Not all nutritional needs are equal between women and men. To give the man in your life a healthy advantage, make sure he eats a colorful variety of healthy foods to get enough of these essential vitamins:
Vitamin C
Taking C in large doses can help men fight urinary-tract infections. Although UTIs are more common in women, they can be much more serious in men as they are usually the symptom of an underlying disorder. Cranberry juice, which contains vitamin C, is good at keeping the urine in an acid state, which discourages bacteria growth. Other good sources of vitamin C are
- green peppers
- strawberries
- broccoli
-
tomatoes
Vitamin B6
A study at the Harvard School of Public Health found that men with prostate cancer who load up on vitamin B6 have better survival odds than those who skimp on it. The researchers looked at 525 Swedish men with prostate cancer and found that the quarter of study participants who ingested the most B6 were 29 percent less likely to die from the disease than those with the lowest intakes. When they isolated the men in the study whose tumors had not yet spread beyond the prostate, they found that the men who got the most B6 had just five percent of the risk of dying as those who got very little. B6 can be found in fortified cereals as well as:
- nuts
- beans
- chicken
- potatoes
-
vegetables
Omega-3 fatty acids
Although not technically vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients that can alleviate many conditions that commonly strike men. Found in oily, cold-water fish such as:
- salmon
- herring
- lake trout
- mackerel
- as well as nuts
omega-3 fatty acids do a great job of normalizing cholesterol levels. People who eat a lot of them tend to have more HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides. Some studies show that omega-3 fatty acids can lower high blood pressure, and they're also said to lower stroke risk. All of these health benefits in turn lower the risk of heart disease.
Vitamin D
Want to conceive a baby? Make sure you're getting adequate levels of vitamin D. A study conducted by a leading fertility doctor in Australia found that a significant number of men who were unable to impregnate their partners had lower than normal levels of D, which led to abnormalities in the sperm. The best ways to get vitamin D? Take in some rays-our bodies manufacture D when exposed to sunlight. vitamin D is tough to get from food, so look to fortified milk for a dose.
Sources:
Dr. Anne Clark, Fertility First
American Foundation for Urologic Disease, www.medcko.com
Prostate Cancer Foundation, www.pcf.org;
University of Maryland Medical Center, www.umm.edu.
