Mens health check

12 health tips for men

1. Never use tobacco. If you are unfortunate enough to be a current smoker, commence work on your detailed quitting plan today. Avail of all the help available and become tiresomely focussed on your project. Never find yourself in a position where you have to quit again!

2. Choose your parents very, very carefully. There is no substitute for longevity genes. If you find that you didn’t choose quite so well, engage the illness that appears to run in your family and take sensible steps to lower your chances of contracting it. Equally, if you are blessed with a family who mostly live into ripe old age, guard your good fortune with every means at your disposal.

3. Avoid silly, extreme fad diets. They may work in the laboratory but they have never produced any firm evidence that they improve either health or life expectancy.

4. Eat sensibly. Take your five or more helpings of fruit and vegetables every day. Reduce your intake of highly processed carbohydrates, which include sugary foods, white rice, white flour and white bread. Balance the occasional full Irish breakfast with sensible eating most of the time.

5. If you need to lose weight, consult your doctor or a dietitian and work out a sensible programme that will work for you. Set yourself some achievable targets – men generally respond well to target-orientated tasks.

6. Don’t get fat. It’s okay to be a few pounds overweight but it is not okay to be a few stone overweight.

7. Restrict exercise to the days that you eat. In other words, exercise every day! Do so to a level that is comfortable for you; the type of exercise is not all that important but the intensity of your activity does matter. Try to get to a point where you are starting to perspire – this is a reasonable indicator that you are giving your body a workout at a level that is about right for you. Don’t try to become a marathon runner in a week and consult a proper sports trainer if in doubt.

8. Studies have shown that most men derive some longevity benefits from moderate alcohol consumption – up to two drinks per day. The World Health Organisation has decreed that 21 units of alcohol per week is the safe maximum intake. This is not a target. If you are using alcohol to cope with stress, depression or other ills, don’t – in these situations alcohol is a very poor friend. If you cannot control your alcohol intake or you find that alcohol is exercising control over you, it is best avoided

9. Put more effort into your family and friends. Seek out opportunities for social interaction, eating together and conversation. Spend more time with people that you like and less time with those that you don’t or who make you uncomfortable. Ensure that you have a pastime, hobby, sport or other activity that you can share with those that you like. Try to make sure that it is unconnected with your work and involves using different skills to those that you use in your main occupation. If you can include your friends and family in what you do, this is good; if it excludes friends and family, this is not so good.

10. Don’t expect to always achieve all of the above pointers at one sitting. It is better to make one good change that lasts a lifetime than ten that last a week.

11. Make definite plans to have yourself checked over from time to time by your doctor. Doctors like to see their patients when they are in good health as well as the times when they might need medical help. Your doctor will tell you how often to visit. You should keep an eye on your weight in proportion to your height. Periodical checks and preventative health measures such as checking your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar have also been proven to benefit health. Your doctor can guide you about other matters such as heart disease, strokes and some of the more common cancers such as those affecting the prostate, bowel and lung.

12. Finally, stay abreast of what is going on in the world and keep yourself informed. It is beneficial for you to understand matters that might impact on your life and your conversations will be more interesting if you have made the effort and taken the opportunity to examine all sides of the issues. While much of the daily news might appear to be occupied with terrorism, murder, pollution and political chicanery interspersed with vacuous celebrity gossip there are, if you seek them out, much more interesting matters going on in this world of ours. Perhaps engage your brain with a book from time to time; choose a subject that might rather than will, interest you. Perhaps it is a while since you read and enjoyed an absorbing biography, an historical novel or an unusual travel guide?