Testosterone and cardiovascular disease, vegan, vegitarian

Q&A with Mike Furci

By: Mike Furci (mike@bullz-eye.com)

03/09/2007

Furci Home / Fitness Channel / Bullz-Eye Home

Q: Mike,

I am long-time reader and while I don't follow religiously all of your teachings/articles, I have incorporated enough into my diet and life routine to justify saying I give you a lot of credence. However, I would like to point out that in your recent writings about testosterone and cardiovascular disease (CVD), that while there is definitely a high correlation between the two events, it does not mean cause and effect. Correlation does not equal cause and effect. I would point out that low testosterone levels and CVD can be caused by a couple of things – diet, lack of exercise and most of all, aging. Stop eating the poisons that are so prevalent and become active, and for the most part CVD/testosterone will probably be minimized/optimized, unless you have a medical condition. This will also help in 'slowing' the aging process or help to grow old healthfully. If that was the point of the article, we agree.

Dave

A: Dave,

I am assuming you are talking about the recent "Did You Know" column. Arterial stiffness, hyperinsulinemia, obesity and hypertension are all very common among males who are hypogonadal. As the study authors, not myself, conclude, testosterone was the only hormone out of several that correlated with arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is a major risk factor for CVD. An inverse relationship between arterial stiffness and hypertension has been shown in several studies. And although exogenous testosterone alleviates several risk factors associated with CVD, researchers cannot say definitively low testosterone is a cause of CVD. However, the evidence is getting overwhelming, and many top researchers believe maintaining testosterone at normal levels has a protective affect on arterial aging.

Diet and exercise had nothing to do with the authors’ conclusions. Diet and exercise should not, and were not included in the study. Reliable studies minimize variables as much as possible.

Your comments about diet, exercise and testosterone levels sound logical, but are made out of ignorance. A healthy male with age-related hypogonadism will have no hormonal benefit to any degree with diet and exercise. This is indisputable. The degree to which testosterone, human growth hormone or any other hormone is manipulated through diet and exercise has been measured many times in different studies and is infinitesimal.

A bad diet and lack of exercise can definitely cause diabetes and obesity. It has been shown that males with one or both of these problems have a much higher incidence of hypogonadism. In these instances diet and exercise may have a positive effect on hormonal levels.

A lack of exercise and horrible eating habits in the U.S. are, unfortunately, here to stay. The food industry spends tens of millions of dollars on marketing and government lobbying. Because of this, they are producing foods that are literally poisons, and are producing horrible consequences across the country. The best thing people can do is to stop buying these products and demand whole natural foods. This is a pipe dream, however, because most people in this country don't care about eating correctly. Laziness, a lack of discipline, and a desire for instant gratification (comfort foods) are a major reason why people are getting fatter.

Fortunately, there is a growing market of people like myself who will pay extra and travel for whole natural foods. Consequently, there is a growing number of farms producing these types of foods. Whether this will become common-place across the nation is anyone’s guess.

Mike

Q: Mike,

I need some help in sorting out some conflicting information. I read that it's best to exercise specific body parts no more than once per week in order to allow full recovery. From another source, however, I've read that if a person doesn't weight train for a week, 30 percent of their muscle mass may waste away. What's the deal?

Also, I lived in Cleveland in the mid 1990s and was a member of Club Olympia. To this day, I remember it as the best gym ever. Is it still around? I remember getting fired up whenever I saw the photo of Lou Ferrigno on the wall that was inscribed "Mike, You got a great gym. Lou Ferrigno." Lou's grammar may have been off-base, but his message was right on target.

All the best,
Jack Gray
Lawrence, Kansas

A: Jack,

Thanks for reading B-E.com and taking the time to write me concerning your questions.

How many times a week can, or more importantly, should I train per week? Optimum recovery time between sessions is essential to achieve goals. Training frequency, which is determined by individual recovery ability, is a forgotten part of most training programs.

Training frequency is not some arbitrary number you end up with just because you read it somewhere. Training frequency is a result of carefully monitoring your workout and adjusting accordingly. For instance, I might give you a three-day split program that works each body part once every five days. If you continue to make progress, I'll keep it for a while. If you plateau early however, I would add another day off and monitor the results.

Always be concerned about the optimum number of training sessions, sets or reps. More is not always better. In fact, when people come to me for advice because their progress has come to a halt, I rarely increase the volume. Most people are in a state of over-training and need to back off.

Unfortunately, Club Olympia is no longer around. The city decided to open a recreation center a quarter mile down the road. The mayor assured me there wasn't a fitness center included in the plans. Unfortunately, I took his word for it and was shocked to find a very large gym inside a multi-million dollar facility. I was out of business within a year. I didn't have enough time to find another place to move the gym.

I always loved that picture of big Lou. He came to my gym in the mid-90s and was walking around at a very lean 328 lbs. He is by far the biggest man I’ve ever seen to date. A few years later, I saw him at the Arnold Classic in Columbus. He, a couple of my friends and I had more than a couple of drinks at the bar in the downtown Hyatt. He’s always been very cordial.

Thanks for reading Bullz-eye.com and the great comments.

Mike

Another wacko vegetarian speaks. I’m answering his emails point by point to emphasize his craziness. I left his email grammatically as I received it; I believe this adds to the humor.

Kundan P. wrote:

Well i'm not a vegan myself but feel pity for all the carnivores who crave too much for meat diet.

"What u eat is what u think" .Well if you hadn't slept in your science class u would know better and give up a fight for meat.. which is so wasted...

The gross particles of the food u eat is excreted ,middle onces goes to your bones and muscles and the finer one to your brain (thats how all the chemicals, vitamins and necesary minerals are there).Which only comes through vegetables.Yep! u dumbo...from veg....!!!

Meat could no doubt put muscle but what about for your brain??? Or let me guess "U would be happy to look like a bulldozer"!!! In humans, meat takes a longer time to digest than any other food creating toxins that the body must struggle to eliminate. The more build-up of these toxins, the harder it is for the body to get rid of them, which can consequently lead to cancer.

First of all, the body doesn't struggle to eliminate toxins produced by consuming meat. Ammonia is produced by the breakdown of protein. Our bodies quickly convert this substance to harmless urea and excrete it. You know...piss.

Hormones, nitrates and pesticides are many commercially available animal products. These are easily avoided by eating free-range meat, dairy and eggs which contain no harmful chemicals.

By the way, not one study in Europe has ever shown an association between beef consumption and cancer. Only two studies in the U.S. have, and are contradicted by many others. In Argentina, where beef consumption is high, there is a lower incidence of cancer than other western countries. The “Journal of the National Cancer Institute” found there is no greater risk of colon cancer (the cancer that is attributed to meat consumption), regardless of the amount of beef or other meats consumed.

I'm not preaching to give up meat but have it in moderation and also Give some respect to the man for having compassion towards the defenceless animals who cant speak.

I've stated several times the only logical reason for avoiding the consumption of meat, is if you are against the "killing" of animals. I do, however, think it's ludicrous and you should have your p**sy checked.

And Vittoni!! for your obviously dumb comment on Asian looks see who all I found to be a vegans- Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Socrates, Pythagoras, Mahatma Ghandi, H.G. Wells, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Plato, Leonardo Da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Buddha, Voltaire, Charles Darwin to name but a few.

I would love to see the proof that these people are all vegans, or even vegetarians. Do you really think Buddha got to be such a fat ass from vegetables? Although, maybe he went against the grain of Asian culture and ate large quantities of soy. This would have ensured his obesity, because of the detrimental effects it has on the thyroid. And by the way, Madonna has eaten plenty of meat, and has had her share of protein...if you know what I mean.

Yep! They are the very people who made this world a better place to live in and definitely not the carnivores or the body builders like yourself!!!

Moderate exercise with a toned up body is always better to attract chickx .oh! u would know that if u took some veg for your brain.. u know... Grow up stop wasting your time to pump that body which will definitely die one day!!!

My articles are geared to get people to be the best they can be. Because there is so much garbage out there, I try to sift through it for them. A no-nonsense approach. And unfortunately for misguided people like yourself who fly in the face of science, eating like a herbivore is not the optimum diet for a human.

Herbivores do not secrete hydrochloric acid like we do; it's specifically for protein digestion.

Herbivores have multiple stomachs; we have one.

Herbivores chew their cud; we do not.

Herbivore jaws move in a rotary fashion; ours move in a vertically.

And the list goes on and on.

While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth? George Bernard Shaw

"Living graves of murdered beasts?" And you obviously respect this man. What a f**cking idiot.

I guess it enlightens u a bit and stop beaching about vegans.They r definitely better humans.....

Son of beach, sheet!

Kundan Writes back. I thought you would find this funny as well as informative.

ya u crazy F*#@in scientist its u i think who needs to go to for a psy*** check, For your information when a chick or a cow is killed out of fear their nerve contracts and discharge's toxins Above all u are eating the disease these animals were carring...u dumb liberater..

The animal feels no fear because they have no idea what's going to happen to them. You are a raving lunatic. Just like many other vegetarian bleeding hearts, your arguments are baseless. There is no science to back what any of you (vegans, vegetarians) say...PERIOD. Even the studies that are usually sited as your arguments are flawed. But let’s forget about studies. Open your mind and look at our anatomy and physiology. Enough said.

And ya i agree cows have 4 chambers of tummy and they eat in a circular motion ....but remember!!!they dont have something which is very common with u.... and thats common sense and brain!(What a pity)!!!......i didnt say we eat raw grass like cows for vegitables ....well we cook our veg for easy digestion ....Well u retard if u believe u are closer to carnivores , we have just one chamber in our stomach and your HCL acid blah blah to digest meat...try eating your meat raw then ...(U seriously need some vitamins and minerals up the...)!

With no argument to stand on, many of you veggies resort to personal attacks. Your arguments are made out of emotion, It's all you have. By the way, eating meat raw is very healthy. The main reason for cooking it is to avoid bacteria and disease. A vegan diet is completely devoid of certain micronutrients. For example, B12 in vegetables is an analog, which is completely useless in the human body.

I find it truly amazing that even genetics, physiology, and chemistry aren't enough to enlighten you to the fact we are meant to be omnivores. We are meat eaters. There is nothing about our history, physiology or anatomy that says otherwise.

And thats the way it goes for your history too ... definitely I respect bernard shaw and all the list of people who were a real gem .....And definitely u wouldnt even get fraction of that in this life of yours with such baseless arguments ....U egoist dork.

Just like a true leftist vegetarian you resort to something emotional and childish like, "who's a better person" because of the diet they eat. Wasn't Hitler a vegetarian? I'm not sure, but I heard a rumor. Get out of the high school mentality Kundan.

I dont know which stupid science mag u are refering to but check out more for the disadvantages of meat consumption ...

Well, I read rags like: “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” “Journal of the American Dietetics Association”, “American Journal of Epidemiology,” “European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” “New England Journal of Medicine,” “Lancet” and some others. You're right, I really need to expand my sources. These probably aren't very reliable.

well right now i gotta run but definely i will catch up with scientifical backing and do your brain surgery and put something there...i promise u that..i fell real sorry for u till then.....

No need to feel sorry for me Kundan. I'm a healthy red-blooded meat-eating American. You keep eating the rabbit food and I'll eat the rabbit. Hormones, nitrates and pesticides are many commercially available animal products. These are easily avoided by eating free-range meat, dairy and eggs which contain no harmful chemicals.

He wrote back yet again, but I’m not going to beat a dead horse.

Q: Hi Mike,

Just read a post on the Bullz-eye.com site in which you said that soy milk wasn't good for testosterone levels. Are you able to provide me with more information about this. I am an 18-year-old male, who has been drinking this stuff for eight years or so. If it makes any difference, I live in Australia.

Cheers,

Jeremy

A: First, stop drinking soy milk immediately. Soy milk is one of the worst types of soy “foods” available. Do you realize soy milk doesn’t exist in nature? There is no such thing as soy milk. Do you know the soy bean is inedible? Soy products are nothing more than highly processed chemically laden foods. And I use the term “food” loosely.

Remember, soy naturally tastes like shit because of rancid polyunsaturated fats, soy lecithin and phytoestrogens. The soy industry has spent millions on making garbage palatable using chemicals and sugar.

Below I’ve listed a great place to start, Jeremy. Visit these websites, and buy the book, “The Whole Soy Story.”

Soy is garbage!

www.thewholesoystory.com

www.westonaprice.org

Got a question for Mike? Send it to mike@bullz-eye.com.