Today is Valentine’s Day, Lover’s Day. And, going by tradition, millions of young people and old people who are still young at heart will paint many of Nigeria’s cities and towns real red. Red has returned to the top fashion colour chat lately, with many women and men donning red tops. Often, I have found myself teasing red – topped women to cool off and save all their energy till today!
Painting the towns red at this time means plenty of water will flow past under the bridge, as an adage says, and men, as usual, will pay dearly for it. For in this part of the world, love is synonymous with sex, and over indulgence in sex as this season promotes drains men of vital energy with damaging effect on their prostate glands, for example. It was timely that no less a medical giant than the respected and brilliant Professor Ashiru, of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, said last Saturday in a Channels Television interview that many men were suffering today from prostate gland disorders.
Although he spoke in a context different from what a Lovers’ Day revelry may impact on the prostate gland, I believe all the roads end up in the same market, as they say. I was informed of Prof. Ashiru’s interview by an avid reader of this column, Mr. Olawale Ajila, of Abuja, who follows every reading of this column with a basketful of questions. He is in a stressful top job which he does not wish to age him prematurely, and, routinely, asks for which food supplements to invest in. I tell him always to care for his brain, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver and digestive system and, of course, his prostate gland. In respect of the prostate, he invests in such supplements as Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Essential fatty acids, Amazon Prostate Support, Vitamin E (d – alpha tocopherols), among others. We have a point of departure with cow’s milk. He easily gave up bread, sugar and fried foods. But he would not agree to replace cow’s milk with coconut milk. He is yet to read last week’s edition of this column which featured publications in respected medical journals which showed that women who drank the most milk, in search of calcium from milk for their bones, suffered the most from osteoporosis or loss of bone matter. But when, according to him, Prof Ashiru listed Magnesium and Zinc deficiencies and cow milk consumption as possible front-line causes of prostate diseases he bade cow milk bye. I did not watch the interview but I hope the interviewer gave the learned professor enough time to comment on the health ravages of cow’s milk. Only last Thursday, I explained in part how the calcium of cow’s milk, for which the medical profession prescribes it for osteoporosis, is too dense, like the protein, for the human body, and how in composition, coconut milk, like almond milk, comes closer to mother’s milk.
Zinc
I will quickly address Zinc since it is a mineral not many people are familiar with. Inside the prostate gland, there is an enzyme known as 5-Alpha Reductase. It behaves well, performing its natural functions in this organ, if there is enough amount of Zinc to keep an eye on it. Many nutritionists believe that the average adult human body contains about three grammes of zinc (3,000 mg) of which about 80 per cent is inside the prostate gland. The remainder is concentrated in such parts of the body as the hair, eyes, thymus gland, liver, bones and semen, for example. In the nail, Zinc deficiency manifests as white spots and brittleness. In the tongue, Zinc deficiency causes loss of taste and loss of the sense of smell in the nose. In tissue, Zinc deficiency is associated with poor wound healing. Zinc lozenges are known to heal sore throat or mouth sores when chewed or gargled with. In some experiments, Zinc supplementation of the diet has led to increases in penile and breast size and weight, increased sperm count and fertility profile. Even children who do not grow satisfactorily do so when they are given Zinc. Some studies suggest, also, that low Zinc levels are not too distant from pregnancy complications, miscarriages and birth defects. Mothers often force children to eat when these young ones do not feel like, perhaps because their appetite is down and their taste and smell acuity low. Giving these children Zinc supplement often reverses this situation, going by some research findings.. The same goes for children who are apathetic or lethargic or exhibit other behaviour problems.
The eyes account for one of the largest concentrations of Zinc in the body. Here, Zinc is believed to support the activation of Vitamin A, a crucial factor in the prevention of night blindness which may progress to such dangerous eye disorder as glaucoma. Many studies associate Zinc deficiency in the eye to such other disorders as cataracts and optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve) which may dull vision or, intimately, leads to blindness. Physical stress takes its toll on Zinc stores.
The immune system cannot do without Zinc. Zinc is important for the production of thymolin,a secretion of the thymus gland. It is in this gland that the immune system T cells (named after the Thymus gland) finally mature after the production. In Zinc deficient people, the thymus gland has been found to shrink to about a quarter of its adult size, implying reduced Tcell maturation in this organ that may be likened to a Defence Academy of the immune system. Dr. Walker suggests in his book VIBRANT HEALTH that the thymus gland bounces back to full size and activity in many people within two weeks of their taking zinc supplement. For physician who manages condition, such as cancer and HIV and their patient alike this may be useful information from Dr. Walker. In many people challenged with cancer, low level of Zinc and high-level of Copper have been reported in clinical studies. Zinc and Copper co-exist in a 4:1 ratio. Too much zinc means too little copper. Too much copper means too little Zinc. Copper is useful for body processes, including the production of the natural immune system complex, SUPER OXIDE DISMUTASE, in the manufacture of melanin, the skin pigment, and in blood formation among many others. Copper is present in food crops and enter the body through cookware and copper pipe water plumbing, not to mention copper – complex drugs. Too much of it may cause over-growth of viruses, headaches and lupus erythematosus, an immune disease. I have digressed into Copper somewhat because many women use copper-based inter-uterine device (IUDs) for contraception. These devices are a source of copper ingress into the body which calls for Zinc supplementation of the diet as counselees.
Many people are Zinc-deficient for many reasons. The crops they consume as food may have been grown on Zinc – deficient soil. They may not have enough stomach acid to digest Zinc in the diet. Or, they may have short intestines, or malabsorption problems, both of which negatively affect nutrient absorption into the bloodstream. Sometimes, the problem may arise from taking Zinc-rich food or supplement with fibre-rich foods in which case the Zinc may be trapped in the webs of the fiber. It may very well happen, also, that Zinc is consumed with a diet rich in Calcium and Magnesium which, in the competition for absorption, may crowd zinc out. In the ELECTROCHEMICAL SERIES, Zinc comes after Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Aluminum in that order, and can be displaced by them. Some English doctors discovered this problem by chance. One of them was treating a young woman for a series of condition which be thought warranted the deployment of Zinc against them. But to his surprise, during check up afterwards the serum levels of Zinc hardly rose to the desired levels. So, he changed his tactic. She was no longer to take her zinc supplements with her meals but on empty stomach every night before she went to bed. And amazingly, the serum level of Zinc rose as high as was expected. Publication of this experiment led many doctors to adopt the process. My friends should understand now why they take their Zinc supplements on empty stomach.
We must return now to Valentine’s Day, Lovers, Day, and the tendency among virile men to paint the town red. The lyrics of the young generation of musicians shows that, at this age and perhaps far into the choleric years, men seem to understand nothing beyond sex. I will always remember one woman, letter with them, who says the brains of men are on the tips of their organs! Last week, Ayoka Willes one of my Facebook friends, wrote on the wall that a woman who wished to keep a man should (1) feed him (2) let him sleep with her and then (3) leave him. I replied that this was where short time palliatives which offer no such guarantees in the long run for serious minded men who desire completely different values in woman they like to keep for life. Women who wish to be toys in the hand of men will forever seek the short cuts, no doubt. But short cuts are no more than short cuts.
Before we get lost, inside the prostate gland, is 5-Alpha neductase. As I said earlier, It behaves normally in the presence of zinc, its headmaster so to say. Zinc is an alkaline substance plentiful in semen. Sperm thrives in an alkaline environment. Sperm requires this alkalinity to survive in the acidic vagina. The vaginal needs a measure of acidity to protect her against germs. It has been suggested by some gynaecologists that when a woman has sex frequently, the alkaline semen alters the pH of the vagina and leaves her unprotected, a reason advanced for frequent vaginal infections experienced by some women. If has nothing to do with promiscuity by the dictionary or religions. Definition: if a woman sleeps with her husband every day, the pH of her vagina may alter, according to this hyper thesis. For the man who loves himself, every ejaculation means loss of lots of Zinc. From the prostate storage if, for the reasons stated or / and any other, Zinc losses are not replaced, even the prostate gland soon become Zinc deficient. One of the possible consequence of this, apart from low sperm count, sperm or low motility (poor movement ) and misshapen or agglutinated (clumped or gummed)sperm is that, in the vacuum created by in adequate Zinc stored or in the absence of the headmaster, 5 Alpha Aeductase runs riot. What it then does is to convert the male hormone testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. This is a dangerous form of testosterone which makes the prostate cells grow abnormally. Such a growth may lead to Benign Prostrate Hyperplasia (BPH) or to prostate cancer or to any other.
Calcium and magnesium
Like Zinc and Copper, Calcium and Magnesium go together but in a 2.1 ratio. Last week I mentioned the relevance of Calcium to bone density and some types of Calcium, popular because they were cheap, which cause absorption problems. Calcium aids blood clotting, proper functioning of the heart, prevent pregnancy-related hypertension, helps to activate the enzyme required for the digestion of fats and proteins, and support energy production. Nerves transmission, too, is helped by calcium. Thus, dull vision due to sub-optimal optic nerve output may be helped by Calcium. When I get up from my seat, my nerves and muscle are at work, and they are using up Calcium. Even when I sleep on a soft mattress and my nerves must help the muscles adjust the body to the contours of the bed. Calcium is being used all night. Thus, I may arrive at a point in which I am Calcium deficient if I do not regularly replace the used or worn out Calcium molecules. As for reproduction, many people are always surprised that the sperm, seemingly without eyes, know where to find the egg. This process is helped by signalling; just the same way immune cells discover foreign bodies and attack them. The egg signals its location using Calcium and the relevant antenna in the sperm picks them up. Thus, a woman deficient in Calcium may give the sperm a hell of problem, as they say, locating it. And this may delay pregnancy, much desired as it may be for woman anxious by seeking a “fruit of the womb”. Calcium and magnesium are alkaline minerals which help to neutralise excess undesirable acids in the body. The prostate too profits from them. Magnesium is the counter pole of calcium. When Calcium flows in, it tightens the soft muscles in cell. But they relax when Magnesium flushes out Calcium. Magnesium supplement in the diet has been found to aid sound sleep, especially if given a few hours before bed time. Constipation may be due to magnesium deficiency. If intestinal muscles contract and do not relax easily, food cannot move on as it is the contraction and relaxation process which induce penstaltic motion. That’s why milk of magnesia helps to keep the bowels moving. People who suffer from nerve pains, such as neuralgia or fibromyalgia (bone, nerve and muscle pain) profit from magnesium use. Many psychiatric conditions also abate on magnesium supplementation; this suggests that this mineral helps the brain cells to relax. A study of 165 boys showed that the one among them who was depressed, schizophrenic or sleep well had the least blood levels of magnesium; even some autistic children were found to improve on magnesium supplementation. Magnesium, like zinc, can help the prostrate felon, which has been on the rampage in Nigeria for years. If, as was published in this column a few months ago, BENEBIOTIC, an alcoholic extract of some Nigerian medicinal plants, reversed BPH in about three months it is most probably because of its high zinc content and the antibiotic action of the constituent. For I am aware from the Pharmacopeia of western Nigeria, that one of the ingredients is very rich in Zinc. Benabiotic was originally designed for staphylococcus. Magnesium helps out in some types of hypertension and in cases of angina pain caused by spasms of coronary arteries, since it can calm these muscular agitations. There is abundant evidence that high blood pressure, like diabetes, causes spasms in the blood vessels of the retina which may cause vision loss or blindness, and that, in their conditions, magnesium levels are low and higher in magnesium levels help to minimise or reverse the risks. In glaucoma, a serious condition of the eye, magnesium can be a wonderful friend. Calcium flowing into the self muscles of the drainage channel tightens and blocks it. Special pharmaceutical eye drops prevent this adhesion, but at a cost. Magnesium chases calcium out and the eyes feel alright and better.
EFAs and Vitamins E
Vitamin E deficiency has been found to cause the testes to shrink or to atrophy. EFAs are essential fatty acids… especially the Omega-3 oils in many people, the ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 and to Omega-9 has altered in favour of Omega-6 largely because Omega 6 is what now dominates the diet. Yet, the prostate, as a fatty organ, requires Omega-3 to keep healthy. Saw Palmetto Bernes made the headlines in the 1980s when it was found to be an answer to BPH. When this herb revealed the secret of its constituents, few people were surprised. They contain lots of Omega-3and zinc. Ditto Pumpkin seeds and Sunflower seeds, both of which grow abundantly in Nigeria.
In conclusion, may we plead with the Romeos of Valentine’s Day to cool off their heels, to take it easy with the flaming Juliet’s lest they lose much more nutrients than the prostate gland can stand. The prostate loss affects other organs as well, as has been shown. Can this be why young men are sick today?
