Father's Day: A Men's Health Special

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Father's Day is approaching, and that's a good time to talk about men's health.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: As you know, I do this podcast with my father, Dr. Steve Sinatra. He is the reason I got into medicine to begin with.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And I love watching how my son has grown into his role as a naturopathic doctor, as well as a father to his two small boys, my grandkids.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Today, we'll be talking about the ways men can protect their health as they grow older.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And the ways you can support the men in your life.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: We'll be discussing some of the things you need to avoid so you can maintain your health, and the best ways to support your body and mind as you age. Thanks for joining us today on Be HEALTHistic.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And to all the men out there, take care of yourselves.

Narrator: Welcome to Be HEALTHistic, the podcast that’s more than just health and wellness information — it's here to help you explore your options across traditional and natural medicine, so that you can make informed decisions for you and your family. This podcast illuminates the whole story about holistic health by providing access to the expertise of Doctors Steve and Drew Sinatra, who together have decades of integrative health experience. Be HEALTHistic is powered by our friends at Healthy Directions. Now, let's join our hosts.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Hi folks. If you like what you hear today and you want to listen to future conversations on all things integrative and holistic health, subscribe to our podcast at BeHealthisticPodcast.com. Also, check out and subscribe to the Healthy Directions YouTube channel, which features video versions of our episodes, plus extra videos you won't want to miss. And finally, we have more with me, Dr. Drew Sinatra, my dad, Dr. Steve Sinatra, and other health experts at HealthyDirections.com.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Welcome, everyone, to another episode of Be HEALTHistic. Well, it’s June and it’s Men's Health Month, and pretty soon we have Father's Day coming up — so my father and I are going to be doing a Father's Day special today. Dad, welcome to the show.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: It's good to be here with you, Drew.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Dad, I wanted to share with you first, and our audience, what it was like for me growing up under the household with you. I saw you change over the years…you had a health food store, I think, when I was around 8 or 10 years old, somewhere around that age range. And then pretty soon you had a supplement company, and then you were also doing psychotherapy around that time, and training with that. It's been such a great blessing watching you go through all these phases in your life, and seeing you start off with the conventional cardiologist role, and then really transition more into the integrative cardiologist role. So, I just want to say thank you for really helping shape my desire to get involved in naturopathic medicine, and more integrative medicine.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Yeah, Drew, do you remember the time when you pulled the trigger on naturopathic medicine? When I was Director of Medical Education at our hospital, I was giving a lecture one day and I needed you for my audio-visual stuff, because I was new with slides and stuff like that, and computers. You came in, and then you had an “a-ha” moment.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: I did, I did. I think, you know, after that you sent me a pamphlet about naturopathic medical school, and I saw it — and I knew that that was exactly the path I wanted to be. But I'm on this path because of you, Dad, so thank you.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, you didn't want to become a traditional doctor, because you thought all those doctors in the room were sad and angry, remember? I thought it was a great insight!

Dr. Drew Sinatra: My original goal, though, was to become an ER doc. For me, that was the best. I have the utmost respect for ER docs, that's for sure. But you're right, being in that room, I saw a lot of these internists and other doctors in there that just…they didn't seem happy with what they were doing, and that's not what I wanted to do.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, I'm glad you became a naturopath, you get the best of both worlds. Because there's a lot of science in naturopathic medicine, no question.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: I appreciate that, Dad.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Well, today we're going to be talking about men's health, and healthy aging and all that. In your opinion, what would be the top five things that men can do to support healthy aging?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, you know, Drew, I've always believed in my “six pillars of medicine.” I like six, and I can just spout them off, but certainly — a non-inflammatory diet, I really liked the PAMM diet. That's the best of the Mediterranean Basin and the Asian Pacific Rim. Certainly, a light exercise program is good, just daily walking. Some sort of detoxification, especially in the 21st century, where the times we live in — we must be a detoxing. We all need targeted nutritional supplements, no question, because of the toxic environments that we live in. I like mind-body interactions, because…I became a psychotherapist, I realize the mind, body and spirit are all connected. And certainly with my research on earthing, that's my sixth pillar — I think we should all be using the marvelous, magnificent energy of Mother Earth, because it truly does heal the body. So, I really feel that my six pillars of healing is something that we can really sink our teeth into.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Would you add to that hormone balancing, as well?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, hormone balancing is important, sure. In other words, at the A4M, I've been going to that conference for the last 25 years — the whole aspect of hormonal interactions, males go through andropause, women go through menopause, I mean, these are important and we're living longer. So yes, hormones need to be discussed. Maybe today or maybe in detail in the future…it's certainly a question that a lot of our reviewers would like more information on.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yeah, because I do prescribe testosterone sometimes to my male patients, and I do find that for some it can be helpful. But like you and I have discussed in the past, I mean, it's really something that someone should talk to their doctor about, especially if they have an anti-aging doctor.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh, absolutely. One of the things I can tell you personally, I mean, I've tried all sorts of the anti-aging…I've used growth hormone, testosterone, DHEA, pregnenolone. I mean, listen, I lived in that movement for decades, and I'm still part of the movement. And one thing that I've always done, Drew, whether it's a supplement, a diet, an exercise, a hormone — I always try it on my own body before I recommend it to anybody else. I wanted to make that clear to our listeners…I always experiment, and even today, I do it all the time.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Well, Dad, you know what's so interesting is you think of low testosterone as being present in men that are over the age of 50, or 60, or 70. But what I'm finding these days is I'm testing some men in their 20s, their late 20s, early 30s — and some are coming back in the hundreds or two hundreds for testosterone. That, to me, is a little concerning.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, I'll tell you, I mean, I lecture on this all the time, and there's no doubt about it — one of the worst things a male can do is put a cell phone in his front pocket. I mean, let's face it, I see males walking all over the place with their cell phone on their waist, on their belt — worse yet, in their front pocket, which is near the testicles. These phones are emitting 24/7, and the data on this, it's alarming. Do you realize that a cell phone in the pocket cuts down on testosterone and sperm production like 400% within a couple of hours? I mean, think about that.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Then you think about all the sterility in males today. You know, Drew, when I was practicing 20, 30 years ago, female sterility was a problem. But never before have we seen the amount of sterility in men going forward. It's something that…this story needs to get out, because men don't realize this, they don't get it. I just feel that the electromagnetic age we live in is something that is going to need more and more discussion, introspection. We need to find creative ways how to deal with it, because look, we've got to live in society, we've got to live with modernization. But we've got to be productive without being self-destructive at the same time.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Well, here's an anti-aging tip for our male listeners — don't use your laptop with WiFi on your lap. Put it on the table, distance yourself from it, if you want, maybe get one of these EMF protective blankets or cloths that will help shield yourself. Because yes, you want to preserve your testosterone, you want to preserve your sperm quality and numbers, and therefore you want to reduce your EMF exposure.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Exactly…and the same thing as true for females. I mean, when women are pregnant and they put their computer on their belly.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Dad, previously you mentioned five or six things that men can do to support healthy aging. What are three recommendations for men to avoid — that will accelerate aging?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh, sugar is number one, for both men and women. I mean, there's no doubt about it — the more sugar we take in, the more we get age glycation. In other words, the sugar in our blood, it combines with the proteins and it causes age glycation, which causes a accelerated agent of collagen. Now, they've done studies on this. I mean, I've lectured at Dr. Perricone's conferences years ago, I've researched this information. They looked at studies in Australia and Japan and in Europe, and what they found is cultures who took in a lot of sugar, who were getting a lot of sunlight at the same time, it was a bad combination for accelerated aging. The UV light combined with sugar and the age glycation in the blood created incredible accelerated aging. So sugar is number one. And again, UV light — some sunlight is good, but you don't want to spend hours in the sun and get sunburned and stuff like that. Because then you're creating a toxin in the body. Hands down, sugar is the enemy.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Speaking of sunlight, Dad — when I think about getting burned, I think of…one way for prevention is increasing antioxidant intake in your diet. What do you think about that?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: It's very important, but remember, even CoQ10 and melatonin, the top two supplements in combating the sun's rays, are utilized within 15 to 30 minutes. So think about that. I mean, you can take handfuls of antioxidants, but the two best are gone within 15 to 30. I think 15 to 30 of good sunlight is great vitamin D. I mean, I think it's one of the best ways of getting vitamin D in the body, because remember, sunlight combines with cholesterol on the skin and we form vitamin D3, so that's important. But again, more than 30 minutes a day, you need sun protection.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Okay. And you mentioned sugar, in terms of something that can accelerate aging. What else do you suggest for people to avoid, that will accelerate aging?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh, trans fats. I mean, I think a lot of our listeners are privy to trans fats, but I think some people are still taking them in. I mean, some people still eat a lot of microwave popcorn, for example, which contains a lot of trans fats…it's still on the label. I mean, people need to read labels — if they see labels with even a gram of trans fat, to me, that's even way too much. You want zero on the label, zero. It's important to realize that this will accelerate aging, no doubt about it.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: I think one thing I would add to this, Dad, in terms of the top three recommendations for avoiding accelerated aging would be toxic emotions, because I think a lot of us can get stuck in this, we're guilty of this. We made feel anger, and we may feel excessive sadness or resentment at times. And there's actually studies to show that if you're really stuck in this emotional toxicity state, that can accelerate aging by inducing inflammation.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Absolutely. I mean, I've written papers in the medical literature of people getting cardiac events and even aortic dissection, where they rip the aorta apart under situations of rage and anger. I mean, I believe that emotions can be the Achilles heel of our health. There's no doubt about it, the most healing emotion is love. I mean, love is the most healing emotion of all time. That's why when I had patients who were coming home after a heart attack, if they had a loving dog that would greet them at home and offer them unconditional love, to me that was so therapeutic. I mean, when I had males coming home to an empty house, or if I knew that had a very judgmental spouse or a very critical spouse, I would always tell him just to be careful. I always recommended four-legged, canine therapy — I think it's the best.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Well, Dad, we're talking about men's health today obviously, so let's dive right into prostate health — because a lot of our listeners are probably wondering, well, what can I do about my prostate, how do I prevent BPH, or how do I prevent prostate cancer in the future? And really, the scary statistic is this, Dad — BPH, which is benign prostatic hyperplasia, it affects 75% of men over the age of 60. That's a tremendous amount.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Right. The good news about BPH is in the seventh decade of life, that's the decade I'm in, I'm 73 right now. So for the older men in my age group, in their 70s, I want to give them some comfort that the prostate grows the slowest in the seventh decade of life. So that's good to know. But here's the problem, there are younger men in their 40s and 50s and 60s that are getting BPH now, you mentioned it. It's a problem. It's important that we have to consider the right foods, again, we want to get away from EMF as much as we can, and we need targeted nutritional supplements that support the male prostate.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Dad, for our listeners here, how do they know if they have BPH? What are some common symptoms that they might experience?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, the most common symptom in males is they get up at night to urinate. I've had males telling me, "Geez doctor, it's not just two or three times, it's four, five, six times." And when they urinate, the volume is very scant, it's usually maybe 50 to 100 ccs. There's a lot of dribbling, there's a start/stop. The male can get the urine flowing, and all of a sudden it stops, and then they're dribbling, and then they have to concentrate again. Usually, that's a very, very early sign — but again, it can be a late sign, as well, depending on what age group you're in.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: It seems like with other conditions, as well, prostate stuff…it runs in families.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: There can be a familial component. I know my dad had prostate issues in his late fifties, and again, I'm in my early seventies and I do take some prostate medications. I take alpha blockers to enhance urinary flow, that's my choice. It's important to realize that whenever it comes to prostate issues in a male, it's not the size of the prostate or the urinary frequency, it all boils down to quality of life. In other words, if your symptoms are definitely interfering with your quality of life, then something needs to be done.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Now, the one thing that you don't want to run into is acute urinary obstruction. Drew, I saw this in my training as an intern, resident, cardiovascular fellow, I saw it in my practice. I've seen grown men crying in the emergency room with bladders that were so distended that they needed Foley catheters — and when you have a big prostate, sometimes it's hard to get a catheter in, as well. So if any of our older men are listening to this, if you do have signs of severe proselytism, where you can't get urine out or it's multiple frequencies, please work with your urologist and get this looked into. Because acute urinary retention in a male is a medical emergency, similar to an acute myocardial infarction in a male. It carries the same risk, it's amazing…but it's very, very important that we want to avoid that.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yeah, that's a real frightening situation. You mentioned symptoms previously, now what about some exams or lab tests that men can have done that might allude us to thinking, well, they might have BPH, they might have prostate cancer. What are you recommending out there?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: The standard…first of all, every male on the planet should get a DRE, a digital rectal examination. Some of the newer urologists don't do it today, Drew. They have you fill out a questionnaire, and if you're over 20, they may decide to do a DRE. But in the old days, and even the urologist that I see, they still do a DRE. That's a digital rectal exam, where they get a feeling of the size of the prostate.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Now, if the prostate is large, a lot of these doctors will recommend an ultrasound, for example, to find out exactly how big it is. In other words, the normal prostate is a size of, let's say, like, a small olive. But if it grows up, let's say, to be like a peach or a date…in other words, if the prostate goes from 30 grams to 60 grams, that's a problem. If it goes from 60 to 90, that's more of a problem. It's not that bad, it's just an ultrasound and any technician can do it. Many times they'll do it super pubic, or they'll insert a probe in the rectum and get a direct ultrasound, touching the prostate gland.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: What about the PSA test?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Drew, the PSA is still a good test. It should be ordered, it's something that should be done on at least a yearly basis in any male, I would say, over the age of 55, or even over 50, because it does give useful information. I mean, if your PSA is low, like less than one, you probably have a 90% plus chance of not having a prostatic neoplasm or prostatic cancer. You can sink your teeth into that. I mean, it's not foolproof, but it's still one of the best blood tests we have to look at the prostate. Even in myself, I get a PSA once a year.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: But here's the pearl, Drew. If you have a PSA baseline, suppose you're doing this once a year and it's…

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yes, that's it.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: ...1.2, 1.4, and now you do it a year later and now it's four or five or six, uh oh, something's happened. You see? Just that sudden rise would necessitate the need for a DRE exam, and possibly, if you have nodules, even a biopsy. Again, the once a year prostatic specific antigen, or the PSA, is really important because you want it to stay in that low range.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Exactly, and there's the doubling too. If you've got a baseline of two and all of a sudden next year, the year after, you've got a four — well, that's a little more reason for concern.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh yes, absolutely, absolutely. But just remember, a male in their 70s, it's the slowest growth of the prostate. So I want to give men in my age group a little hope!

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Send some hope, here. Before, Dad, you mentioned some nutraceuticals, very briefly. Now, if I'm going to recommend a prostate formula to a patient, I'll typically have something in there like zinc, or lycopene, or nettle root, or saw palmetto. There's flower pollen, there's beta-sitosterols.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: I like them all. Everything you're mentioning is great, that's all good stuff.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: What do you think about DIM?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh, I liked DIM. Years ago, I did have diindolylmethane in my prostate product. I think DIM is really a star in itself. It's the star on the stage, I really like DIM. One of the things that DIM does, it sort of has an antagonistic effect to estrogen, which is nice. The problem today, in this day in age is that, and maybe it's the electrical magnetics or whatever, but the estrogen impact on men is getting higher and higher. So I think DIM is going to be more and more applicable, again, going forward in the 21st century.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And you only need 100 milligrams, you don't need the 300-milligram dose. I think the 100 milligram dose, combined with a lot of my other, let's say, nutraceuticals in the prostate formulas that I really like, could be very, very manageable from a cost point of view and extremely therapeutic at the same time.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Mm-hmm. Well, is there anything else that you want to leave our viewers with, our listeners with, in terms of prostate health?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, again, prevention is easier than cure. I mean, I want to state that. I mean, a lot of urologists are not doing prostatectomies today. Again, they're using the alpha-blockers, these are medications that they can lower blood pressure, but they also lower the tension in the prostate gland. So the amount of surgery done today is a lot less. Again, if you can take medical therapy, combine it with nutraceutical therapy — I mean, you and I both agree that there's always a place for pharmaceutical therapies, we want to take the best of both worlds. We're not all in one camp, and that's what makes you and I special, because we still believe that conventional medicine has its place. So if we use these alpha-blockers, and we use the targeted nutritional supplements, we get our exam once a year — I think that's the best way of preventive medicine in the male. Because again, we don't want to run into an emergency of acute urinary retention. But for all the men listening, if your urine flow is getting worse and worse, it's really time to see a urologist. That's very, very important.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yeah, well said, Dad. Men have other health concerns, too, including the heart. So I really want to dive into this, because you're a heart specialist. What are some things that you think about in terms of cardiovascular disease and aging? What are some things?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Well, there's no doubt about it, the older we get, the more calcification we get in our body. Even years ago, we used to recommend 1000 milligrams of calcium to premenopausal women, and 1500 milligrams to postmenopausal women. Then it came out that over use of calcium and supplements...and thank God, I reduced the calcium in my supplements years ago, I was ahead of the curve on this. But I have to tell you, coronary calcification or calcification of the blood vessels is something that I worry about.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Now, about 12 to 15 years ago, I was at Yale. I used to go to their lecturing, because remember, Yale was close to where I was living in Connecticut, because it is in Connecticut. I met Dr. Leon Schurgers and Cees Vermeer, these were two Dutchmen. Drew, I'll never forget it. They were talking about MK-7. Now, 15 years ago or 12 years ago, I didn't know what MK-7 was…it's menaquinone-7. Well, who cares? What's that? They were talking about the Rotterdam study and they were talking about all these clinical studies, which I read about, by the way. And what they showed was that if you take MK-7, or if you eat these hard cheeses, like the Dutch would eat, for example — this would take calcium out of blood vessels where it doesn't belong, and put it back in bones where it does belong.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: When I heard this information, I literally took both these Dutchmen out to dinner, on my own dime. I had two dinners with them. I was writing down notes, I just spent a long time with them. They were years ahead of the curve, because I think this is one of the best medications that you can take to not only strengthen your bones, because men get osteoporosis, as well. I mean, women get more, but men get it — and it's actually even worse in men. But if you can strengthen your bones while diminishing coronary calcification, that's the way to go.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Would you recommend this for someone my age? I'm going to be 40 very soon.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Yes. Look, I mean, one of the things that I've seen in my practice is, I've seen heart attacks...I mean, the youngest was a 17-year-old girl. But I've seen heart attacks in lots of men in their 30s and 40s, so I think MK-7 is something that any male over the age of 40 should certainly take. MK-7, omega-3, CoQ10, those would be three nutraceuticals that somebody in your age group should absolutely take.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Now, if LPa comes into that, I believe that's the real cholesterol story. Again, omega-3s will help, nattokinase will help, lumbrokinas will help. Any of those factors can help to neutralize the toxic effects of LPa.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: What about turmeric, Dad? Is there any effect on turmeric and LPa?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: I love turmeric, I like it more for the brain. The turmeric will have, like resveratrol, will have a slight impact on age glycation. It does have some cardiovascular appeal, as well. So, I'm all in on turmeric and resveratrol, I love those two. I think they're great for not only heart health, but brain health, as well.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Got it, got it. Okay, all right. Dad, another issue I want to talk about is insulin resistance, because this is really big for men — starting probably even in their 20s.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Drew, I got to tell you, we have 100 million diabetics or pre-diabetics, and I include insulin resistance in there. Insulin resistance is a very, very pressing contemporary issue that we need to deal with. The problem is, is Americans are eating too much sugar, we're not getting enough exercise, we're getting fatter and fatter. There's so many synthetics we’re taking in via the environment, they're stored in our fat…and we're aging.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: So Drew, sugar, in my mind, it's the absolute sinequanon of aging. I mean, remember, sugar ages us, and the average American…when I wrote The Great Cholesterol Myth, it was 152 pounds about six years ago. Now it's closer to 160 pounds per person, so this is something that…we need to really look at our sugar intake and be very, very mindful of it.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Dad, I've got to be honest here, one of the most rewarding things when I work with a patient is to help them lose weight, to help them balance their blood sugar, to help improve their insulin resistance. Because you can see major changes over a three-month period, if people are willing to really step it up in terms of fixing their diet, working on an exercise program, and taking targeted nutritional supplements. There's so much people can do out there to help support their heart, insulin resistance, weight gain and all that, and I love to see changes in people.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh, hey listen, if can reverse insulin resistance, as a clinician, you are doing your patient a huge service. Because remember, insulin resistance and diabetes —the average person lives about 15 years less unless you stop the insulin resistance and diabetes, because you age quicker. That's one of the things that with statins, for example, I mean, one of the drawbacks of statins...and I do like statins in young men, by the way. I like a low dose statin, with certainly CoQ10. One of the problems with high-dose statins is they can create calcifications of coronaries and other blood vessels, and they can also render you insulin resistant, as well. I mean, the Jupiter study and the Scandinavian studies showed new-onset diabetes on patients taken statin drugs. So again, we have to be mindful of…some of the side effects of these drugs can be worse than the illness we're treating.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Got it, okay. Dad, as we wrap up today's episode, I want to hear about…what are you doing for anti-aging? How are you supporting your body and mind?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh gosh. Well, I eat a good diet. I mean, I believe in a Mediterranean diet. I take olive oil every day, I think olive oil is the secret sauce of the Mediterranean diet. I mean, if you look at the longevity basin of the world, and Portugal and Spain just surpassed Okinawa in the last analysis of this over the last several months. But the average lifespan of a Mediterranean now is 87.7 years, give or take a few months. The average lifespan of an American, it's like 78, 79…I mean, think about that. If you live in that Mediterranean Basin, I really feel that olive oil is special. I drink it every day, I actually take a couple shots of it every day. Just look, the PREDIMED studies show less insulin resistance, less stroke, less heart disease, less Alzheimer's disease. I mean, there's so many things that olive oil does.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: So, I certainly take my products that I develop for Healthy Directions — I take CoQ10 every day, I take omega-3s every day. I love CalaMarine oil because of the higher DHA, I think it's phenomenal. I take magnesium at bedtime. That's what I do for anti-aging. And I love chromium…you know, we talked about diabetes, and chromium has some special characteristics to it. It not only improves glutathione peroxidase, but it lowers blood sugar, and that's important. Berberine is another nutraceutical I like, I learned about berberine about a decade ago. I think it's one of these great nutraceuticals, I take that myself.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: So there's a lot that people can do. Getting healthy is not rocket science — it's just a healthy diet, and mind-body interactions, and taking targeted nutraceuticals, and doing a little grounding, and stuff like that. It's not difficult, Drew.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: For those that are listening that are around my age, I'm 39 right now — I believe that we should start doing these things as early as we can. So for me, exercise is one anti-aging modality that I have to have in my daily and weekly regimen.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: You know, Drew, you're right. Remember the vacation we went on last year at the Redwoods, and we walked and walked and walked. I mean, you're a great walker, I mean, you're a hiker…I mean, you're a wilderness guy. I'm so glad you're in that form of exercise. And I don't know if our listeners know that you're in a kite flying, as well.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Oh, the kite surfing, yes.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Yeah, kite surfing. That's one sport you really like. And by the way, that sport takes a lot of strength and endurance. I mean, that's an amazing sport.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Well, it's really my mind-body medicine, is kite boarding, because when I'm out there, I'm connecting with the water, I'm connecting with the air, I'm connecting with animals. I see dolphins a lot, there's all sorts of animals here in California. It's a great exercise like you were saying, and for me, it's something that I have to do regularly.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: So Dad, as we wrap up today's episode on men's health, what are some takeaways?

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Oh gosh, there's so many things that come to mind. I would say be optimistic, don't be pessimistic. Remember, pessimism breeds illness. You want to be mindful of what's really important in life, especially what's happening, the situations going on right now.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And I think taking targeted nutritional supports is very, very important because the environment is more and more toxic. I've been saying this for 40 years —take your Coenzyme Q10, take your omega-3s, take magnesium, broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral support. I love curcumin, turmeric, chrominex. Again, I would say a non-inflammatory diet, and you mentioned exercise, and certainly grounding. I think grounding is very, very special. Our bodies are all inflamed, and once you touch Mother Earth, you're taking in that human resonance that corrects the overactive autonomic nervous system, and brings the body back into homeostasis. That's what we all need.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: One thing we didn't even really discuss today, Dad, which ties in everything you just said, is the term inflamm-aging.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Inflamm-aging.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yes, so it's all about aging, due to inflammation.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: That's right, that's absolutely right. Years ago, it was all about cholesterol, cholesterol caused heart disease. No, it's really inflammation. That is the root cause of not only heart disease, but Alzheimer's, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease…I mean, you name it. I mean, what we need to really teach our listeners is how do you block inflammation, or how do you stop it in its tracks? And I think in a lot of these podcasts, we've handled that information and we've done a good job about it.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Yeah, especially the one that you and I did on detoxification — because ultimately, when you reduce the exposure of lot of chemicals in our environment, you're going to reduce the oxidative stress that your body's under, and therefore, reduce inflammation.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: Correct, correct. And keeping our listeners healthy, because that's what it's all about, is really…we're offering, hopefully, solid wisdom to keep you out of the doctor's office, emergency room, or out of the hospital, for that matter.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: That's right.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: As my dad and I talked about today, prostate health is something that all men of all ages need to think about — even guys who are in their 30s and 40s. As I mentioned, I'm in that age group now and I want to make sure that I'm doing all that I can to protect my prostate health, because it's never too early to start employing some prevention tactics. The Prostate Cancer Foundation confirms that diet and lifestyle modifications have been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer development and progression. So in the interest of giving you some simple advice, here are a few tips that can help you protect your prostate.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Maintain a healthy weight by eating a whole foods diet and exercising regularly. Try to minimize the consumption of bad fats, like trans fats, but do include good fats, like olive oil, into your diet. If you are not reactive to nightshade vegetables, incorporate more tomatoes into your diet, as tomatoes have a high lycopene content. Or eat more cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower, that contain compounds that are protective for the prostate gland.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: If you take calcium, make sure the dose does not exceed the recommended daily allowance. And make sure you get enough vitamins and minerals, like vitamin D or zinc, through healthy eating or supplementation. Eat more cold water fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, like sardines or salmon.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: Try to relax more, as we know that chronic stress negatively impacts the body in many ways. Reduce environmental exposure to xenoestrogens, which are chemical compounds that mimic estrogen. An example of this is try not to heat your food up in a plastic container, or that's covered in plastic wrap. For men that are 45 years or older, talk to your doctor about running a baseline PSA test, and let your doctor know if there is a strong family history of prostate issues.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: That’s our show for today, folks. If you have a question or an idea for a show topic, please send us an email or share a post with us on Facebook. And remember, if you liked what you heard today and you want to be an active member of the Be HEALTHistic community, subscribe to our podcast at BeHealthisticPodcast.com, or on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you download your favorites. You can also find more great content and information from us and the Healthy Directions team at HealthyDirections.com.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: I'm Dr. Drew Sinatra.

Dr. Steve Sinatra: And I'm Dr. Steve Sinatra.

Dr. Drew Sinatra: And this is Be HEALTHistic.

Narrator: Thanks for listening to Be HEALTHistic with Drs. Drew and Steve Sinatra, powered by our friends at Healthy Directions. See you next time.