Mills Jesse - A Field Guide to Mens Health

A Field Guide to Mens Health

Eat Right, Stay Fit, Sleep Well, and Have Great SexForever

Jesse N. Mills, MD

with Will Cockrell

This book is intended as an educational reference, not a medical manual. The information given here is not a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. Please seek your doctors advice before making any decisions that may affect your health. The author and publisher are not responsible for any loss, damage, or injury to any person or entity caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

For KMM:MNP forever.

You are my everything.

Contents

Ever notice how a guy wont go to the doctor unless his arm or his penis is broken? Its true, men are far less likely than women to take care of themselves and see their doctors regularly. Men are even less likely to have a regular doctor. Part of a guys reluctance to see a physician stems from the mixed signals he gets from the media about his health. Its hard not to be confused when one study says drinking alcohol or coffee is bad for us and another says its good; or when were told sugar is the enemy, but that artificial sweetener will make us fatter, or even kill us.

Men may have less genetic information than women do, but we are still incredibly complex creatures. And when it comes to health, one size does not fit all. In fact, men today are more diverse than ever. Take a look at a college or high school class photo from the late nineteenth century, when obesity was rare in the United States. All the men in that sepia-faded image will be lean, but none will be muscle bound. A class photo from the 1950s will show that men became a bit thicker, as processed foods became more ubiquitous after World War II. Now look at the class of 2000 or 2020 and youll see a mix of a few skinny guys, a lot more overweight guys, and a few buff guys: a bell curve of weight distribution in the modern male.

So whats changed in a hundred years? Weve learned a ton about exercise, nutrition, and managing diseases. And with knowledge came confusion. More data has actually led to less understanding. The multibillion-dollar wellness industry encourages us to believe we can buy change in a bottle. But mens wellness is more about clever marketinginstead of yoga, its broga, Botox is Brotoxthan a holistic approach. I dont even know what wellness means, and yet its something Im supposed to aspire to. For many men, trying to achieve todays ideals has led to stress, disappointment, and, ultimately, a lot of dudes just giving up. And giving up is exactly what leads us to looking and feeling like that unhealthy guy in the middle of the bell curve. We jump on the latest diet craze and quickly drop 20 pounds, then gain it all back even quicker.

This book will pull back the curtain and simplify things. My goal is for you to realize that feeling great is not that complicated. Lets do away with the hype. Lets take a deep breath and figure out how to optimize your general health and, yes, your sexual health. Its not that hard.

That said, I do believe three basic rules are universal: eat less, move more, and sleep better. These are rules you can riff on for the rest of your life. They provide a guide to optimizing your time on earth. Mens health is cardiovascular health, mental health, sexual health, lifestyle, and nutrition. Its about understanding exercise, moderation, and the importance of sleep and healthy relationships. And yes, its about having a healthy penis. This is a book to empower you to take charge of your life, to help you find a health professional ally to manage the medical aspects, and for you to take accountability for your own well-being.

Well learn about the basics of nutrition and the differences among carbs, fat, and protein, as well as why people tend to complicate things when theyre trying to eat well. Well learn about exercise, and about the difference between cardio and strength training. Well learn that washboard abs are an unrealistic goal for most men. Ill talk about finding a healthcare provider who is familiar with all aspects of mens health. Well look at handling stress, too. Stress kills. Its bad for your heart, bad for sleep, bad for sex. We have to get a handle on stress and find activities and people that destress us. I dont have a cure for stressI suffer from it just as much as you do. But I hope to help you learn how to deal with stress positively.

This is a book for all adult men, from 20-year-olds to 100-year-olds, for the former college athlete who needs to get back into shape and for the heavier guy who is feeling ashamed and hopeless. Its for a guy on multiple medications for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, looking to change the habits that got him there in the first place. These men will have different journeys ahead of them. And thats totally cool.

Open this book to a section, read it, and if it resonates, make that one small change to better your life. I want to empower you to decide what advice is right for you.

This book, like life, spends a lot of time in gray areas. I dont believe in a world with only two pathways. Better health isnt all in or all out. Men are much more complicated; some days, some weeks, we bring it and some days, some weeks, were too beat down. Just dont let those beat-down days or weeks turn to months or years. Above all else, I want to emphasize the importance of embracing who we are. No more judgmentdont shame the out-of-shape guy, the skinny guy, or the superbuff guylets all just be us. Then ask yourself: How do you want to look? How do you want to feel? How do you want to live? By honestly answering these three simple questions, youve taken the firstand perhaps most importantstep in your journey.

My understanding ofand enthusiasm fora holistic approach to mens health is both professional and personal. I went to medical school to become a surgeona microsurgeon, to be specific. (I sew together the tiniest parts of the male reproductive system, like the vas deferens, epididymis, and the blood vessels circulating in the testicles.) I love working with my hands, identifying a problem, and fixing it. Im a urologist, which means Im trained to treat everything from prostate cancer to kidney stones to erectile dysfunction. But as a urologist, I also see myself as a general mens health doctor for the very reason that men dont typically go to the doctor unless they have a urologic problem. Many of my patients dont have primary-care physicians, so Im the one who ends up getting them on the right path to healthier living and making sure they have excellent primary care to round out their healthcare team. My enthusiasm for empowering men to lead a healthy, inspired life spurred me to found a comprehensive mens health center in Colorado in 2013. Two years later, I took this knowledge and came to UCLA to establish the Mens Clinic at UCLA.

I am also a father of two nearly grown boys. As a father and husband, Im keenly aware of my own responsibility to take care of myself. I am constantly applying my own unique perspective as a physician, surgeon, and infertility specialist to my own health, as well as to help my patients live better. I practice what I teach, but I also love life. Life is food, sometimes rich food. Life is an occasional glass of wine or a cocktail. We can live a healthy, fit, and long life even if we hit it hard every once in a while. I believe in exercisingheavy, sweaty exercisefour days a week or more, but also in indulging one or two days a week. I like cheat daysthough I prefer to call them so long as you have your nutrition in order every other day of the week.