Men's Health Action Guide: The Health Secrets of Breathing, Drinking Water, and Sweating, and the Core of Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Preservation
Humans are divided into men and women, and diseases are often related to gender. Due to male physiological characteristics and habits, some diseases are more common in men. In ancient times, men, as hunters and competitors for mates, developed physiological mechanisms to cope with dangerous environments. Women, during evolution, developed a dependence on male protection and thus lacked that adaptive endocrine system. However, animal experiments have shown a close relationship between the strong fighting spirit of male animals and hypertension and arteriosclerosis.
In modern life, the corporate, social, and competitive environments often place men under severe physiological stress. Tense interpersonal relationships and disharmony in family life also lead to a multitude of physiological and psychological reactions. Under these life pressures, men naturally have a higher incidence of heart disease than women. Like the heart, the male urinary system (kidneys, bladder, prostate), respiratory system, and other vital systems also have their own characteristics, making them susceptible to various diseases. Furthermore, some bad habits in men often damage their health. Smoking and drinking have adverse effects on many organs. Once a man becomes a smoker and drinker, his health will decline significantly within a short period.
Doctors have offered several suggestions for men's daily lives, which are indeed helpful for men's self-care, and these activities are not complicated. Regulate breathing: Air contains 20% oxygen. Oxygen is essential for the human body. Normally, men breathe mostly shallowly. If, during breaks from work, they frequently engage in deep breathing exercises-deep inhalations with abdominal muscles tightened and chest expansion-a large amount of oxygen enters the body, stimulating brain cells and internal organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, and spleen. This means oxygen is delivered to the sixty trillion expanded cells, making their metabolism more vigorous.
Drinking water: Everyone knows that the number of men suffering from urinary tract stones and infections is increasing, but men often forget to drink water while drinking alcohol. As the saying goes, running water doesn't stagnate, and this also applies to the human urinary system. After water is absorbed, it is excreted through the kidneys. Urine not only excretes waste products from the body, but also uses its physical force to flush away micro-stones, preventing them from forming, and flushes away any bacteria that may be forming, preventing infection. Therefore, it is clear that men should pay attention to drinking water.
Sweating: For obese men, sweating may be beneficial for weight loss. In fact, sweating has a beneficial health effect. During the body's daily activities, a large amount of decomposition products accumulate. If these products cannot be eliminated in time, coupled with the accumulation of waste from external drugs, tobacco, and alcohol, the body will self-poison, leading to various diseases. Young men often enjoy exercise, and sweating during activity helps eliminate a considerable amount of these waste products. As they age, work becomes heavier, and physical activity decreases, hindering the body's metabolic processes and leading to various diseases. Therefore, doctors recommend that men, especially older men, try to sweat at least once a day.
A doctor once said, "A real man shouldn't rely on others to care for him; he should know himself, help himself, and protect himself." In reality, laxity, carelessness, and poor hygiene seem to have become a "common ailment" among some men, and those who seriously neglect their health are not a minority. Does this damage the image of masculinity?
Traditional Chinese medicine has always emphasized health preservation, resulting in numerous specialized works on the subject. Various medical books also contain many chapters and famous sayings on health preservation. These works are rich in content and diverse in type, containing both systematic theories and highly reliable practical experience. Men's health preservation is one part of this. Compared with women's health preservation, men's health preservation focuses more on regulating diet to nourish the spleen and stomach, promoting emotional well-being to soothe the liver, and moderating sexual activity to strengthen kidney essence.
Maintaining a calm and peaceful mind is essential for health and well-being. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that eliminating selfish thoughts and maintaining an optimistic mood, cheerful personality, and noble character are the primary conditions for disease prevention, health maintenance, and longevity, and are the core content of TCM's health preservation principles. Men are prone to anger and worry due to setbacks in life and career, leading to emotional fluctuations. TCM states that "anger injures the liver," "joy injures the heart," "thinking injures the spleen," "worry injures the lungs," and "fear injures the kidneys." The *Neijing* (Inner Canon of Medicine) records, "All diseases arise from qi; anger causes qi to rise, joy causes qi to relax, sorrow causes qi to dissipate, fear causes qi to descend... fright causes qi to become disordered... and thinking causes qi to stagnate," indicating that excessive emotional changes can damage the five internal organs and affect health. Modern medicine has also proven that negative emotions can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach problems, neurasthenia, and other ailments. Therefore, it is important to control one's emotions and avoid excessive fluctuations caused by external interference.