![](\"https:\/\/jooinn.com\/images\/man-running-alone-at-dawn.jpg\")
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\u201cIt\u2019s a marathon not a sprint<\/a>!<\/strong>\u201d (From age 70 to maybe<\/strong> 141.\u00a0And – “Is that a sunrise or sunset<\/strong>?”)<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/strong><\/p>\n March 20, 2021 – I’m working on a new E-book<\/a>. The title will be “Turning 70 in 2021 – and Still Thinking\u00a0The Best Is Yet to Come<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong>” This post will be a chapter in the new e-book, and it’s based on two posts I did back in\u00a0July 2018:\u00a0A Geezer\u2019s guide to supplements<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0A Geezer\u2019s guide \u2013 Part II<\/a>. See those two posts for all the gory details<\/a>\u00a0on my\u00a0dietary supplements<\/a>,\u00a0but here’s a short summary…<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n I first became interested in supplements when I flew home – from Newark to the\u00a0ATL<\/a>\u00a0– in the summer of 2018. (After a week-long family visit, first to Pennsylvania’s\u00a0Poconos<\/a>\u00a0region near the\u00a0Delaware Water Gap<\/a>. From there on to New York City, in part to “see a few shows.”) Flying back, the\u00a0Southwest in-flight magazine<\/a>\u00a0had a full-page ad for\u00a0M-drive<\/a>. (A \u201cdaily supplement designed specifically for men.\u201d)\u00a0 And since I had just turned 67, the ad “piqued my interest.”<\/p>\n Long story short,\u00a0M-drive<\/a>\u00a0wasn’t my cup of tea. But it did lead to some\u00a0Googling.<\/a>\u00a0which led me to\u00a0The Top 10 Supplements for Men\u00a0\u2013\u00a0menshealth.com<\/a>.* I ended up adding six of the ten recommended supplements to my routine. (I get Chromium and Folic Acid in my\u00a0multivitamin<\/a>, I opted out of Creatine, and already took\u00a0Glucosamine Chondroitin<\/a>, as noted below.)<\/p>\n First off, I read about “Boron,” which especially<\/em> <\/strong>piqued my interest. It’s said to be good for a healthy prostate, and\u00a0my brother Tim and father had both gotten prostate cancer<\/a>. In turn:<\/p>\n The site said men with high boron levels are \u201c65 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than men with lower levels.\u201d It added that American men on average have one of the\u00a0lowest<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>boron intakes in the world. The site recommended\u00a03 milligrams (mg) a day, and added that it \u201cdoesn\u2019t just fight cancer: USDA researchers found that this is the best dosage to improve memory and concentration.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I figured I could definitely use all the help I could get for my memory and concentration<\/a>.*<\/p>\n Number Two<\/em><\/strong> on the list was Calcium.* The article said American men generally get\u00a0only a third of the calcium they need, and that “men with the highest calcium intakes weigh less on average than men consuming less calcium.” (And at this time in my life I’m going more for the “Lean and Mean<\/a>” look.) I got enough Chromium – Number Three<\/em> <\/strong>on the list – from the multivitamin I was already taking. Number Four<\/em><\/strong> –\u00a0Coenzyme Q10<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0helps manage the body\u2019s energy. But for us older folk the only way to \u201cget back up to youthful levels” is a supplement:<\/p>\n Recent studies suggest that coenzyme Q10 may fight cancer, Parkinson\u2019s disease, and Huntington\u2019s disease, and may thin the blood to help prevent heart disease. Q10 is also packed with free-radical-fighting antioxidants, which can slow the signs of aging.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One problem? You can’t get this in just a vitamin supplement or daily food. But I lucked out and found\u00a0GNC\u2019s\u00a0Triple Strength Fish Oil\u00a0Plus<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>CoQ-10<\/a>.\u00a0(\u201cTwo for the price of one.\u201d See below.)<\/p>\n I opted out of Number Five<\/em><\/strong> –\u00a0Creatine<\/a>\u00a0– as\u00a0\u201ctoo body-builderish,\u201d as shown below left. (It’s for younger men who want to\u00a0“bulk up<\/a>”\u00a0by\u00a0doing high-intensity anaerobic repetitive work. I.e., it’s for those interested<\/em> in Bodybuilding<\/a>: Focusing “on physical appearance instead of strength.”)<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have the same amount of cartilage in your joints that you had at 19. To reverse the damage and actually rebuild cartilage, take glucosamine, made from the shells of crabs and lobsters.*\u00a0How much?<\/strong>\u00a01,500 mg a day. Brands that combine glucosamine with chondroitin are fine. [As noted, I take two instead of three, and so get 1,000 mg a day.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Number Eight<\/em><\/strong> on the list is\u00a0OMEGA-3<\/a>, “to protect your heart.” As noted, I got a “two for one” deal in the form\u00a0Triple Strength Fish Oil Plus<\/em><\/strong> CoQ-10<\/a>. At 44 cents a day for a three month supply of\u00a0both<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0CoQ-10 and Omega-3s, that was a pretty good deal. And beneficial as well:<\/p>\n Omega-3 fatty acids keep blood pressure and triglyceride levels low and the heart beating regularly. They make blood slicker, reducing the risk of clots and blocked arteries.\u00a0Studies show that men with the highest omega-3 levels have the lowest risk of dying of heart disease<\/a>.\u00a0How much?<\/strong>\u00a0For healthy guys, 1,000 mg a day. Those with heart problems may need 2,000 to 4,000 mg. But too much can increase your risk of catching a cold.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another tip from\u00a0Menshealth<\/a>: \u201cTake\u00a0Omega-3<\/a>\u00a0with meals so you don\u2019t burp up a fish scent.\u201d Which leads to a side note. I take the Omega 3 – by way of “fish oil” – in the morning. (These days a breakfast of basically a “kale and spinach omelette.*”) And still<\/em> <\/strong>get fish-scent burps.<\/p>\n Number Nine<\/em> <\/strong>on the list was\u00a0Selenium<\/a>, “to fight off cancer.” And not just any one cancer. As\u00a0Menshealth<\/a>\u00a0said, \u201cNo other single nutrient appears to prevent cancer more effectively than\u00a0Selenium<\/a>\u2026\u00a0 It basically forces cancer cells to self-destruct.\u201d\u00a0 Further, some studies link increased selenium intake with a \u201cdecreased risk of cancers of the prostate, colon, and lungs.\u201d As to how much, the article said 200 mcg a day, and \u201cmore when you\u2019re sick.\u201d\u00a0 And here\u2019s the good news:\u00a0 \u201cNature\u2019s selenium supplement is the\u00a0Brazil\u00a0Nut<\/a>, which measures 100 mcg per nut.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So I get my daily dose by eating two Brazil nuts every morning.<\/p>\n And last but not least, Number Ten<\/em> <\/strong>on the list is\u00a0Vitamin E<\/a>, which the\u00a0Mayo Clinic<\/a>\u00a0says is “important to vision, reproduction, and the health of your blood, brain and skin.”\u00a0Menshealth<\/a>\u00a0added that Vitamin E is a potent\u00a0antioxidant<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cmay help reduce the risk of certain eye diseases, heart disease, cancer, even Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d The article added that some studies show that “E” also reduces “muscle damage after exercise.\u201d\u00a0 And – finally finally – it said\u00a0 that most people “get just a fraction of that [Vitamin E] from their diets.”<\/p>\n As to why I bother with all these supplements: “Simply put,\u00a0I want to live long enough \u2013 and if only metaphorically \u2013 to ‘dance\u00a0on my enemy\u2019s grave<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>‘\u201d Or maybe just live to the year 2092<\/em><\/strong>, when I hope to be a sprightly 141<\/em> <\/strong>years old, with “undimmed eye and vigor unabated<\/a>!<\/em><\/strong>”<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The “fuller story” on the glitch is below, at the bottom of these notes.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Alone Marathon Runner\u00a0–\u00a0Image\u00a0Results<\/a>. With a page (“Jooinn?”) and caption, “MAN RUNNING ALONE AT DAWN.” The link\u00a0It\u2019s a marathon not a sprint<\/a>\u00a0is by someone who actually ran a marathon. To him the saying was an overused cliche: “the statement has far more significance than just time horizon.” Here’s how he summarized:<\/em><\/p>\n A marathon isn\u2019t easy, in fact it\u2019s pretty awful at moments. However, the process of learning to train, having patience and pushing through dark times have made me resilient in areas of my life I didn\u2019t expect.\u00a0The saying [has]\u00a0more meaning to uncover than what we initially assumed. Committing to a goal is difficult, but seeing progress is something we can never regret.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In the same way, life can be “pretty awful at moments,” but spiritual progress is the prize…<\/em><\/p>\n For related articles see\u00a0This is a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Understanding Reactivity<\/a>, on “strategies to\u00a0stay well in the long-term in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and\u00a0What Does Life Is A Marathon Not A Sprint Actually Mean<\/a>? “Instead of satisfying yourself with\u00a0short-term\u00a0goals and happiness,\u00a0you start seeing things in\u00a0long-term mode.” And that running a marathon – metaphorically or otherwise – “requires a strategy, devotion, willingness and balance.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n As to the question, “sunrise or sunset<\/strong>?” (In the caption.) See<\/em>\u00a0Benjamin Franklin’s Rising Sun < Topics < Government 1991<\/a>,\u00a0about Franklin being 81 and feeble as the\u00a0Constitutional Convention<\/a>\u00a0ended:<\/em><\/p>\n On the final day, as the last delegates were signing the document, Franklin pointed toward the sun on the back of the Convention president’s chair [and] went on to say:\u00a0“I have often … in the course of the session … looked at that sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun<\/strong>.”<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Re: The not-up-to-date main page. Here’s the original note, when\u00a0April | 2020 | The Georgia Wasp<\/a>, came up as the main page. Here’s the note I wrote for that\u00a0SNAFU<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n I have no idea why this old post \u2013 from April 2020 \u2013 comes up as the main page when you\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0\u201cgeorgiawasp.\u201d Something happened on the evening of April 3, 2021, and I\u2019m not sure what. I was writing up the new post,\u00a0Revisiting March 2020<\/a>, that I finally published on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. For another more-recent post,\u00a0click on\u00a0An Updated \u2018Geezer Guide to Supplements<\/a>…’ Meanwhile, I\u2019ll work on fixing the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Re:\u00a0The Top 10 Supplements for Men\u00a0\u2013\u00a0menshealth.com<\/a>. I just re-checked and it’s now “the Top 13.” And the article I read in 2018 has changed; the 2021 version is all about “protein and whey.” I checked an alternative,\u00a0The Best Supplements for a 60-Year-Old Male | Livestrong.com<\/a>. It included a section on the benefits of\u00a0Omega-3<\/a>, but otherwise I’ll rely on my notes from the 2018 article.<\/em><\/p>\n Re: Calcium, “Number\u00a0Two\u00a0on the list.” The morning after I posted this – Sunday, March 21, 2021 – I made an interesting discovery about my calcium intake. I’ve been getting way<\/strong> less than I thought! According to the July 2018 post, I got 500 mg a day – of the recommended 1,200 – with “soft chews.” But at some point in time they went off the market, so I switched to\u00a0GNC Calcium Citrate 1000 mg<\/a>, in caplet form. Apparently I figured each caplet had 1000 mg as well, so for years now I’ve been cutting each caplet in half, per day.\u00a0(Thinking to get “my” 500 mg.) But this morning, switching an empty to the new store-bought one, I saw the fine print. The fine print said the serving size was four<\/strong> caplets!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Which leads to another side note. Starting back in July 2018, I took less than half the recommended 1,200 mg. For one thing, I figured half would be plenty, and that I could get other calcium each day through cheese, yogurt or other dairy products. But I also didn’t want to risk a\u00a0kidney stone<\/a>, like what you can get taking\u00a0calcium\u00a0phosphate. (See\u00a0Calcium Phosphate Kidney Stones \u2013 Causes<\/a>: “A high calcium diet may also cause high urinary calcium levels.” The article also made a strong case for “staying hydrated,” to prevent such stones.) But the point of all this is that for years now, instead of getting what I thought was 500 mg of calcium citrate, I’ve been getting a mere 125 mg! <\/strong>Which figures out to a quarter of what I intended, and about 12 percent of the daily recommended. So from now on I’ll start taking two of the GNC recommended four caplets. (Even though I have to cut them in half to swallow, and even then sometimes have to crunch them with my teeth to get ’em down.) Which will still be four times as much as I’ve been getting, via failure to “read the fine print.” Another note: The 2018 post recommended \u201chalf in the morning, half at night, to maximize absorption.\u201d Which I will also start doing.\u00a0<\/em><\/em>(And finally, I also found it this morning that the GNC calcium caplets were\u00a0Kosher<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n Another side note, on “staying hydrated.” See\u00a0Stay Hydrated This Summer: Kidney Stone Season is Here<\/a>. (From “WakeMed.”) “With the number one cause of kidney stones being dehydration, summer in North Carolina is prime time for kidney stones.” An interesting article, and a little nugget of wisdom I hadn’t fully appreciated until now.\u00a0Live and learn<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n .<\/em>Re: My ancestor William Bradford and\u00a0maybe<\/strong> living another 70 years. See the February 9, 2021 post from my companion blog,\u00a0From two years ago \u2013 \u201cWill I live to 141<\/a>?” That post includes a note about projections that there will be seven times the number of people over 100 by 2050.<\/em><\/p>\n The “memory and concentration<\/a>” image is courtesy of\u00a0<\/em>Image\u00a0Results<\/a>. It came with an article that has since been removed, but I\u00a0Googled<\/a>\u00a0“music as an aid to memory and concentration.” I found\u00a05 Powerful Ways Music Can Improve Your Memory<\/a>, including these thoughts: 1) There is a\u00a0Vivaldi Effect<\/a>. “According to the studies, listening to Vivaldi\u2019s ‘Spring’ can boost both attention and memory.” 2) Pop music “appears to\u00a0decrease errors<\/a>\u00a0in spell-checking” by 14 percent. 3) Music can minimize stress, improve your mood, and help you think more clearly. And just as an aside, one of the chapters in my new “Turning 70”\u00a0e-book<\/a>\u00a0will be about “the importance of music in my life…”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Re:\u00a0Glucosamine Chondroitin<\/a>. The Men’s Health article recommended Glucosamine – alone – to “grease your joints,” but the ad for the “gummies” said “Both Glucosamine and Chondroitin are components of cartilage and can be found in the body\u2019s tissues.”<\/em><\/p>\n On a related note, re: “glucosamine, made from the shells of crabs and lobsters.” At some point in the recent COVID pandemic, Walmart no longer offered Glucosamine Chondroitin<\/a>\u00a0in the form of “Spring Valley Glucosamine Chondroitin Soft Chews.” I had to search for alternatives, some of which – in the liquid form – were rather disgusting. Eventually I settled on\u00a0Doctor’s Best Glucosamine Chondroitin Msm<\/a>\u00a0capsules, since they didn’t have to be refrigerated after opening. But eventually the soft chews made a come-back, and so for the time being the capsules can “supplement the supplement.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Re: The “kale and spinach omelette,” and still getting\u00a0fish-scent burps. Those fish-burps are usually gone by my second cup of coffee. And technically an\u00a0omelette<\/a>\u00a0is “a\u00a0dish<\/a>\u00a0made from beaten\u00a0eggs<\/a>” – plural – “fried<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0butter<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0oil<\/a>\u00a0in a\u00a0frying pan<\/a>\u00a0(without stirring as in\u00a0scrambled egg<\/a>).” But I figured I had to “dumb it down,” like Moses and Jesus had to do, to get a point across. So: I breakfast on one egg, which I scramble in a glass bowl, along with portions of kale and spinach. (In frozen packages from Walmart, at a dollar apiece.) I add to that some wheat germ and flax seed, with “dots” of brick cheese, usually pepper jack. But I no longer add a link of turkey sausage…<\/em><\/p>\n Re: “Undimmed eye and vigor unabated.” The link is to\u00a0Deuteronomy 34:7<\/a>. In the\u00a0English Standard Version<\/a>: “<\/span>Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” See also\u00a0Live until 120 – Wikipedia<\/a>, about the\u00a0Jewish<\/a>\u00a0blessing<\/a>\u00a0said to come from\u00a0Genesis 6:3<\/a>, “Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'” Which I didn’t know about until I did this post.<\/em><\/p>\n A side note: The context of this blessing from\u00a0Genesis 6<\/a>\u00a0is the “Wickedness in the World,” involving\u00a0Nephilim<\/a>, “mysterious beings” said to be large and strong, and certain “sons of God.” They “saw that the daughters\u00a0of humans were beautiful,\u00a0and they married\u00a0any of them they chose.” The passage on “their days will be a hundred and twenty years” came after that passage in\u00a0Genesis 6:2<\/a>. From there\u00a0Genesis 6<\/a>\u00a0went on to describe Noah and the flood that destroyed all but eight people in the world. Which may explain why that blessing is now considered a fixture of\u00a0Jewish humor<\/a>. Like the story of a man who said to his noisy neighbor “May you live until\u00a0119,<\/i>” then said to the neighbor’s wife “May you live until 120.” When the husband asked “why only until 119,” the man said the neighbor’s wife “deserves one good year.”\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n See also the article, Parashat Vayeilech: Summary | My Jewish Learning<\/a>, by\u00a0![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/00\/VitaminSupplementPills.jpg\/800px-VitaminSupplementPills.jpg\")
But first a word about “maybe” living to 141. My ancestor William Bradford – who came over on the\u00a0Mayflower<\/a>\u00a0– lived to the equivalent of 141 years old in today’s years. (Age 67, at a time when average life expectancy was 36 years.*) But whether I live to “141” like him, or 120 like Moses, or just one of the “seven times as many people over 100 by the year 2050,” I’ll have to pay attention to my diet. Which led to my interest in\u00a0dietary supplements<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/05\/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_1974.jpg\/800px-Arnold_Schwarzenegger_1974.jpg\")
I got enough of Number Six<\/em> <\/strong>–\u00a0Folic Acid<\/a>\u00a0– with my multivitamin. Folic acid (or folate) helps blood flow to the brain, and minimizes the risk of both blood clots and\u00a0Alzheimer’s<\/a>. Number Seven<\/em> <\/strong>was\u00a0Glucosamine<\/a>, “to grease your joints.”\u00a0I had already started taking\u00a0Glucosamine Chondroitin<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0the form of “soft chews” long before 2018. Here’s what it’s good for:<\/p>\n\n
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