Suzanne Sommers' 8 Steps To Wellness

She Spells Them Out In Her Latest Book

(CBS)  We all know her best as the ditzy Chrissy Snow from "Three's Company," but Suzanne Somers is far more intelligent then the character she played so well.

Since the sitcom ended more than 25 years ago, she's written 17 books, has gotten a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has sold more than 10 million thigh masters!

Her latest book is "Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness," Somers shares just that - eight things you can do to get and stay healthy, and live longer.

"Breakthrough medicine," she writes, "is about building up our bodies to the point that we never suffer from illness in the first place."

On The Early Show Friday, Somers reflected to co-anchor Harry Smith that she was "was interviewing a brain scientist and ... I thought it is so funny: I used to be Chrissy Snow, and I'm interviewing a brain scientist! But that's the reality of my life now."

She's faced cancer and other "significant life trials," as Smith put it. What's her biggest takeaway from all that?

"Lessons. You know? We learn from our lessons and, also, you know, growing up a child an alcoholic, too, which I've written a lot of books about, that you can - you know, when things happen to you, you can choose either to be a victim, 'Why me? Poor me. Why do bad things happen to me?' Or the other way is, 'Alright. I've been dealt this blow. How can I learn from this and how can I grow spiritually and emotionally?' And that's usually where I go."

Among the eight steps she details in "Breakthrough":

Get bioidentical hormone replacement

"Oh, gosh," Somers remarked. "You want to know about this. And I've got all the studies to back it up in the back (of the book). Harvard just came out with a report that says testosterone doesn't give you prostate cancer. You can take testosterone if you have prostate cancer if it's not active. And the big one is - men with highest levels of testosterone live the longest and live the healthiest, so you put back what you lose in the aging process, which is what I've doing for 13 years."

Avoid chemicals and detoxify your body.

"It's the chemicals, and diet sodas. One diet soda so over-stimulates the neurons of the brain, it literally excites them to death in six-to-eight hours. That's one diet soda. ... Chemicals, if you wonder why there's such an epidemic of brain tumors, pancreatic cancer, cancer everywhere, people are sick, people are not well, it's the chemicals. It's the greatest environmental assault in the history of mankind right now."

Take nutrition seriously.

"Eat real food. If you can pick it, pluck it, milk it or shoot it, you can eat it!"

Avoid pharmaceuticals unless absolutely necessary.

People are over-taking pharmaceuticals. They're getting whacky. I mean, when did old people have to have a big tackle box full of pills and you hire somebody to keep them straight? If you notice the template of today's medicine, it's over-drug, over-drug, over-drug, and then they end up in a nursing home."

Supplement your diet with..."

"...The big three. I asked all of the doctors. I take a lot of vitamins and supplements. But the big three: fish oil. Fish oil protects you from cancer. Protects your heart. Antioxidants eat up the free radicals from all the chemicals. And "Co-Q10." For your heart.

Exercise regularly.

Get proper sleep.

For much more on these elements, click here.

To read an excerpt of "Breakthrough," click here.

[Anabellsmithfield]

Thank you for the information Suzanne. You have shown that you are not a dumb blond. One has to wonder if some of the negative posts on this site are not shills for the medical pharma industrial complex. I had an AMA trained and supported medical doctor who criticized me for taking potassium supplements to help control blood pressure naturally. He is irrationally against pretty much any supplements. But his critique of potassium was that I don't know how much I'm actually getting in each capsule. He claimed that although each capsule was supposed to contain 99 mg of potassium, that it could contain just 2 mg. He said this without any objective evidence whatsoever. It is pure irrational bias. He didn't even know what brand of potassium supplement I'm taking!!

Yet he prescribed a very strong drug whose effect was to try to slam my body's blood pressure down. Like most blood pressure drugs there were side effects. And he told me that I would have to be tested every six months to make sure the drug wasn't destroying my kidneys!!

The psychiatric profession is well known for its pseudo science and claims that their powerful psychotropic drugs correct a chemical imbalance in the brain. But they have no objective evidence of this. In fact, if you look at their claims, they state that their drugs "may correct a chemical imbalance in the brain". The fact is that they have no idea what the correct "balance" of chemicals is in the brain and they have no objective lab tests to test for the chemical make up of the brain. Their claims are 100% marketing BS. What I want is objectivity and true science, not AMA sponsored blather from a half-trained MD who is simply a shill for the pharma industry.

What I want is objective lab tests to support whatever I am doing. The psychiatric industry is the most well known for total subjectivity and absolutely NO lab tests. The reason is that they have no real science to support what they do. They simply drug people with very strong drugs. They do have very strong PR provided by the drug companies.

I went to a nutritionist who suggested supplements based on objective blood tests (something my AMA trained doctor never did). Prior to that I had been totally exhausted. Within months on the supplement program I was totally rejuvenated and have never again hit that exhausted state. I'm 59 years old now and in excellent health. Perhaps it's just my DNA as arelbage wrote about Suzanne (without any objective proof -- just a wild claim). Is it safe to admit on this forum that I take things like DHEA, fish oils (which Suzanne recommends), CO Q10, vitamin C, etc.?

When I get a blood test that shows that I am deficient in zinc, I take zinc and then feel better and don't get colds, then I know I'm on to something.

So once again, thank you Suzanne for your new book.

Anabell Smithfield

[jusboutded]

john mayfield
the truth is we dont know. anything. not yet. we are a young species, and we are just learning about what to eat, what to take, what to avoid. just a few years ago the idea of an average person taking many supplements or exercising daily was seen as an extremist fad. who would of thought that oil from fish would ever be widely popular as a supplement? when ms. sommers mentioned coenzyme Q10 to harry, certainly a widely experienced and educated man, he replied "I dont know what that is." 10 years ago almost no one did. no one knows what we will be recommending or avoiding in ten years. doctors claim authoritative knowledge. they have none. nutritionists (whatever that means) claim authority. the university professors claim authority, the health food store clerks claim authority and sometimes aging TV stars, but they all of them have their books to sell, and their jobs to keep...but the truth is all this area is in research, is experimental, is new. it is fascinating and important research, but it is still early research, ongoing, and we all have to approach our continuing improvement and preservation with the confession of a beginners mind. the only certainty is that caution, flexibility, and healthy skepticism are our wisest options. buy fewer books...visit more libraries.

[arelbage]

this woman is mixing some facts with some unsupported opinion. some of this is harmless but some not. taking bioidentical hormones is equal to taking hormones. taking cortisol may be out right dangerous.
if you purchased these chemicals she suggests on the internet, health food store or the guy who sits next to you at work you have no way of knowing the true content of your capsule.
she sure got your attention with her diet soda scare tactics! believe that too?
shes selling books because of her good looks, and the way she looks is due to her DNA, not due to over dosing in vitamins!

[kitten8803]

This woman is not a freak!She is right about the supplements and not taking drugs.They have no clue as to how these drugs will affect you years from now, I know I saw what they did for my father and mother until the very end....The drugs just speeded things right along. I did and still take fewer medicines myself, I have thyroid and adrenal problems, my thyroid completely shut down, due to stress.I took drugs for years, then I started supplements and I can not tell how much it helped me and my health.And no us common folks do not have to be rich to do this.I think it is well worth the time to save my own life... Stop and think about it,is your life not worth it. God put plants and herbs on this earth for a reason and they is what they used long before pharmaceuticals companies every exsited and they don''t cost as much or harm as the drugs do. I know this to be true.

[neenga]

Oh my ... this woman is a freak! Ideas aren''t bad, but most of us normal folks don''t have the time or money to do all of these things.