AARP'S 50 Ways to Stay Healthy (10 for the Men)-- Part 5

From AARP magazine, October 2015 (p. 46- 48)

by: Joe Kita (abridged by Blog editor)

41) Buy memories. Boys love toys, but doing stuff is better than buying stuff. Vacations with friends bring me lasting joy than money spent on material things such as cars. Reminiscing about the experience afterward achieves nearly the same level of happiness as the original event.

42) Squirrel away nuts. After age 50, a man's metabolism slows down. A weight-loss trick is to consume whole almonds. Almonds are low calorie (22 nuts have 169 calories) and satisfying and leave you feeling full.

43) Find a purpose. Men, more than women, define themselves by their careers. At retirement, they can lose self-worth, which can lead to depression, excessive drinking and other health problems. Are you at risk? Do you agree with these three statements:

1. I sometimes feel as if I've done all there is to do in life.
2. My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me.
3. I used to set goals, but that now seems like a waste of time.

44) Get a grip. Having a firm handshake is a sign of vitality and long lie. But it's not just weak grip strength that puts you at a higher risk for heart attack, stroke and death. It's overall strength, so commit to  total-body-strength-training program.

45) Stamp out erection issues. Worry over impotency can cause... impotency. Here's a test to see if the problems are physical or psychological. Wrap a length of postage stamps around the base of your penis. Secure the ends together and go to sleep. Repeat for three consecutive nights. (See if your penis has been successfully mailed to Milwaukee-- joke, I'm joking, Blog editor.) If the stamps are torn along a perforation the next morning, you're still having good nocturnal erections, which means any get-it-up difficulties you're experiencing are probably due to emotional stress. (This is one case where snail mail works better than email! And we recommend "Forever" stamps for repeating this experiment for as many years as you like-- joke. I'm joking again!-- Blog editor)

46) Get your lucky 7. Research shows the less people sleep, the faster their brains age. One online brain-training program notes that those who sleep seven hours a night have the best score on its cognitive tests.

47) Build muscle. Between ages 50 and 70, sedentary people lose 30 percent of their muscle strength. You can counter this decline by strength training for just 30 minutes, two or more days a week. After only about 18 to 20 weeks of training, older adults can expect t add about two pounds of muscle and to increase strength by 25 to 30 percent, according to the American Journal of Medicine.

48) Follow the buddy system. Men, especially as they age, tend to become solitary beasts, much less likely to form deep, lasting friendships than women. Researchers say the lack of positive social relationships is comparable to smoking and alcohol consumption for increasing mortality risk. Make an effort to cultivate friends-- both new and old-- and spend more quality time with family.

49) Eat Indian. Most Indian food contains the yellow piece turmeric, with the active ingredient circumin, which may be one of the most powerful antioxidants for men. India, where turmeric is a dietary staple, has one of the lowest prostate cancer rates in the world. Plus, studies have shown that the spice may reduce inflammation as well as fight Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, Parkinson's disease and some cancers.

50) Bone up with a beer. A nice cold beer is not just refreshing, it may also help to strengthen bones. A 2013 report in the International Journal of Endicronology notes that the barley and hops in beer make it a good source of the mineral silicon, important for bone formation and health. Even better: The type of silicon in beer, orthosilicic acid, is extra easy for your bones to absorb.