Suzanne Sommers' 8 Steps To Wellness

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.