It turns out - what you eat affects your prostate. Diet and exercise are vital to help ward off prostate cancer and the ill effects of an enlarged prostate.
Lose Weight Carrying around too many extra pounds? Make it priority to lose weight. The most consistent finding is that body size influences your prostate cancer risk, says June Chan, ScD, associate professor of epidemiology, biostatistics, and urology at the University of California San Francisco. Men who are overweight or obese have a greater risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer and of dying from the disease.
When men overeat they increase their risk of getting prostate cancer.
Eat Less Meat and Dairy Guys who eat a lot of meat (especially red meat), drink lots of milk, or gobble dairy-based foods tend to have a higher risk of prostate cancer, Platz says. Beef, processed meat (e.g., bacon, hotdogs, and deli meat), poultry with the skin, and full-fat dairy appear to be the prostate's biggest foes, Chan adds.
That goes not just for cancer, but for an enlarged prostate as well. "Men who eat red meat are three times more likely to have an enlarged prostate, and those who eat dairy are twice as likely to develop an enlarged prostate," says men's nutrition expert Jim White, RD.
Eat More Veggies To keep your prostate happy, bulk up on vegetables. Eating three or more servings of veggies a day can cut your risk of prostate cancer in half. The cruciferous kind (e.g., broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts) may have an especially potent effect -- especially if you eat three or more servings a week, which can lower your prostate cancer risk by an extra 41%. Some studies suggest that lycopene, a chemical found mainly in tomatoes, can also slow prostate cancer growth.
What's good for your prostate is most often what's good for your overall health. Instead of looking for one or two magic ingredients, focus on what your plate looks like day in and day out. "Aim for a Mediterranean-type diet with more whole grains and vegetables, minimal intake of sugar and sweets, and less protein from meat," Chan says. If you enjoy eating meat try wild, Pacific salmon or skinless poultry.
Avoid prostate problems - get some exercise every day and enjoy a healthy diet rich in vegetables!
