Masculinity is NOT toxic!

Opposed to popular belief, there is NOTHING wrong with or toxic about being a man! The world needs men. I mean real men.  We seem to have become a society of people who have forgotten that strength with restraint is a virtue. The world needs men that run TO the sound of trouble, not away from it. We need men who believe it is our role to protect the those we love, not because they cannot protect themselves, but because it is our duty as men to stand between the those we love and harm that seeks to destroy them. 

As men, we believe it is our duty to smooth the path to an easier life for our loved ones.  Be that by opening a door, paying for dinner or walking on the traffic side of a sidewalk, we make ourselves a human shield between the world and the ones we love.

It is a matter of honor and in today’s world, honor is becoming a rare thing.  There may be those who read this and believe that I am talking about “Toxic Masculinity”.  Those people need to understand this: The way that Hankins Health sees manhood is a matter of honor.  If you slap a woman, beat a child or in any way abuse another person for ANY reason including sex, race, gender identity, sexual preference, religion or social status, you have no honor and therefore are NOT a man.  I do not apologize to anyone for these beliefs. If you do not agree, go find another website. You will not find what you are looking for here. 

Manhood is not racist, sexist or homophobic. We do not need that foolishness to be a man.

I am a 60-year-old man. I have spent my entire adult life in the service of others and in healthcare.  I was a Paramedic and firefighter in the 80s.  I became a registered nurse in the early 90s working in the Emergency Department.  I spent many years working side by side with law enforcement, EMS, fire service and security. This is where I came to understand strength of character and the “balls” that it takes to do these jobs.

I spent most of the last 25 years working for the Ohio Department of Correction and Rehabilitation.  These people are the true definition of courage.  Working in a maximum-security prison, I saw acts of bravery and self-sacrifice that most people cannot imagine. Corrections is the true “silent service”.  The only time you hear about correctional employees is when something bad happens.  This is an extremely stressful, hazardous, and thankless job for which there is next to no recognition or glory.  The average career correctional employee will live less than 5 years after retirement.  That should tell you something.  It has been my honor to work beside these heroes and know what true courage is. 

I never had the honor of military service.  This was one of the few regrets of my life.  I was disqualified due to poor vision, which was probably a good thing for all involved!  I have the utmost respect for those who serve.

I have also never worked in the trades, but I am good friends with several union welders, pipefitters, masons, and electricians.  I understand the fact that without your effort, everything that we have in this country would not exist. I thank you for your hard work and dedication to making America what it is. 

These men are real men.  We do not apologize for our beliefs or our nature.

I have told you these things to say this:  Our bodies are under attack.  Our testosterone, which is the hormone that makes us men is being destroyed daily. Around the time we turn 30 years old, our natural production of testosterone decreases by 1% a year on average.  We are then bombarded by “Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)” that cause the destruction of our ability to produce testosterone.  These EDCs are in everything that we eat and drink (Including tap water). They are in the paint on our walls and the plastic in our homes and vehicles.  They are in the air that we breathe. And they are slowly destroying our manhood. During World War II, it has been estimated that the average man’s testosterone level was near 1200 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL). The average today is between 300 and 900 ng/dL.  As a result, we are constantly tired, have no motivation or sex drive and have a significant loss of muscle mass.  We are led to believe this is a normal part of aging.

IT IS NOT!

Although we cannot avoid the EDCs that are part or every aspect of modern life, we can replace the testosterone that is being taken from us!

Hankins Health is dedicated to helping men regain what we have lost, to regain the strength and endurance that we had in our 20s. To once again be the men that are capable of providing for our families and protecting those we love. 

If you are interested in Testosterone Optimization Therapy (TOT) through Hankins Health, contact us at Hank@hankinshealth.com or leave a message at (740) 858-8124.

If you are not yet ready to take that step, sign up for our weekly email. We will be discussing what testosterone does in your body (Hint: IT’S EVERYTHING), why it is being destroyed, ways to naturally increase your body’s natural production of testosterone as well as many other topics that relate to a man’s health and ways to improve your physical and mental wellbeing.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. We hope to hear from you soon.

Stay strong!

Darryl (Hank) Hankins Certified Nurse Practitioner

Breathwork!

Today, we are going to talk about breathing! Are you excited? 

It is much more impactful to your life than you even realize.  

Number one, you do it twenty THOUSAND times per day.  There is a very specific, biochemical reason why we breathe. It deals with your mitochondria. Remember those pesky little things that we talked about during the grounding discussion?  Mitochondria convert fuel (in the form of carbohydrates or fatty acids) and oxygen to produce Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) into energy to run your body.  Everyone knows that if you don’t get enough oxygen, you die. The REASON you die is because your mitochondria cannot make fuel without oxygen. Simple enough? Actually, no, it is NOT simple at all.  It is an absolutely amazing chemical and electrical process without which, we are not alive. As I have said before, if you want to see a miracle, look in the mirror!  

So, do some minor, mental gymnastics with me.  If you don’t get enough oxygen, it has immediate, profound, life altering effects on your life and health. Therefore, would you think that increasing the amount of oxygen in your body could also have immediate, profound, life altering effects on your life and health?  I was kidding about the mental gymnastics thing.  I am just going to give you the answer. YES, YES, YES! 

Most of us walk around, just breathing. If we exercise, the breathing increases.  If we are frightened, the breathing increases. If the womenfolk (and some of the menfolk) see Rip beat somebody up on Yellowstone, our breathing increases. But, overall, most of us stay in the ballpark of 20,000 breaths per day.  When we don’t breathe deeply, carbon dioxide (A waste product of the whole mitochondria thing) builds up in the bases of our lungs.  It just sits there and becomes all “Acid-y”. Bodies don’t like acid.  

Here is another crazy thing that will make you say whhhhhhhaaaaat? in your most skeptical voice. Nose breathing… Yeah, that’s right.  Breathing alone isn’t enough. You need to breathe through your nose (I will explain that part shortly). 

Many studies have shown there are a great number of benefits to regular, daily, deep breathing exercises. This is all based on science, I promise!  

Deep breathing has been shown to help reduce stress and anxiety. In today’s “Fast Car” world, we are constantly faced with stressful situations from bills to traffic, to family matters to the fact that Rip makes my wife’s breathing increase! All these stressors stimulate our Sympathetic Nervous System. That is that whole “Fight or flight” thing.  It causes a release of epinephrine (Adrenaline), nor-epinephrin and acetylcholine.  These chemicals get us ready to fight Rip or run from Rip. Either way, your heart rate increases, your blood pressure increases, your pupils dilate, and you are ready for action.  The problem is that your cave-man body cannot tell the difference between being chased by Rip or having an overdue phone bill. The act of slow, deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which counteracts all that nastiness that the sympathetic system creates. It reduces the heart rate and relaxes the blood vessels which allows the blood pressure to decrease.  Think of it as God’s “Be cool biscuit”. 

Breath work also helps to increase your energy level.  Remember that whole, mitochondria thing I talked about a few paragraphs back? 

Yeah, that.  

Breath work can also boost your immunity.  This is the point at which some of you will be saying “Come oooooon! This is snake oil!”.  Stay with me! 

The organ in your body that has the most exposure to the environment is your lungs.  Everything with which you come in contact can enter your lungs. Bacteria, dust, toxins, your dog’s hair. The off gassing of that polyester tracksuit that your neighbor, the drug dealer, is wearing… it all enters your lungs. If you took the entirety of your lungs’ inner surface area and laid it out, it is approximately the size of a pickleball court!  That’s a LOT of surface area, meaning a lot of blood flow, meaning a lot of availability for crud to enter your body. When you breathe deeply, it changes the pH of the mucous inside your lungs, this does a great job of killing renegade bacteria and viruses that may sneak in.  

Now, let's talk about the “Breathe through your nose” malarky.   When you breathe through your nose the air comes in contact with the mucous membranes inside your nasal passages (Obviously).  The increased oxygen causes said mucous membranes to release nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a smooth muscle relaxer.  Guess what the inner pathways of your lungs are made of.  You guessed it, smooth muscle.  This muscle relaxation causes the pathways to dilate (open up and get bigger) which allows more oxygen (and nitric oxide) to be absorbed into your blood stream which feeds those pesky mitochondria and increases your energy production!  Also… the nitric oxide does the same thing to your blood vessels that it does to your lung tissue. It relaxes them.  When the smooth muscle on the inside of your arteries dilates then your blood pressure decreases. So, yes, deep breathing can reduce stress, reduce blood pressure, increase energy and just make you an all-around wonderful person.  

Sooooooo whatarewegonnadoaboutit?  

If you are following the practices of the modern caveman as espoused by Hank, you are already sitting outside with your bare feet on the ground.  Little electrons are bouncing around, getting rid of inflammation. Since you are sitting there anyway, inhale through your nose as deeply as you can. Push your stomach out which allows your diaphragm to contract, which pulls air into your lungs like a bellows. This increases your lung volume massively. When you exhale, force all the air out of your lungs. That is the basis of breath work.  Now do this: Breathe in 30 times as deeply as you can. It doesn’t need to be fast, just deep. On the 30th exhalation, hold your breath for as long as you can. Don’t pass out but make yourself uncomfortable. This depletes the oxygen and increases the carbon dioxide (The waste product of respiration) in your bloodstream. As a result, the next cycle of deep breaths will pack even more oxygen into your blood and send even more oxygen to your mitochondria. Now, do all of that again.  Complete a total of 3 cycles of deep breathing with 2 episodes of breath holding in between.  This will take 7 to 10 minutes in total.   

If you get really into this, there are many different deep breathing techniques. Look them up on YouTube.  

I promise you that if you make this a part of your daily routine, you will feel the benefits.  So go ground and breathe! 

Next week we will talk about cold exposure.  THAT will be a good time!   

Until then, Stay strong! 

Hank  

Grounding/Earthing

Grounding is the foundation of safety in electrical systems—

Without it, chaos could spark.

(I don’t know who said it but it sounds cool!)

K, so… last week I told you that I was going to discuss a bunch of stuff that, on its surface, will make you call BS! This “Hippie medicine”, as my wife calls it, has been extensively studied!

IT'S SCIENCE!

The first thing that I will talk about is so simple that you are not going to believe it until you try it for a few weeks, but I promise you, it’s a thing!

That thing is grounding or Earthing. This simply involves touching the dirt. Without getting too “Hippie”, we are “Of the Earth”. We are made of the same material and share an electrical current. The frequency at which the Earth naturally vibrates is referred to as the Schumann Resonance.

 PubMed, which is the clearinghouse for all research studies documented by the National Institute of Health (NIH), lists 469 specific studies on the health benefits of grounding or Earthing. Including a paper called “Grounding – The universal anti-inflammatory remedy” by (Sinatra et al 2023) which states:

 “The fundamental frequency of the Schumann resonances vibrates at 7.83 Hz or roughly eight times per second. This key frequency of the grounding phenomenon is maintained by a global electrical circuit. This circuit has three main generators: the solar wind entering the magnetosphere; the ionospheric wind and in thunderstorms occurring predominantly around the equator as well as the rest of the globe with lightning strikes happening thousands of times per minute. This creates a constant current of thousands of amperes transferring positive charge to the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) and negative charge to the surface of the earth. The earth's surface is, therefore, inundated with enormous amounts of free electrons”.

Is that a little technical for a health blog? Probably, but I feel that it is important to understand WHY things happen. That makes it easier to understand what to do about it.

So, we have established that the Earth does have an electrical current and why. Now, to understand why it is important in the context of health, the same study also found that: “Such Earth electrons, when conducted to the human body, result in favorable and physiological changes”. “Previous research has demonstrated attenuation of the inflammatory response, decreased red blood cells RBC aggregation, improved heart rate variability (HRV) and a favorable impact on blood viscosity”.

A study from all the way back in 2015 states: “Multi-disciplinary research has revealed that electrically conductive contact of the human body with the surface of the Earth (grounding or earthing) produces intriguing effects on physiology and health. Such effects relate to inflammation, immune responses, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases” (Oschman et al. 2015).

Okay, there is an electrical field and it does affect our health. How did we get to where it doesn't work right? As you may recall from my first post, “Cavemen in Fast Cars”, we evolved to have very specific needs related to the environment in which we developed. For 99% of human time on earth, we touched the dirt every day. We slept in caves or on the ground. We didn't have shoes. We swam in dirty, cold creek water, and we readily shared electrons with the Earth. We started wearing rubber-soled shoes in the 1920s and 30s. They did not become every day, indoor/outdoor footwear until the 1960s. Looking back, this was around the same time that we saw a dramatic upswing in chronic illnesses, including high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease and diabetes (The four horseman). The science behind this is relatively complex but understandable.

If you remember back in Junior high science class, they told us about cells. Inside your cells are mitochondria, which are the “powerhouse” of the cell. What they did not tell us is that we have 40 trillion cells in our bodies and each cell contains hundreds to thousands of mitochondria depending on the kind of cell it is. Our bodies generate a lot of electricity. In a wildly oversimplified description, what the mitochondria do is to convert oxygen and fuel (in the form of carbohydrates or fatty acids) into chemical electricity. Electricity is what makes your life happen. Now, switch gears and look at an electric cord going to your coffee maker. The process of transferring electricity is kind of sloppy. As the charge moves along the cord, you lose electrons. These electrons bounce around in the cord and create friction which creates heat. The heat causes fire. This is why they put that third prong on your electric cord. This is the ground wire. It collects all of those crazy electrons and flings them into the earth to rejoin our planet's natural electromagnetic field.

Your mitochondria do exactly the same thing. The electrons bust loose and bounce around inside your cell and cause heat in the form of inflammation. For 99% of man’s time on Earth, we touched the soil with bare skin every day. Those pesky electrons shot straight out of the bottoms of our feet, and we collected other electrons from the Earth that bonded with free radicals to render them electrically stable and all was right with the world. Until about 60 years ago, when we all started wearing rubber-soled shoes and stopped going outside. All of those electrons are now bouncing around inside you instead of going into the earth. This causes uncool things like high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes and general joint pain. To get rid of these annoying electrons, you either physically touch the ground every day for 20 minutes for free, or you can buy grounding mats and sheets that do the same thing.

So, how do we do this amazing thing? Go outside. Put your bare feet on the grass or dirt. If it is cold or raining and you have access to a cement floor that touches to soil (Think basement or garage floor) then that will work… not as well as touching dirt but better than a sharp stick in the eye. For the record, asphalt will not work.

It truly is that simple.

Next week, we will discuss breath work.

Class dismissed!