Men's Health Tips

The core secret of men's health has never been to stock up on imported supplements and stay up late at night to force yourself to run 5 kilometers to "atone for sins." It is to give up the obsession that "you must always shoulder the responsibility and not show weakness", give priority to small habits that are low-threshold and can be adhered to for a long time, and never hold yourself hostage to a single health standard.

A while ago, I accompanied a 32-year-old programmer brother to get his physical examination report. He started keeping in good health half a year ago, taking turns soaking wolfberry and Codonopsis pilosula in a thermos cup. He set an alarm clock and forced himself to run 5 kilometers three times a week. The result showed that he still had mild fatty liver, excessive uric acid, and a little irregular heartbeat. After careful questioning, I found out that every time he ran, he stayed up until 12 o'clock after get off work, changed clothes, and rushed to the playground. After running, he was so hungry that he couldn't bear it anymore and had to eat kebabs on the way to replenish his "stamina." This essentially put another burden on his already overloaded body.

I used to think that working out and taking supplements were the standard answers to health. It wasn’t until I talked to different doctors and nutritionists that I discovered that many times our misunderstandings about men’s health are all framed by the stereotype that “men need to be strong.” As far as work and rest are concerned, the traditional health-preserving school insists on going to bed early and getting up early every day, and taking a nap at noon. How can those who work night shifts rent or do cross-border e-commerce to connect with European and American markets, how can they lie down before 11 p.m.? The view of modern sleep medicine is more flexible: the core of circadian rhythm is regularity. As long as you fall asleep and wake up at a fixed time every day, even if you go to bed at 4 a.m. and wake up at 12 noon, the impact on your health will be far less than if your schedule fluctuates early and late.

There is really no need to use other people’s health lists to fit your own life. For those who sit in the office and stare at the computer every day, don’t always think about climbing mountains for three hours on weekends to replenish exercise. Every hour you sit, stand up to get a glass of water and stretch. The comfort of your cervical and lumbar spine will be much more effective in half a year than if you do two sudden exercises. If you go to the field every day to do physical work, don't feel embarrassed when you get home and just slump on the sofa for half an hour. If you insist on going to the gym to lift the iron, it will easily strain your muscles. To put it bluntly, your body is like a mobile phone. You still have to turn on the high-performance mode to play games when you only have 10% of the battery. If you don't have lag, who will get lag? If you don't, you will get lag.

To put it bluntly, many boys' health problems are all caused by "support". I know an older brother who owns a repair shop. He suffered from back pain for half a year and always said, "A grown man, this pain is nothing." Finally, his back suddenly hurt so much that he couldn't even stand up, so he lay down for half a month. Now, the first thing he does when he comes home every day is to lie down for 10 minutes. He doesn't do anything, and he doesn't feel ashamed. On the contrary, his back rarely hurts again. There are also those who always feel that coughing and stomach discomfort are just minor problems that can be dealt with. Don’t bet on it. I just accompanied a 28-year-old brother to have a pulmonary nodule review a while ago. Fortunately, it was benign. I just had a cough for two months and refused to check it. I was scared to death by the end.

As for whether the supplements that everyone is arguing about are IQ taxes, there is no need to take one side. If you eat takeout every day and don’t have enough vegetable protein, take a multivitamin every day and supplement with vitamin D if you don’t get enough sun exposure. Academic circles have long proven that it is effective and it is not a waste of money. But if you eat a regular diet of vegetables and meat, and still spend thousands of yuan to buy oyster slices and quick-acting aphrodisiac supplements, it is purely an IQ tax - there are no health products currently legally registered that can "quickly nourish the kidneys". They are either added with starch placebo, or illegally added with sildenafil and androgen ingredients. Long-term consumption will disrupt your own endocrine system and increase the burden on your liver and kidneys. If you really have a problem, go to a regular hospital to see a doctor, which is 10,000 times more reliable than buying random supplements.

Don’t set high goals for yourself to “quit smoking and drinking” right from the start. If it’s too difficult to achieve, it will easily lead to failure. As a long-time smoker who has been smoking for more than ten years, it is better not to drink iced Coke immediately after smoking. I used to do this before I met a brother who owns a restaurant. After smoking, I took a sip of iced Coke and felt very good. Later, I was hospitalized for stomach bleeding. I changed my habit of drinking warm tea after smoking. After a year, I no longer have stomach pain, and my coughs are reduced a lot. If you have to socialize and drink, put half a cup of warm milk and eat two bites of staple food before drinking. It is much more effective than drinking seven or eight bottles of hangover medicine after drinking. Once the damage to the gastric mucosa is formed, it will take several times the effort to maintain it.

In fact, there is no universally applicable secret. You know your own body best. Rest when you are tired. Get checked if you feel uncomfortable. Don’t insist on being a “tough guy”. It is more effective than any expensive supplement. Oh, by the way, you really need to take annual physical examinations seriously. Don’t think that you can handle it just because you are young. No matter how small the abnormality is in the physical examination report, it is more reliable than “I am in good health” that you think about on your own.