood sugar by increasing metabolism. Often new or mild type II diabetes can be controlled by diet and exercise alone. Exercise is good, even if you do get sore muscles. And the good news is, as you exercise more, you won’t even be sore!
