Men as we age into our 40’s and beyond it is imperative that we take really good care of ourselves for our mental, spiritual and physical states. Eating a healthy vegetable and meat based diet is one the top things we can do along with exercise to not only get us healthy but keep us healthy. These create the basis for healthy aging, and even age reversal pending current health state. Beyond that there are thousands of supplements you can add in to that diet. However, knowing what to take is essential to get the best bang for your buck and not waste money on stuff that doesn’t work, can cause health issues, or is just a waste of money. While I could go on and on about supplements and what’s good or bad, here are the top 5 worst ones for men after 40.—Dr. Jerry Bailey BAA, DC, CAc, FIAMA, MS in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, is a certified nutritionist, acupuncturist, chiropractic, and functional medicine physician at Lakeside Holistic Health with over two decades in his field. Bailey is also a prominent expert on men’s medicine and leads the world in the emerging science of Poly-Hormonal Adrenal Testosterone Syndrome.

This supplements are often laden with heart and blood pressure stimulating products that can cause major havoc on your cardiovascular system and kidneys. They are often stimulants that may increase your risk factors for stroke, heart attack, kidney damage and increases in impotence and erectile dysfunction. In our age groups younger years we could tolerate these forms of stimulants a little more safely. But as we have aged, they are not so much on the safe side anymore. If you want to fit the mid- waist bulge, eat better and exercise more intensely for shorter durations.

Ditch these caffeine and sugar loaded drinks. These set you up quickly for heart, brains and vascular incidents. Even the ones that are sugar free pack a punch of caffeine. The artificial sweeteners in the no sugar ones your body can not tell the difference between a real carbohydrate based sugar or the fake no calorie chemical sweetener. It dumps insulin in response and your glucose levels will drop accordingly. Avoid these at all costs. Good old fashioned coffee, green tea or other teas with caffeine are perfectly fine and will boost your energy much better without the harsh stimulants.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

My third worst one isn’t really bad but needs to be taken with an estrogen blocker or you may end up with higher estrogen and the negative effects of that increase. Most OTC (over the counter) testosterone boosters, unless they are a blend of herbals or part of the SARM (select androgen receptor modulator) family may boost your levels of testosterone, which is what we want as we age, BUT they can also increase your estrogen levels. Increased estrogen levels increases breast tissue, brain inflammation, whole body swelling, erectile dysfunction and messes with our moods as men. So if you are going to be taking a T booster of any type be sure to add in an estrogen blocker of some sort, like chrysin, wild nettles, Maca, and/or DIM (diindolylmethane) which is from cruciferous vegetables. It would also be wise, if you do not have a sensitivity to them, to increase cruciferous vegetables to aid in the clearance and detoxification from increased estrogens.

While there is some controversy with this statement as some will argue there isn’t evidence that soy or other phytoestrogens have any negative effect on men, as a rule with my male clients, NO SOY! I have seen it clinically increase estrogen levels and decrease testosterone levels in soy sensitive men. While small amounts of tofu, edamame or other soy based foods occasionally may be ok I suggest my clients just avoid it if they have low testosterone and/or elevated estrogen levels. When in doubt, cut it out!

This might be a shocker to many but calcium supplements are my fifth bad supplement for men over 40. If you are eating a poor diet and not exercising, and you add in calcium you are setting yourself up for increased risk of atherosclerosis and a cardiac event. Increased calcium levels along with chronic inflammation from poor diet increases the calcium deposition leading to stiff and hardened arteries. A state you don’t want as we age. As noted this greatly increases the risks for heart attack and/or stroke. The key is getting your calcium from vegetables in the diet thus decreasing inflammation overall and cutting risks from a pro-inflammatory diet ie standard American diet.

The above are really the top ones. Any other ones would be based on your unique biochemistry and health goals. It is best to get as much as you can from your food then use the supplements to supplement that which you do not get from diet or need extra based on testing.

Supplements are one those expenses that can cost you a lot of money or not much at all. I often get clients that bring in grocery bags of supplement bottles from every advertisement they read or watch. 90+% of these can be stopped if they just correct their diet. Spend money on food first then supplements.

It is really best to know what you should take to be safe and effective. Find a Functional medicine practitioner that does metabolic testing such as Organic Acids testing, Dutch Testing, or Micro-nutrient testing to be sure that you are taking not only what you need but what you need to optimize your health and longevity.

Dr. Jerry Bailey