11 Ways to Live Longer

How to beat the biggest man-killers.


Compiled By Geordie Brackin, Men's Health
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For
us, the health of the American male is not just a weeklong pursuit. But
in honor of Men's Health Week (June 11-17), we've compiled a list of
our top tips for beating the biggest killers of men. Read them, follow
our advice, and start living better year round. Beat High Blood PressureEat
meat. In a recent Australian study, people with high blood pressure who
replaced 8 percent of their daily calories from bread, cereal,
potatoes, or pasta with lean red meat experienced a four-point drop in
their systolic blood pressure in just 8 weeks.Arginine, an amino
acid in red meat, may help dilate blood vessels, lowering blood
pressure. Plus, limiting starches lowers blood sugar and makes your
body more efficient at burning fat. Save Your SkinMelanoma feeds on modesty. If you don't strip for a yearly skin screening, the cancer can spread undetected.Made
an appointment? Now make one with your honey. A Northwestern University
study shows that when people learn how to do skin self-exams with a
partner, they're more likely to check themselves (and each other) in
the future. Have a Healthy HeartEat more
dairy. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, consuming three or more servings of dairy per day can slash
your risk of heart disease by 31 percent."We don't know exactly
how dairy lowers heart-disease risk, but other studies show that the
calcium and magnesium in it can lower blood pressure," says study
author Donna Spiegelman, Sc.D., a professor of epidemiology at the
Harvard school of public health. Want even more protection?
Seek products fortified with vitamin D. British researchers found that
daily D supplements lower blood levels of C-reactive protein, a marker
of arterial inflammation, by 23 percent. Lose Weight Over the PhonePick up the phone and ask for help dropping the pounds.Researchers
at the University of Kansas recently had 96 overweight people follow
weight-loss counseling programs and discovered that the programs
conducted by telephone were just as effective as face-to-face clinical
counseling. On average, members of both groups lost 28 pounds in 26
weeks."Telephone-based programs have the benefits of
convenience, lower transportation costs, and accountability with
anonymity," says study author Joseph E. Donnelly, Ph.D. Our pick: The phone program offered by John Berardi, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., co-author of Scrawny to Brawny. Go to johnberardi.com and receive a Men's Health reader discount.Drink Coffee for Your ColonDrink
decaf coffee. A recent study at the Harvard medical school surveyed the
tea and coffee consumption of men and women for 18 years and showed
that drinking two or more cups of decaf coffee per day can slash colon-cancer risk by 52 percent.Decaf
coffee may have a positive effect on bowel motility. It keeps things
moving which is an effect that the caffeine in regular coffee may
cancel out. Kick the SticksGo spit. A 2005 study in the British Medical Journal found that smokers
who saw their results from a saliva-based nicotine test were 17 percent
more likely to quit. The test, which involves spitting in a cup and
measuring the amount of tobacco-derived toxins in the saliva, was used
in conjunction with antismoking counseling.Researchers believe
that being able to see progress in the quest to quit in much the same
way one can see the results of a cholesterol-lowering regimen helped
motivate the participants. Check a local drugstore for NicAlert, a saliva-based nicotine test ($15, also available at www.nymox.com).Protect Your ProstateCarve a pumpkin, cut your prostate-cancer risk.
Eating a large slice of pumpkin pie (or 13 baby carrots) daily will
give you about 8,000 micrograms of beta-carotene, an amount research
from Roswell Park Cancer Institute shows may halve a man's risk of the
disease. Top with whipped cream to boost your absorption of the
nutrient.Defeat DepressionAsk your therapist
how many patients he treats. If it's more than 25, beware. Research has
shown that a therapist's effectiveness decreases as his caseload
surpasses this number. A Finnish study found that men who
exercise and are exposed to sunlight experience a greater reduction in
depressive symptoms than those who work indoors. A CDC survey also
found that people who exercise regularly feel less depressed.Avoid a Car AccidentCellphones make distracted drivers out of all of us, quadrupling a man's accident risk even hands-free.One
answer: Take a page from airline pilots. In a new study in Risk
Analysis, researchers found that when pilots talked on a cellphone in a
driving simulator, they caused 46 percent fewer virtual accidents than
nonpilots did. "They knew to disengage from the cellphone conversation at precise moments," says Jake Rose, Ph.D., the coauthor. Decrease
your own distractibility by hitting "hold" at the must-focus moments
identified in the study: when merging, during stop-and-go traffic, and
at intersections involving multiple turn lanes. Ditch DiabetesEat
to beat high blood sugar. When you consider that "glucose-intolerant"
is another term for "diabetic," it's easy to see what you shouldn't
eat. Namely, glucose-rich foods, such as bread, rice, pasta, and
potatoes.But Mary Vernon, M.D., prefers a more positive approach: "I like to emphasize what people can enjoy." So, use these guidelines to build a prescription diet.One
caution: If you're currently taking medication for high blood pressure
or high blood sugar, consult your physician first, as this diet will
cause both to drop. Save Yourself from a Stroke"Each daily serving of fruits and vegetables decreases stroke risk
by 6 percent, so three servings decreases it by 18 percent," says James
Bobenhouse, M.D., stroke-program director at BryanLGH Medical Center,
in Lincoln.No time to cook? Down a Tropicana Fruit Smoothie. One 11-ounce bottle equals 2 1/2 servings of fruit.