Men’s Health – Are Beauty Products Dangerous?

Men probably do not pay close enough attention to the causes of much of the health issues which plague them in this day and age. Men’s health magazines only seem to focus on the male exterior and image. However, beauty products are increasingly being used by more and more men. The problem is that many of them contain potentially dangerous chemicals. If we’re going bald at a young age, then it is simply down to bad genes. If we put on weight, then it’s because we are too lazy to exercise or because we eat too much. If we’re depressed, then it can only be explained by personal circumstances. We are told that depression and weight gain can lead to a low sex drive and erectile dysfunction. While these causes and symptoms do exist, there could be another explanation for such ailments.

Since the mid-90s the image of “what a man is” has changed from the laddish, beer swilling, uncouth man child, with poor personal hygiene, to the well dressed, moisturising, image of perfection that many men aim for today. The metro-sexuality of men over the last two decades, while making men take better care of them self, could be having a negative impact on their sex drive and general health. Let me explain. There are now almost equal amounts of beauty products for men as there are for women. For each feminine product, there is a male counterpart. However, the main difference, between a male and female product, is largely down to the fragrance. The chemical make-up of men’s and women’s hair and skin care products is almost identical. The chemicals used are oestrogen rich, perfect for women but a potential ticking time bomb for men, especially those with a naturally low testosterone count.

Having a healthy testosterone count is essential for not only men but women too. Testosterone greatly effects libido and sex drive but there are other associated problems. While men naturally have a higher testosterone count, a low T count in both women and men can cause problems with depression, mood swings, fatigue, weight gain and hair loss. Current consensus has put this down to the natural aging process. As we get older our testosterone levels naturally drop and our sex drive declines. However, we men could be inadvertently speeding the process up in the pursuit of perfect hair and skin.

Here comes the science part…If we take shampoo, or shower gel, for example. The chemicals in such products include propyl parabens, sodium laureth sulphate and propylene glycol. One, or a combination of all three of these compounds, also known as xenoestrogens, can be found in most beauty products. They are synthetic forms of the female hormone oestrogen, which, unlike its natural counterpart, cannot be broken down as effectively by the human body. Instead, the synthesised hormone gets stored in the fat cells and is slowly released into the body to disrupt the natural process and lower testosterone.

Propyl parabens are widely used as preservatives in foods, cosmetics and toiletries. In a 2002 scientific study, by the National Institutes of Health, into the effects of parabens in male rats, the study found that parabens adversely affected the hormonal secretion and the male reproductive functions. The study also found that parabens exert weak oestrogen activity that can, over time and with repeated exposure, greatly lower the T count in rats. Whether or not this same effect is found in humans has been widely debated. However, it is perfectly logical to make the assumption that oestrogen rich chemicals, which are used every day in hair and skin care products, will have an effect on the T count.

Sodium laureth sulphate is the foaming agent that produces the copious amount of suds for you to lather up and get so fresh and so clean, clean. However just like parabens, sulphates are also rich in oestrogen. Every day, from face wash to shower gels, our skin and hair is soaking up chemicals which have been found to lower testosterone. Propylene glycol is used to give products a sweet taste; it has been used widely in the U.S. and is known as an “E number”. The toxicity of propylene glycol is thought to be relatively harmless when ingested; nonetheless, over prolonged periods of exposure it can have negative effects.

So if you’re suffering from any seemingly age and genetic related problems, which are highlighted above, take a look at the contents of what you are using to keep your skin hydrated and your hair clean and styled. If you think that you have low testosterone you should consult your doctor who can perform a simple blood test to give you conclusive results. However, the cause of your low testosterone and related ailments could be down to what’s lurking in your bathroom.

The Military Diet – Review

Every now and then a different fad diet does the rounds. Proponents regale us with tales of dramatic weight loss with little effort. Recently, as a means of experimentation, I tried one of these fad diets. I didn’t want to crap all over it before trying it for myself. The diet in question is called “The Military Diet”, which claims that you can lose up to ten pounds in one week. The diet only lasts three days, with four rest days and consists of basic rationing, eating specific meals three times a day with no snacks, very little sugar and zero exercise.  An image from the website shows a military person exercising beside the words saying that this is “the diet that military people eat” and that it doesn’t require any exercise. A bit of contradiction surely.

For breakfast on the first day, I had a slice of toast with peanut butter, a black coffee with no sugar and a half teaspoon of baking powder dissolved in water. The diet recommends half of a grapefruit but there is a substitution list for the foods you don’t like. The reason for such specific food groups is not really explained on the website. However, grapefruit alkalises your stomach making it easier to breakdown foods, the website states. The peanut butter on toast provides protein and carbohydrates for energy and the coffee provides energy in the form of caffeine.

Lunch has the same idea, caffeine, carbs and protein. The diet states that you should have a slice of dry toast, cup of black coffee and a tin of tuna. However, being a vegetarian, I swapped out the tuna for some Quorn meat slices which are high in protein. Dinner provides your biggest source of calories for the day. You are allowed 300 calories worth of meat/protein, a green veg of your choosing, half of a banana, an apple and 300 calories of plain vanilla ice cream. The combination of these foods, the website claims, makes it easier for your body to process and break down. It is also supposed to speed up your metabolism. The calorie count drops each day which is reflected in the portion size of each meal.

The diet doesn’t change much for the next two days, but the amount of food drops significantly but you do get to have some cheese with crackers, boiled eggs and apples. Over the three days I consumed around 3000 calories, about 4500 calories less than recommended. On the rest days I still ate healthily, consuming around 1500 calories per day. By the end of the week I had dropped over five pounds. “The results speak for themselves” you might be thinking. However, when you stand back and analyse what has happened, you begin to see that the diet has no special qualities, the combination of foods had no bearing on the weight loss whatsoever. I managed to keep off the weight but that’s only because I tend to eat healthy anyway. If you eat foods that are high in fat and sugar on your rest days or when the diet is over, then you will put all the weight straight back on.

The three day diet breakdown

In the first week of any diet, the amount of weight lost is usually higher than any other subsequent week. The reason for this is that the human body stores water as a survival mechanism. It is these stores that go first, they are the easiest to burn and the easiest to replace. Any diet which limits you to around 1000 calories per day is going to see the kind of results that the military diet claims to provide. I may have lost over five pounds, but I was miserable, I had constant headaches, which were unbearable at times, I felt faint while at work and almost collapsed a couple of times. In the second week I ate the same as the first and only lost one pound, but that one pound of weight loss was not worth the horrible mood swings and general feeling of misery.

The website gives three reasons for why the military diet works. Firstly, they state the obvious, which is that the diet is low calorie. A low calorie diet will always lead to some kind of weight loss. The second reason given is that the diet is a form of intermittent fasting (IF), which the website claims speeds up the metabolism. However, several studies into the effect of IF state that although IF does increase the metabolic rate, they also state that it can take up to six weeks before IF begins to have an effect on the metabolism. This means that the diets second reason for working is invalid as it states that the diet should only be done three out of four weeks. Lastly the website states that most foods on the diet kick start the metabolism and promote fat burning. However, their scientific reasoning falls down under scrutiny.

This means that the only reason the diet seems to work is simply down to the fact that you are restricting your calorie intake. The diet might as well be called “The Extreme Low Calorie Diet” because that is the only reason for the weight loss. It is something which can only be done once or twice in a month as it is to unbearable to endure anymore than that, but that’s just me.