May 4, 2020
Taking Charge of Your Prostate Health
A Common Issue for Many
Prostate inflammation is a pervasive problem for men over 60, but many young men suffer as well.
How do you know something is wrong? You would have one or more of the following symptoms:
- Frequent urge to empty your bladder
- Urgency to go in the middle of the night
- Weak urine stream
- Pain or burning during urination
- Blood in urine or semen
- Pain during orgasm
- Pain or stiffness in lower back, hips, pelvic or rectal area
It is important that you see a doctor to rule out serious problems such as cancer or bacterial and viral infections.
The Diet
The inflammation can be addressed with a whole-food plant-based diet that focuses on cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, arugula, kale, radishes, and brussel sprouts.
Avoiding animal protein completely if there is an ongoing inflammation is important. Vegans and vegetarians in general have lower C-reactive protein levels — the holy grail of inflammation markers — than their omnivore counterparts.
The diet includes whole, unprocessed plants such as potatoes, buckwheat, quinoa, legumes, turnip, fruits, nuts, seeds, leafy greens, and hardy vegetables of different varieties. The more colors, the better. Raw and boiled or steamed preparation is preferred. Unless there is a proven deficiency, the only supplements needed are B12 and broccoli seed extract, which contains a concentrated amount of anti-cancerous and antioxidant nutrition.
Do check your vitamin D levels. They must be over 25-OH to support prostate health.
“Serum 25-OH D levels are inversely associated with overall prostate volume and enlarged prostate gland (≥ 40 grams), especially in men with benign prostatic disease.”~ Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 20, 55–60 (2017).
Clinical Research
Diets rich in plants have long been clinically linked to reduced incidences of cancer. How about eliminating animal protein altogether?
Researchers at Loma Linda University in California did just that. Their findings revealed a 35 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk in men who followed a vegan diet. These results, they felt, were compelling and statistically significant.
Professor Gary Fraser, who led the study funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “This new research makes a significant step in linking a vegan diet to reduced prostate cancer risk.” (For the Independent, Gander 2016)
Additional epidemiological data points to reduced prostate cancer rates associated with grape seed oil intake, so next time you reach for a bottle of oil, make it grape seed.
Grape seed oil exhibits protective properties against prostate cancer, its proliferation and metastatic capability. A specific compound in grape seed oil called B2G2 actually induces prostate cancer cell death, researchers found.
Broccoli has also been found to be protective. According to an article published in the July 2, 2008 online issue of the journal PLoS ONE:
“Animal studies have long suggested that broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables help protect against prostate cancer. The new research suggests the same thing in humans, albeit indirectly…
Compared to men who ate peas four times a week, those who ate four weekly servings of broccoli for a year showed more changes in gene expression suggestive of increased protection against prostate cancer.”
Another study published in the International Journal of Cancer in 2011, also concludes that cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli) and others are associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer. That study was led by the Quadram Institute of Bioscience in Norwich, UK and by the Department of Urology and the Norwich University Hospitals with collaboration from Liggins Institute in New Zealand. The researchers stated:
“Consuming glucoraphanin-rich broccoli soup affected gene expression in the prostate of men on active surveillance, consistent with a reduction in the risk of cancer progression.”
Conclusion
Following a whole-food plant based diet plus B12, while using grape seed oil in food, and consuming four weekly servings of broccoli or supplementing with this broccoli seed extract may have significant protective and anti-inflammatory benefits for prostate health.
Resources
- https://www.webmd.com/men/prostate-enlargement-bph/features/enlarged-prostate-bph-complex-problem#1
- https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/vegan-diet-can-cut-risk-of-prostate-cancer-by-35-per-cent-a6909091.html
- https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/plant-protect-your-prostate
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30463302
- https://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20080701/broccoli-may-cut-prostate-cancer-risk#1
- https://doi.org/10.1038/pcan.2016.41
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002568
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30982861
Legal Disclaimer
The statements on these pages are not evaluated by the FDA and are for informational purposes only. Nothing on this page intends to treat, diagnose or prevent disease. If you suspect that you have a disease or a condition of any type, please see your primary care physician without delay. Consult your physician before taking supplements or changing your diet.
About the Author
Evelina Sodt, PhD is a nationally registered provider of health education services. She is a practitioner, a consultant, and the author of over a dozen books, including Healing Pain, Anxiety, and Inflammation Without Drugs: The Science Behind Natural Medicine. Dr. Ev practices virtually via remote consultations. She lives in Northern NJ with her husband, daughter, and a cat named Kingston.
