'I've Thought Of My Body As A Maserati': From Cancer To Sex Drive, Suzanne Somers Tackles 'A New Way To Age' At 73

(CBS Local) -- Suzanne Somers has been a household name in Hollywood since her days on "Three's Company" as Chrissy Snow. Now, at 73 and in what she considers the happiest time of her life, she's making waves in the growing field of anti-aging.

"I thought at this stage of my life that you'd start having longings for what was -- I don't," she tells CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "I'm really realizing that there's another chapter, probably many more after this, and I thought that when I turned 73 that I would be old, chronologically old. But I'm not old, and I believe it's because of the way I've been taking care of myself. I've really thought of [my body] as a Maserati, and I feed it right and put the highest octane fuel I can put in there and it pays off."

The actor just recently published a book called "A New Way To Age," where she talks with doctors from around the world about how to grow old with freedom and confidence. Somers tackles several health issues for men and women like heart disease, cancer, and sex in hopes of helping people of all ages live their best and healthiest lives. She says she does so not by telling people what they should do, but forcing them to question various health decisions they may be following.

"I have my books vetted by 26 scientists and professionals and there is research for everything that is in this book," she explains.

For example, one popular area she questions and discusses for men in particular is prostate health.

"I think it's tragic when they remove a man's prostate because now you're not the guy you were," she admits. "Now you're on a major drug that is very expensive and there are some cases when men need it. When all is well, it [the prostate] is nice and tight and small. When you start aging or you're affected by stress or toxicity, you lose testosterone and your prostate starts to enlarge. It's looking for its essential building block, which is testosterone."

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Somers has learned a lot about life and health since her days with John Ritter on "Three's Company." The actor was famously fired from the show when she asked for an equal salary.

"Even when I was Chrissy on Three's Company, I had had cancer three times," said Somers. "They call it severe hyperplasia in your uterus. I didn't make a big deal about it. In my 30s, I got a malignant melanoma in my back. People just wanted to protect Chrissy Snow. Creating her was actually intellectual. How do I make her likable and loveable ... dumb blondes are annoying. I gave her a moral code. I imagined it was the childhood I would've liked to have had. I got fired from Three's Company for having the audacity to ask to be paid commensurate with men. They were making 10 to 15 times more and John [Ritter] was making much more than me. They had designated John the star, as my star rose and started competing with John's star, it made them mad at me. It made them mad when I was on every magazine cover and John wasn't.  We were all on the cover of Newsweek. That was a fiasco that day. The producers didn't tell any of us that Newsweek wanted to feature just Chrissy and nobody told me either."

Despite those harder times in her life, the former face of "Thighmaster" always made health a priority. Now she wants readers to know that while some people struggle once they get into their 70s, life and sex can still be very enjoyable in the later years.

"For sex there's a shot and it's called PT... peptide. I have taken it, it's Peptide 141," said Somers. "It works on the part of the brain that stimulates your sex desire. Because I am so hormonally balanced, really probably perfectly hormonally balanced, taking this sex peptide shot is actually too much for me. You could have eight orgasms in a couple of hours, but they're almost not fulfilling. When women lose their estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, those are your sex hormones and they can't feel sex anymore. It's not that they are not in the mood or don't have the drive, they can't feel it. When you can't feel it, you don't want to do it. For women who are experiencing this, they can benefit greatly from this shot."