Health
You want to be a Pappy
The Remedy: L-carnitine
So you've finally decided to be a Daddy, or you just want more children because they're just so darn cute. Don't just increase sack sessions with your beautiful wife; give your little swimmers a helping hand (pun not intended). Start taking L-carnitine months before you want to conceive. This amino acid is needed by sperm to grow and mature enough to survive the gauntlet they will undergo to reach their goal of fertilizing her egg.
Italian researchers found that when men took three grams L-carnitine daily for four months, their sperm counts and quality improved, and their partners' pregnancy rates increased by 20 percent. "L-carnitine is found to be in greater amounts in sperm tissues," shares Dr. Reyes. It has been said to help sperm motility and maturation. "Kung nagma-mature sila ng mas mahusay, the better." Hey, maybe this is what Michael Phelps is doping himself with!
Our Pick: Health Xpress Acetyl L-Carnitine (500mg capsule) P2,060 for 150. Available at Health Express.
You're the poster boy for Batang Call Center
The Remedy: Melatonin
Ahh, the graveyard shift. It just sucks to sleep through the noontime heat not because it's siesta time, but because that's the only snooze QT you have. Some people claim to have difficulty sleeping through the daylight and some say that the quality of sleep is worse than the way nature intended—with the lights off. Sleeping pills are out of the question because they usually cause "hangovers" wherein the people who take it feel groggy. It also sucks because they're prescription medication. We just checked, and call center agent doesn't qualify as a sleeping disorder.
Try the sleep-savior melatonin. It's a hormone our bodies naturally produce in response to nightfall, helping to induce a sound night's sleep. Or is it just for evenings? Rush University medical center researchers in Chicago gave nightshift workers three milligrams every day before bed and found that they slept 73 percent more soundly than those taking a placebo—despite hitting the hay at daybreak. It's called the hormone of darkness, Dr. Borbon says, in reference to melatonin production being stalled by light. Cool nickname!
Our Pick: Health Express Melatonin (3 mg) P240 for 60.
Your ticker skips a beat
The Remedy: Fish Oil
It's been widely talked about: fish oils help keep your heart healthy. The omega 3 fatty acids, particularly EPA and DHA (no need to memorize the long, tongue-twisty names), lower risks of heart disease and stroke. Taking 200 mg of DHA and 300 mg of EPA daily, or one gram of fish oil will keep your heart beating way beyond the warranty on it expires.
What's more, it helps people recover from a post-myocardial infarction (it's just gobbledy-gook that stands for a heart attack), according to Romeo U. Merino, MD, a cardiologist. He also goes on to say that the wonder oils (step aside, olive) give some sort of anti-arrhythmic effect and lowers triglycerides. How does it work? They're effective because they are easily metabolized cholesterols, according to Dr. Merino.
Our Pick: GNC Fish Body Oils 1000 (1,000 mg capsule) P681 for 90.
You want to keep your prostate in old age
The Remedy: Selenium
Want to avoid cancer when you're older? Start doing something about it now. Not to scare you, but there are always cells in our bodies that are potentially cancerous—it's that they just don't multiply uncontrollably and result in the disease. The reason to start early? Free radicals accumulate with age, and cause damage that may be prevented. So if you want to avoid the big C near your precious jewels or have your prostate leave you and never come back, take selenium.
Researchers believe this mineral seeks out and destroys cancer-causing free radicals before they have a chance to attack prostate cells. In multiple studies, scientists have determined that taking 200 micrograms (mcg) of selenium every day lowers the risk of prostate cancer by 49 percent. And you want that percentage to be in your favor. Dr. Reyes revealed that prostate cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer among Filipino men.
Our Pick: Lifetime Hi-Potency Selenium (200 mcg capsule) P720 for 90. Available at Health Express.
» Health archive
Men's Health Philippines - July 2007 Issue
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