Prostate Cancer Prevention Methods
1. High-fiber diet is important for preventing prostate cancer. It is linked to a reduced risk of developing the disease.
2. Regular exercise minimizes the risk of developing the disease by around 40 percent, compared with not exercising at all.
3. Lowering alcohol intake lowers your risk by 35 percent, compared with consuming five or more drinks per day on average; but moderate drinkers do not seem to have an increased risk of prostate cancer when compared with teetotalers (but both groups are still at lower risk than heavy drinkers).
4. Lower levels of omega-6 fats in our blood may reduce our chances of getting advanced forms of prostate cancer if we already have them; they also appear to slow down tumor growth in men without prostate cancer.
5. Higher levels of omega-3 fats in our blood appear to be associated with a reduced risk of developing advanced prostate cancer, and may lower the risk of being diagnosed with it by slowing down tumor growth. The effect is not as strong as that of low-fat diets, but eating more fish is better than eating none at all.
Prostate cancer prevention foods:
Whole grains like brown rice, whole-grain pieces of bread, and cereals, whole-wheat pasta, quinoa, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat contain phytonutrients that can help protect against prostate cancer.
Vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage (red), tomatoes (orange), spinach (dark green) cauliflower, eggplant (aubergine) onions, bell peppers of all kinds are also rich in these protective compounds. Organic carrots with their tops removed are an excellent source of carotenoids.
Fruits such as melons melon s have a high content of melatonin which is a natural anti-oxidant helping to protect the body’s cells from damage. Melatonin can cross the blood-brain barrier and it has been shown to help reduce neurological damage in Alzheimer’s patients.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa), green tea, garlic, onion, marine phytoplankton contain compounds that can inhibit the production of certain enzymes involved in cancer development like COX 2 .
Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oils are also known to suppress COX 2 enzyme. Seaweed (nori), spirulina, Chlorella algae, wild blueberries, and black raspberries are rich sources of polyphenols that inhibit the production of the COX 2 enzyme.
How to prevent prostate problems:
Garlic, onions, celery seeds, pomegranate are best for prostate problems.
The water-soluble fiber found in fruits and vegetables gets broken down during digestion into small chain fatty acids that help reduce inflammation.
Here are some foods which you should include in your diet for protection against prostate cancer:
Garlic is one of the best foods that help prevent prostate cancer. It also helps in inhibiting proliferation and angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation) associated with cancers like breast, lung, bladder, and colon. Spinach contains an enzyme aspirin lyase which neutralizes the carcinogenic compound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in tobacco smoke. Pomegranate juice protects against nuclear factor kappa-B or NF-κB which causes inflammation and leads to cancer.
Greek yogurt is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which helps to prevent the initiation of prostate cancer.
Cranberry juice contains proanthocyanidins that can inhibit enzymes needed for cell replication in tumors.
Tomatoes have two compounds-lycopene and tomatine, which protect against prostate cancer cells. Lycopene is a better antioxidant than beta carotene, vitamin E or vitamin C. Tomatine binds with DNA in tumor cells inhibiting their growth.
Flax seeds contain phytoestrogens that help reduce carcinogenic estrogen metabolites by adding good estrogen metabolites thus helping to prevent diseases like cancers.
Cantaloupe melons contain zeaxanthin which is used by the body to manufacture endogenous (naturally produced) antioxidant retinoic acid, which protects against prostate cancer.
Milk thistle contains silymarin that has been shown to prevent the development of liver tumors. It also helps in preventing or reversing damage caused due to chemical toxicity or other carcinogens. Fish oil reduces inflammation and lowers cholesterol levels thus helping in reducing the risk of heart disease and cancers like prostate cancer.
How to avoid prostate cancer:
Avoid smoking. Avoid drinking alcohol excessively. Eat foods rich in the antioxidant lycopene and selenium like tomatoes, carrots, red grapes, and watermelon. Exercise regularly for at least 30 minutes a day to burn calories and reduce body fat. Lose weight if you are obese as excess body fat increases the risk of cancer cells developing in your prostate gland.
Check with your doctor first about taking vitamin supplements as some vitamins can interfere with medications that you may be taking or some can worsen certain medical conditions that you may have.
Limit dairy intake as it contains high levels of hormones that cause imbalances between good and bad estrogen metabolites thus increasing the risk of prostate cancer. Take dietary advice from a health expert so they can recommend healthy food options for fighting off prostate cancer.
prostate cancer treatment:
Prostate cancer treatment depends on the stage of the disease.
Omega 3 fatty acids help in reducing prostate tumors by activating apoptosis (cell death) in tumor cells. Fish oil supplements are recommended for people with high risk or aggressive prostate cancers.
Omega 7 supplements can be used to prevent prostate cancer and also restore a healthy balance of hormones after radiation therapy, surgery or chemotherapy. Lycopene-rich foods like guava, watermelon, and papaya can be taken along with essential fatty acid-rich oils like flaxseed oil to prevent prostate cancer at early stages.
The Cancer Prevention Coalition says that 80 % of all cancers are diet-related which indicates that most cancers do not occur due to mutations but due to imbalances between androgens and estrogen metabolites thus causing the cells to divide at a rapid rate leading to cancer. The main cause of these imbalances is food being consumed by us.
The most effective way to prevent prostate cancer is by eating right for our body type, gender, age, and health condition. These factors determine how we should eat according to our body’s constitution which in turn determines how we digest food and assimilate its nutrients-if they can do so at all.
A cancer prevention diet would recommend different foods that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids like fish oil if you have an excess of testosterone (male hormones) as it helps reduce the level of testosterone within your body thus treating the root cause of prostate cancer. On the other hand, those who have excess estrogen metabolites should increase their intake of foods rich in omega 6 fatty acids like oil made from borage, flaxseed, or sunflower seeds.
Foods rich in antioxidants lycopene and selenium are good for people who have high levels of bad estrogen metabolites thus helping prevent prostate cancer at an early stage. Vitamin E is known to reduce the risk of cancers by preventing cell mutations. Similarly, Vitamin A is extremely beneficial in countering the development of tumors in body tissues when these are exposed to carcinogens.
Vitamin B complex helps create antibodies that fight against harmful toxins resulting from chemical exposure within our environment. It also boosts the immune system so it can fight off infections more effectively leading to reduced risks of developing cancer.
Vitamin C is known to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by preventing cell mutations at early stages. It also reduces symptoms of PMS in women thus reducing their chance of getting breast or ovarian cancer.
Foods containing Vitamin D are beneficial for fighting off infections that can later lead to the development of cancers within the body if they are not faced effectively. These foods include egg yolks, fish, liver, cod liver oil, oysters, and cheese.