Cut From Steel

HE PITCHED AT 59. HE KNEW HIS BODY.

Satchel Paige spent most of his career shut out of the major leagues. He pitched for years in the Negro Leagues, including long stretches with the Kansas City Monarchs. Cleveland finally signed him in 1948. He made his big-league debut two days after his 42nd birthday, and that fall Cleveland won the World Series.

Paige did not stop there. On September 25, 1965, the Kansas City Athletics sent him to the mound against the Boston Red Sox. He was 59 years old.

Paige sat in a rocking chair in the bullpen before the game while a nurse rubbed liniment into his arm. Then he walked out and pitched three scoreless innings. He threw 28 pitches to ten batters. The only hit he gave up was a double by Carl Yastrzemski. His catcher said Paige threw slow, then slower, and kept getting outs.

You do not last that long by accident. Paige knew what his arm could handle, and he knew what it needed before he asked it to work. In other words, he paid attention to his own body when nobody else did.

You may never throw a pitch at 59. But you can still read what goes into your body. Paige earned his long career one careful choice at a time, and today's letter asks the same of you.

#1 Worst Drink for Prostate 🍋

Struggling to pee? It’s NOT because of your prostate size.

According to America’s #1 urologist, the real culprit is a “chemical plug” that’s CHOKING your prostate & clogging your pee flow.

Even worse…

There’s one “breakfast drink” secretly FEEDING this nasty plug – making it impossible to empty your bladder right now.

This “breakfast drink” skyrockets your chances of needing a catheter by 730%...

Yet most men sip it every single day!

Try to guess which one it is:

>> Green tea 🍵

>> Pomegranate juice 🥤

>> Lemon + sparkling water 🍋

>> Low-fat milk 🥛

… Or tap here to see the correct answer 👈

THE PILL FROM THE CABINET

You catch a cold at the end of October. Your nose is blocked, and you want one decent night of sleep. So you reach into the cabinet for a nighttime cold pill.

You wake up at three in the morning needing to go. Then you stand at the toilet and wait. The stream is weak, or it barely comes at all. You blame the birthday and shuffle back to bed.

I want you to know this may not be your age catching up with you. Many common cold, sinus, and allergy pills can make an enlarged prostate harder to empty. In other words, the trouble may have come from the box, not the birthday.

IT'S NOT AGE. IT'S THE COLD PILL.

You can picture your bladder as a pump pushing water through a hose. Your prostate wraps around that hose. Cold medicine can get in the way at three points.

01 / Decongestants tighten the gate

Sudafed contains pseudoephedrine, which shrinks swollen blood vessels in your nose. Healthline notes it can also tighten the muscles in the prostate and the neck of the bladder. That leaves less room for urine to get out. GoodRx says nasal sprays like Afrin carry the same warning.

02 / Sleepy antihistamines weaken the push

Benadryl contains diphenhydramine, an older antihistamine. Cleveland Clinic lists it among drugs that can cause urinary retention, because it can change the way the bladder muscle works. Nighttime cold formulas often use this kind of antihistamine to make you drowsy. NyQuil uses one called doxylamine. Drowsiness is the selling point, and your bladder pays for it.

03 / The warning is already on the box

You will find it printed on the label. Under “Ask a doctor before use if you have,” labels for pseudoephedrine and for Benadryl both list “trouble urinating due to an enlarged prostate gland.” Most men never turn the box over to read that part.

READ THE BOX FIRST

You do not have to suffer through a cold. The answer is picking a different tool. GoodRx lists a saline rinse or a steroid nasal spray like fluticasone as options for a blocked nose. Newer antihistamines such as loratadine (Claritin) and fexofenadine (Allegra) do not carry the same prostate warning. Ask the pharmacist to confirm before you buy.

I would also watch the combination boxes. A daytime cold formula may hide a decongestant, while a nighttime one may hide a sleepy antihistamine. The brand name on the front tells you very little. Read the active ingredients on every box before you swallow anything.

You should know where the line is, too. Cleveland Clinic calls sudden trouble urinating a medical emergency, especially with pain in your belly. If you cannot go at all, get care right away instead of waiting for morning. A doctor can drain the bladder with a thin tube called a catheter.

You may already take a prescription for your prostate. Tell your doctor or pharmacist before you add any cold pill on top of it.

One last thing. Age did not lock up your bladder. A pill you never questioned may have.

— Travis

Insider Member's Corner

6 free habits that keep the stream moving:

Cold nights call for a few good things.

01 / Watch · Tudor Pelagos

Tudor built the Pelagos as a working dive watch with a titanium case. The 42mm version is rated to 500 meters and has a helium escape valve for deep divers. Titanium keeps it light on your wrist on a cold morning. US list prices start around $5,600.

02 / Drink · A proper Irish Coffee

Chef Joe Sheridan first served it in Foynes, Ireland, in 1943, to passengers whose flight had turned back in bad weather. Travel writer Stanton Delaplane carried the idea home to San Francisco. The Buena Vista Cafe poured its first one on November 10, 1952. You build it with hot coffee, a little sugar, Irish whiskey, and cream floated on top. Have it early in the evening, not right before bed.

03 / Home · A Pendleton wool blanket

Pendleton Woolen Mills has been weaving in Pendleton, Oregon, since the Bishop family reopened the mill in 1909. The company built its name on wool blankets with bold Jacquard patterns. One of its best known is the striped Glacier National Park design. A good wool blanket on the couch beats cranking up the heat, and it may outlast the couch.