More Helpful Info About Healthy Eating For The Prostate

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the US. In 2008, 185,000 men were diagnosed and 28,000 died from the disease. During their lifetime 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, but only 1 in 35 will die from the disease. Why? Prostate cancer is often slow to develop and even slower to progress. Any intervention that interferes with cancer cell growth or the division of cancer cells can have a profound effect on an individual’s prognosis.

Research is yet to determine why a man’s prostate enlarges in a benign manner with age. And, we have yet to define a test to tell the difference between prostate cancers that needs urgent treatment and those that are so slow growing they may never need treatment. Herein lies the dilemma, so prevention may be the key to keeping this cancer in check.

Studies are lacking on a conclusive link between diet and prostate cancer, but there is growing evidence that certain foods can either prevent or slow down the spread of this disease. Men in the US and Sweden are at higher risk, while men in Japan, India and China have a lower risk. When populations adapt a more western diet risk increases.

A new book Eating for Prostate Care (Kyle Books, 2009) shows how foods can be protective? Foods rich in antioxidants prevent cell damage, reducing the overall risk for cancer. Foods that reduce inflammation reduce the risk for cancer. Healthy foods improve the immune system allowing it to destroy cancer cells before they multiply to a dangerous level. Foods can also alter gene expression turning on those that are protective.

The authors list specific foods that are being studied for their potential to lower prostate cancer risk: allium vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, fish, and foods rich in lycopene, phytoestrogens and polyphenols. They take these scientific sounding terms and turn them into actual foods to eat and how much.

Vegetables belonging to the allium family are garlic, onions, scallions, shallots, leeks and chives. The book suggests that you try to eat 3 cloves of garlic and 3 (3 ounce) servings of allium-rich foods a week. This group of foods reduces the growth of cancer cells and increases the death of existing cancer cells. They also reduce inflammation which lowers the risk for cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Cooking will destroy some of this beneficial effect so adding a sliced raw onion to a sandwich or salad is a healthy choice.

Cruciferous vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, arugula, watercress, kale, radish, turnip, horseradish and wasabi – are rich in sulphur-containing compounds that have anti-cancer properties. Some of these compounds are destroyed in cooking and can be lost in cooking water. The authors suggest at least 3 servings a week.

In places in the world where fish consumption is high, prostate cancer rates are lower. Fish rich in omega-3 fats – mackerel, salmon, trout, herring, sardines, tuna and anchovies -- are the most protective in both reducing the risk and slowing the growth of prostate cancer. Two to 4 servings (3 to 4 ounces each) are recommended weekly.

Beans, nut and seeds are all high in phytoestrogens. Fava beans, peanuts, and soy have the most but all foods in this group are good sources. Testosterone causes prostate cancer cells to grow. Phytoestrogens suppress growth. The authors suggest 3 to 4 servings of beans, nuts or seed a week, in addition to 3 to 4 servings of soy foods. They also suggest substituting some of your regular milk with soy milk.

Plants rich in polyphenols have been shown to slow human cancer growth. Green tea, pomegranate and raspberries are the richest sources but all fruits and vegetables are good sources, especially when eaten regularly. The authors suggest 5 to 6 cups of green tea a day. Those undergoing treatment for prostate cancer need to check with their doctors as this amount of green tea may interfere with certain medications. If that is the case, most can safely drink 2 to 3 cups of green tea a day.

Lycopene gives the rich red color to fruits and vegetables, particularly tomatoes which are also an excellent source of folate (a B vitamin), vitamins A, C, E, and the mineral potassium. Cooking helps to release lycopene from plant tissues so that tomato sauce and all cooked tomato products, even ketchup, are rich sources. A high intake of lycopene (eating any red foods) lowers the risk of developing prostate cancer. Lycopene also reduces inflammation and LDL (bad) cholesterol. Interestingly, lycopene found in foods has stronger anti-cancer properties than lycopene supplements. The authors recommend eating 2 or more servings of lycopene-rich foods weekly. If you are currently undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment for prostate cancer, lycopene-rich foods are beneficial but supplements may interfere with drug action, so check with your doctor.

Bottom line: Eat more garlic, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, bok choy, wasabi, fish, beans, nuts, seeds, tomatoes, watermelon, and raspberries. And, drink more green tea and pomegranate juice. Eating these foods will improve your overall health and may lower your risk for prostate cancer.

Green Tea May Slow Prostate Cancer

ScienceDaily (June 22, 2009) —
According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression.

"The investigational agent used in the trial, Polyphenon E (provided by Polyphenon Pharma) may have the potential to lower the incidence and slow the progression of prostate cancer," said James A. Cardelli, Ph.D., professor and director of basic and translational research in the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport.

Green tea is the second most popular drink in the world, and some epidemiological studies have shown health benefits with green tea, including a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, according to Cardelli. However, some human trials have found contradictory results. The few trials conducted to date have evaluated the clinical efficacy of green tea consumption and few studies have evaluated the change in biomarkers, which might predict disease progression.

Cardelli and colleagues conducted this open-label, single-arm, phase II clinical trial to determine the effects of short-term supplementation with green tea's active compounds on serum biomarkers in patients with prostate cancer. The biomarkers include hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). HGF and VEGF are good prognostic indicators of metastatic disease.

The study included 26 men, aged 41 to 72 years, diagnosed with prostate cancer and scheduled for radical prostatectomy. Patients consumed four capsules containing Polyphenon E until the day before surgery — four capsules are equivalent to about 12 cups of normally brewed concentrated green tea, according to Cardelli. The time of study for 25 of the 26 patients ranged from 12 days to 73 days, with a median time of 34.5 days.

Findings showed a significant reduction in serum levels of HGF, VEGF and PSA after treatment, with some patients demonstrating reductions in levels of greater than 30 percent, according to the researchers.

Cardelli and colleagues found that other biomarkers were also positively affected. There were only a few reported side effects associated with this study, and liver function remained normal.

Results of a recent year-long clinical trial conduced by researchers in Italy demonstrated that consumption of green tea polyphenols reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer in men with high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN).

"These studies are just the beginning and a lot of work remains to be done, however, we think that the use of tea polyphenols alone or in combination with other compounds currently used for cancer therapy should be explored as an approach to prevent cancer progression and recurrence," Cardelli said.

William G. Nelson, V., M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology, urology and pharmacology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, believes the reduced serum biomarkers of prostate cancer may be attributable to some sort of benefit relating to green tea components.

"Unfortunately, this trial was not a randomized trial, which would have been needed to be more sure that the observed changes were truly attributable to the green tea components and not to some other lifestyle change (better diet, taking vitamins, etc.) men undertook in preparation for surgery," added Nelson, who is also a senior editor for Cancer Prevention Research. However, "this trial is provocative enough to consider a more substantial randomized trial."

In collaboration with Columbia University in New York City, the researchers are currently conducting a comparable trial among patients with breast cancer. They also plan to conduct further studies to identify the factors that could explain why some patients responded more dramatically to Polyphenon E than others. Cardelli suggested that additional controlled clinical trials should be done to see if combinations of different plant polyphenols were more effective than Polyphenon E alone.

"There is reasonably good evidence that many cancers are preventable, and our studies using plant-derived substances support the idea that plant compounds found in a healthy diet can play a role in preventing cancer development and progression," said Cardelli.