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Every year over 250,000 men are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. That makes prostate cancer the leading cause of cancer in men. Although most of these men won't die as a result of their prostate cancer, prostate cancer still claims the lives of almost 40,000 men every year. This trend can be reversed.
To begin with, prostate cancer can be prevented. Scientists theorize that prostate cancer is a complex interplay between dietary, lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors. The first three of these influences are under our control. Even though the last factor - our genetic make-up - can't be changed, we can change the expression of our genes. For instance, even though there may be an increased genetic risk of developing prostate cancer (due to a strong family history of prostate cancer), this risk can be decreased by making healthy dietary, lifestyle, and environmental choices. You’ll find listed below healthy choices within each of these three areas - choices that may decrease the risk of developing prostate cancer.
In addition, these recommendations also apply to men who've already been diagnosed with or treated for prostate cancer. Scientific research suggests that healthy dietary, lifestyle, and environmental choices may slow prostate cancer cell growth.
Finally, curing cancer requires more than just surgically removing the tumor or treating it with radiation. Curing cancer requires a holistic approach that treats the whole person - body, mind and spirit. Even when cancer can't be cured, a holistic approach can significantly improve the quality of life and survival of men with prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer Prevention
Cancer doesn't occur overnight - it's a dynamic process. Therefore, it's is potentially reversible. Cancer cells originate from normal cells that have been altered because of dietary, lifestyle, genetic, and environmental influences. Since cancer cells (like normal cells) continually adapt to changes in their local environment, it may be possible to slow down or even reverse cancer by altering these risk factors.
Dietary Changes
 Establishing healthy eating habits is one way to prevent prostate cancer. The risk of developing prostate cancer may be lowered by adopting the suggestions made in each of the following categories:
- Eliminate Fat. Follow a low fat diet (30% or less of total calories from fat) by making the following changes:
1. Eliminate saturated fats by cutting down or eliminating red meat (men who eat red meat have twice the risk of prostate cancer - replace red meat and poultry with cold water fish and soy protein), un-skinned poultry, whole milk and whole milk products (since dairy products are high in saturated fat, they also increase the risk of prostate cancer), creamy salad dressings, butter, partially hydrogenated oils (margarine, vegetable shortening), and all products made from tropical oils (palm and coconut oils).
2. Eliminate polyunsaturated vegetable oils (safflower, sunflower, corn, soy, peanut, and cottonseed).
3. Reduce total fat by eliminating deep-fried and fast foods.
4. Reduce or eliminate consumption of chips, nuts, avocados, butter, cheese and other high-fat foods.
5. Read labels and look for fat content of different foods. Don't be confused by high fat foods camouflaged under the label of "no cholesterol". Focus on low fat health food brands.
6. Increase consumption of omega-3 fatty acids by eating deep-water fish (yellow-fin tuna, cod or haddock). The type of fatty acid found in fish protects against prostate cancer.
7. Use extra -virgin olive oil as your principal fat.
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Limit white sugar. Although not directly related to prostate cancer, excess refined sugar depresses the immune system, elevates insulin levels, and stimulates tumor growth (by increasing arachidonic acid) Use the natural sweetener stevia (available in health food stores) in place of artificial sweeteners.
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Eat soy protein, such as tofu, tempeh and soy milk. Rich in cancer- fighting substances called isoflavones (most notably genistein), soy protein dramatically inhibits the growth of prostate cancer cells. Eat two helping daily (one cup of tofu, two 8 oz. Glasses of soy milk, or one half package of tempeh).
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Increase fiber in your diet by eating oatmeal, bran and legumes. Eliminate white flour - substitute whole grain products instead. Thirty grams of fiber a day is recommended (read package labels or consult a cookbook for the fiber content of different foods).
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Eat fruits and vegetables. Packed with cancer-fighting vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables decrease the risk of prostate cancer. The National Cancer Institute recommends eating at least five (or better yet, nine) daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
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Eat organic foods whenever possible. Regular produce is often contaminated with pesticides and other chemicals. They heighten the risk of prostate cancer by causing DNA damage and altering hormone metabolism. Finally, in addition to being high in fat, dairy and beef products are often contaminated with toxic pesticide and hormone residues.
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Eat garlic - one to two cloves daily. Although the precise mechanism is unknown, garlic prevents prostate cancer by helping the liver get rid of toxins and blocking the conversion of arachidonic acid to inflammatory leucotrienes.
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Eat tomatoes. Harvard researchers found that eating tomatoes at least four times a week lowers the risk of prostate cancer by twenty percent. Eating ten weekly helpings of tomatoes lowers the risk by forty-five percent.
Supplements
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Green Tea (Camillia sinensis). Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered that green tea inhibits the growth of prostate tumors (in animals) and reduces the size of existing tumors. Green tea is rich in a group of flavonoid antioxidants called catechins. One of these catechins - epigallocatechin gallate (abbreviated EGCG) - has two hundred times the antioxidant power of vitamin E. Furthermore, EGCG kills hormone-insensitive prostate cancer cells. I recommend taking a 100 milligram green tea supplement twice daily for prostate cancer prevention (equal to 2 cups of green tea), or 500 mg of green tea extract twice daily if prostate cancer is present.
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Lycopene. For those men who can't tolerate eating tomatoes, or tomato-based food products, they can still obtain the cancer-preventive benefits of tomatoes by taking supplemental lycopene. According to one study, men with prostate cancer who supplemented with thirty milligrams of lycopene daily, for three weeks prior to having their prostate removed, slowed the growth of their cancer cells. Take a ten milligram, oil-based lycopene supplement, twice daily with meals for prevention, and three times daily, if there is a family history of prostate cancer, or if prostate cancer is present.
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Vitamin D: Take enough to maintain your vitamin D level between 50-100 ng/mL.
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Pomegranate juice 8 oz. daily, or pomegranate extract, one capsule twice daily.
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Soy isoflavones, 160 mg. Daily (www.revivalsoy.com)
Life Style Changes
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Lose weight. Overweight men are two and a half times more likely to develop prostate cancer and three and a half times more likely to die as a result of their cancer. Shedding even a few pounds lowers the risk.
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Stop Smoking. Male smokers have a one third greater chance of developing prostate cancer. They're also more likely to die from prostate cancer since smoking induces a more aggressive form of prostate cancer.
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Exercise. According to one study, regular exercise reduces the risk of prostate cancer by forty percent. Other investigators report that men (under the age of sixty) with the highest cardiovascular fitness were four times less likely to develop prostate cancer than those least fit.
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