Health Matters Columnist
I am an 80-year-old retired sports medicine physician who loves to ride a bicycle fast; I know how to enjoy my second childhood! I believe that a person’s lifestyle determines how long and how well he lives. I know that the faster you ride, the less likely you are to suffer heart attacks, cancers, diabetes and premature death.
However, you can’t depend just on exercise to be healthy. You also have to avoid red meat and fried foods and take sugared drinks and sugar-added foods only when you are riding very long and fast. You have to avoid being overweight, particularly fat in your belly, and build as much muscle as possible. You should eat lots of fruits and vegetables, even if you are trying to lose weight.
If this sounds like I’m dispensing advice, it’s because I am! It’s what I also do with my time now. Along with my wife, nutritionist Diana Mirkin, I write a free weekly newsletter on the latest in fitness, nutrition and health: http://drmirkin.com/. And I contribute Health Matters columns regularly to RBR.
In additon to being a practicing physician for more than 50 years and a radio talk show host for 25 years, I’ve written more than 20 books, including The Sportsmedicine Book, the best-selling book on the subject that has been translated into numerous languages. My latest book is The Healthy Heart Miracle, published by HarperCollins. I’m also the former medical editor of Runner’s World and Running Times.
I’ve run more than 40 marathons and am now a serious tandem bike rider with Diana, often doing 30-60 miles in an outing.
Gabe: Thanks for all your informative contributions to RBR. I just picked up a recipe for coconut mango rice cakes that includes coconut oil. I’d like to learn about the health benefits, or hazards, of consuming coconut oil. Perhaps you could write something in RBR about coconut oil. Back in Pritikin days all fats were forbidden, then came healthy fats, and recently a friend told me he lost 70 pounds in a year by adding two tablespoons daily of coconut oil to his diet. My wife and I are also on the tandem three days a week, minimum. I’m 69.
At 64 years of age, I began riding a touring bike that did not fit my body. After several years I bought a better more upright bike that was a huge improvement, and then took it to a bike fit expert and was fitted to the bike. However, in the meantime my spine was diagnosed with Scoliosis (There is a thoracolumbar scoliosis convex to the right. Measured between T7 and L3, this measures 23 degrees. The right femoral head measures 5 mm higher than the left. No vertebral anomalies are identified. Hypertrophic degenerative endplate changes are seen in the mid to lower thoracic spine as well as the lumbar spine. There is a slight rightward offset of L3 relative to L4.)
Could a ill fitting bike have caused these conditions? Your comments please, as my Doctor does not think bicycling caused this condition. Thank you. Richard Wilson [email protected]
Thank you Dr. Mirkin. God bless you for your wonderful priceless advice.
I started to ride a bicycle and quit driving my car. my health has become superb, and excellent in every aspect of the health. God has given us Dr. Mirkin, for a reason, to save millions of believers in him.
I have treated a life long long heart (angina) with Diet, Exercise 6 days a week, biking, but mostly with garlic-substitute for antibiotics.
My guts I have treated with Apple Cider Vinegar, and home made plain yogurt
Again, my sincere thanks and life long debt, to your health lectures and advice.
God bless you and Dr. DIane. for your heartily health lectures and .suggestions
Within the context of the corona virus situation, i heard a talk on using plasma (WW1 ) and as i have two daughters and a grandson with IGA immune deficiency..antibodies against their own IGA, the advice to them was, if they were to need a transfusion of blood,to have washed blood cells only. now they are very prone to catching flu s etc. so they are self quarantined but what terrifies me, is the idea of plasma transfusion as a doctor told us that if they received someone else’ s ig A they could go into shock and possibly die. i thought i would write to you about this. there must be a good population of people who have antibodies against their own igA’s. in case this is a concern should they land up in the hospital and have medical personel who are not familiar with this. thank you.
Dr Mirkin,
I am a 65-year old who had a kidney transplant a year ago, so I am taking 3 mg of tacrolimus/Prograf twice a day 12 hours apart and 500 mg of mycophenolate modern/Cellcept twice a day.
I just went bike riding for a hour with two of my friends in the neighborhood. I was wearing a triple layered reusable cloth mask, one friend was wearing a bandana, and the other was wearing a pharmacy-bought one-time use mask. I also wear glasses. We rode slowly up and down hills and sometimes got as close as 6 feet to one another behind or to the side. We tried to stay further apart but at stoplights and hills we just didn’t.
How dangerous would this bike be if one of us had contacted Covid? Should we have been wearing face shields, too?
Just read your article about intense workouts. I did triathlons for over 30 years. I retired but still biked and ran, but did not do too many intervals. I decided to come out of retirement to do one more tri in my 60’s. I had a hard time doing long sustained intervals. A general physical found a heart murmur. Cardiologist confirmed murmur. After talking to me for awhile he believed my intense activity could have lead to the murmur but hard to say. Told me to dial it back a bit but not worry about it. Your thoughts?