Rosalee Brown
BOTH MEN and women are at risk regarding the major lifestyle diseases. These diseases can rob them of their quality of life and ultimately shorten their lives. The most damaging aspects of these diseases are usually the associated complications.
For example, a complication of more than one of these lifestyle diseases is erectile dysfunction and one cause of erectile dysfunction is vascular disease. Diseases of the blood vessels can restrict blood flow to vital organs, such as the brain, heart, kidney and the penis. Diseases that can cause vascular damage are hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart diseases, which include high cholesterol problems. Obesity makes vascular diseases worst.
There are many steps, which men can take to prevent erectile dysfunction.
1 - Reduce body fat. If you are overweight, start reducing your body fat to a healthy level and with that, your risk of the diseases that can lead to erectile dysfunction. If you have a waist greater than 40 inches you are at risk.
2 - Get diseases under control. If you already have these diseases, then get them under control by taking your medications, exercising, monitoring your numbers and very importantly, eating correctly - according to the nature of the disease.
3 - If you are diabetic, you need to keep your blood sugar at a safe number at all times, as high blood sugar levels damage nerves, blood vessels and muscles, which are all components of the penis. One thing that contributes to high blood sugar levels is the consumption of excess starches and sugars, which can come from both 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' foods. Therefore, portion control and monitoring are critical in determining whether your daily intake of starches is at a safe level. Don't depend on guesswork or assumption; get a monitor and do the test daily and be in control.
4 - You need to also limit fats, especially saturated types. These are mainly found in animal foods. You should also watch your sodium intake, not just salt, but other forms of sodium found a lot in canned, pickled, and other types of processed foods. Reading labels is critical.
5 - If you have high blood pressure, foods, such as fruits and vegetables are beneficial because of their high potassium content. Also, be careful of your sodium and fat intake.
If you have a cholesterol problem, reducing your animal food intake and increasing plant protein intake, such as peas and beans can be very helpful.
6 - There are many foods which can help to make blood vessels healthy. They are not magic bullets, but work best as a part of a healthy lifestyle in preventing instead of curing these conditions. These are plant foods which are high in antioxidants, which help in reducing damage to the blood vessels. Go for a variety of those foods rich in bright colours, for example, red, orange, purple, green, blue, yellow, and white.
The saying 'prevention is better than cure' is apt, as persons with many of the lifestyle diseases, will risk their lives and stop taking medications for fear of erectile dysfunction. They will tell you that they prefer 'death before dishonour'. However, the medications are not always the cause of erectile dysfunction; many times, the culprit is the course of the disease itself, therefore, it is best to focus now on preventing the diseases.
Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
