Diet & Exercise Tips For Prostate Health
What can I eat to reduce my risk of developing prostate cancer? This is one of the most common questions physicians hear from men concerned about prostate health. Undoubtedly, many hope that their doctor will rattle off a list of foods guaranteed to shield them from disease. Although some foods have been linked with reduced risk of prostate cancer, proof that they really work is lacking, at least for now.
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What The Research Says
A retrospective questionnaire-based study of 988 cancer patients and 1,063 controls found that vigorous physical activity and physical activity over the first 18 years of life decreased cancer risk.
There is also evidence that as well as reducing the risk of prostate cancer, exercise can improve the quality of life for men who have prostate cancer.
A study reviewed more than 1,400 men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. It found that men who walked briskly for at least three hours a week were 57% less likely to have their cancer progress.
What Are The Risk Factors Of Prostate Cancer
It is a disorder that affects thousands of men worldwide, mainly middle-aged and older. While the lifetime risk of developing this cancer is 16.7 percent and the risk of death from prostate cancer is 2.57 percent in the United States, the disease is much less common in Far Eastern countries that consume low-fat and plant-based foods and fish. After the spread of the American-style diet and lifestyle, prostate cancer has shown a severe increase worldwide.
Factors that can increase your risk of prostate cancer include:
- Advanced age:It is most common after the age of 50.
- Race:People with dark skin color are more likely to have a higher risk of prostate cancer than people of other races.
- Family history:The risk may be increased if a blood relative such as a parent, sibling, or child has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Also, there may be a higher risk of prostate cancer if a family history of genes increases breast cancer risk or a strong family history of breast cancer.
- Obesity:Males with more fatty tissue have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than males with less fatty tissue.
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Improving An Enlarged Prostate And Its Symptoms
There are some lifestyle changes men can make which will help to reduce symptoms of BPH. Losing weight, cutting back on caffeine and alcohol, exercising regularly, and limiting spicy foods can help to improve your symptoms.
In addition to lifestyle changes, your physician may decide to do active surveillance and carefully monitor your symptoms.
There are prescription medications for reducing symptoms, and if that is unsuccessful, your physician may recommend less invasive surgery.
Dont let an enlarged prostate become a serious medical condition. Contact Cleveland Urology Associates at , or request an appointment online, if you are experiencing any of the symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
Using Medication To Reduce Symptoms
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Vegetables And The Enlarged Prostate
There is some evidence to support the hypothesis that a diet poor in vegetables and pulses may have an unfavourable effect.
An American study has shown that men who regularly consume a high intake of vegetables have a reduced risk of BPH. Another study showed that eating four or more servings of vegetables daily reduced the risk of developing an enlarged prostate gland by 32%, and eating more fatty foods increased the risk.
This must be an encouragement to eat all the green, leafy vegetables, sweetcorn, kiwi fruit, grapes and yellow and orange-coloured vegetables such as peppers, to get the nutrients present.
Benefits Of Weight Training For Prostate Health
Youre not alone if you came out of the doctors office with the recommendation of doing some exercise.
Increasing physical activity levels is always positive in a society that is becoming more sedentary than ever.
Exercising has many benefits for cardiovascular health. But it also prevents different types of cancer and metabolic problems.
There are different types of exercise, and weight training is one of them. We also have aerobic exercise and many variants, such as high-intensity interval training.
This article will focus on weight training and how it helps patients with prostate ailments and healthy individuals.
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Does Turmeric Help Reduce Prostate Size
In conclusion, curcumin has been shown to significantly reduces prostate weight and volume. Curcumin treatment reduced expressions of VEGF TGF-ss1, TGF-ss1, and IGF1 among the growth factors found in the prostate tissue. The results suggested curcumin slowed the progression of BPH and could be an effective natural treatment.
Causes Of Erectile Dysfunction
ED can affect men at any age. However, the problem typically becomes more common as you grow older.
ED can be caused by an emotional or physical issue or a combination of the two. Physical causes of ED are more common in older men. For younger men, emotional issues are typically the cause of ED.
Several physical conditions can impede blood flow to the penis, so finding the precise cause may take some time and patience. ED may be caused by:
- injury or physical causes, such as spinal cord injury or scar tissue inside the penis
study found:
- Over 30 percent of the men who took part in the weight loss study regained normal sexual function.
- These men lost an average of 33 pounds over a 2-year span. In addition to weight loss, the men showed reduced oxidative and inflammatory markers.
The researchers didnt rely on any pharmaceutical or surgical options to achieve the weight loss. Instead, the men in the group ate 300 fewer calories each day and increased their weekly physical activity. The eat-less-move-more approach may be very beneficial for men who are looking for answers to ED and other physical problems.
As a bonus, men who lose weight may experience increased self-esteem and improved mental health. All in all, these are great things if youre looking to end your ED.
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Add Some Pomegranate To Your Diet
Whether you enjoy pomegranate juice, the tasty pulp and seeds, or prefer the supplement, be sure to include this fruit in your diet more often. Research at Johns Hopkins has shown that this phytonutrient-rich fruit can reduce the rate of PSA doubling in men who have prostate cancer. Overall, the doubling time increased from 11.9 months at baseline to 18.5 months after treatment with pomegranate extract. Since pomegranate is rich in sugar, taking a supplement may be better than having the fruit on a regular basis.
Common Symptoms For These People *:
* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.
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Ways To Lower Your Psa Levels
Men are usually told they should have their PSA level measured beginning between ages 40 and 50, depending on their ethnicity and family history.
Why is it recommended you have your PSA checked? An elevated PSA can be an early indication that something is not quite right with the prostate, such as the possibility of prostatitis, an enlarged prostate, or prostate cancer, while a lower PSA is a strong indication of good prostate health. However, an elevated PSA can be associated with other situations that dont directly involve prostate health, such as a reaction to medication, a urinary tract infection, recent catheterization or ejaculation, or inflammation of the prostate associated with a sports injury or age.
In any event, its best to get a PSA test so you and your doctor can decide whether any action is necessary. As a general course of action, you can help ensure a healthy prostate by following certain lifestyle guidelines.
Other Things You Can Do For Your Prostate
- Take zinc, which is excellent for the health of the prostate. Zinc is found in oysters, but you may not realistically want to add these to your regular menu, so check out pumpkin seeds, oats, peas, barley, almonds, buckwheat, brown rice, adzuki beans, eggs, apples and onions as alternative sources.
- Take Essential Fatty Acids , which may help reduce inflammation in the prostate. These are found in nuts and seeds, or you can take an Omega 3 supplement daily.
- Pumpkin seeds contain both zinc and EFAs and are therefore a good snack food to munch on.
- Being overweight increases the severity of symptoms, so whilst youre cutting down the alcohol and sugar and fatty junk foods, youll be pleased to notice fewer calories going in, which should have a beneficial knock-on effect on your weight.
- Regular exercise will help you to lose weight and can also reduce the severity of symptoms.
- Sexual abstinence and withdrawing without orgasm can apparently contribute to BPH and should be avoided now thats cheered you up!
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An Active Yet Noninvasive Therapy
âMany men on active surveillance are anxious about doing ânothingâ for their prostate cancer. This study has the potential to provide both patients and providers with an active yet noninvasive therapy that could benefit not only their prostate cancer, but also their overall health and quality of life,â Wright said.
âWe all have busy lives and priorities that make it difficult to stick to a diet and exercise regimen,â he said. âPart of our goal here is to prioritize a shift in lifestyle through a structured, supervised program that participants can sustain after the study concludes.â
This intervention, which is modeled on the National Institutes of Healthâs Diabetes Prevention Program, has a track record of success for participants keeping the weight off years later. âThe DPP has been shown to help participants â both men and women â lose up to 7 percent of their body weight after the six-month intervention and keep the weight off 10 years later,â Wright said. âThis is the first time, to our knowledge, that the intervention has been done solely in male cancer patients.â
Findings from this study, Wright said, will help researchers understand how obesity affects prostate cancer outcomes, and it could have âa profound impactâ on clinical practice by providing a lifestyle intervention as a therapy for men, like Asay, who opt for active surveillance.
How To Lose Weight And Lower Your Risk
If youâre carrying extra weight, you can lose it by cutting calories and exercising more. If youâre a healthy weight, you can stay healthy by eating well and exercising on most days.
To lose weight and lower your prostate cancer risk, try these tips.
Avoid sugar. Some doctors recommend staying away from simple sugars. Avoiding insulin spikes caused by sugar may help you lose weight.
Try cutting back on foods that have hidden sugars, like pasta, white bread, and white rice. When you snack, reach for a handful of nuts, a fruit, or vegetables instead of a piece of candy or sugary snack.
Follow a low-fat diet. Cutting back on fatty foods like meats, milk, and cheese may help you lose weight and lower your risk of problems.
When you cook, avoid adding extra fat. Opt for lean cuts of meat. Choose low-fat or reduced-fat dairy products instead of full-fat options.
Eat more fruits and vegetables. While it hasnât been proven that any specific nutrients prevent prostate cancer, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables gives you vitamins and nutrients that may reduce your risk.
Fruits and vegetables are also a good substitute for less healthy foods like high-fat dairy or meats. Filling your plate with more of them may help you lose weight.
Exercise. Being active is good for your overall health. Some studies also link exercise with lower prostate cancer risk. Try exercising for 30 minutes on most days.
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Can Fasting Shrink An Enlarged Prostate
Fasting. The word conjures up medical practice , religious penitence, and weight loss. It means limiting or abstaining from food for a specified period of time.
I am not writing about fasting for weight loss. Instead, I want to present some information about intermittent fasting, a type of fast that is getting attention for its overall health benefits.
Intermittent fasting, aka time-restricted feeding or intermittent energy restriction, is a practice in which you alternate times when you eat normally with extended time periods when you consume little or no food. Our prehistoric hunter-gatherer ancestors ate when food was available, and fasted intermittently when resources were scarce. Their bodies efficiently used nutrients and stored fat to tide them over. That pattern changed when crop cultivation and food storage methods were developed, but our species had hundreds of thousands of years to become hardwired to survive healthily in lean times. Similar to hibernating species, we still have efficient ways to convert internal resources to energy, using stored fat without sacrificing lean protein.
How Does Weight Loss Treatment For Prostatitis Work
Being overweight and storing excess body fat causes the body to release growth factors called adipokines. Some adipokines promote inflammation, which is important because chronic inflammation contributes to prostate disease and chronic prostatitis. Inflammation in the body causes you to lose protective antioxidants. Many CP/CPPS treatments aim at reducing inflammation.
Regular exercise helps fight inflammation and promotes maintaining a healthy weight. Following a weight-loss plan that incorporates both aerobic exercise and healthier dietary changes can be beneficial in relieving prostatitis symptoms. In fact, the Journal of Urology published a study that found that doing aerobic exercise reduced symptoms of nonbacterial prostatitis much better than doing stretching and motion exercises.
Aerobic exercise is cardiovascular exercise and can involve the following:
- cycling,
- using cardio machines at the gym, or
- taking aerobics classes.
Resistance exercises such as pushups, swimming, and lifting weights are not cardio, but they provide anti-inflammatory effects as well.
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Ignoring Your Symptoms Can Cause Complications
Many men find that their symptoms come on so gradually, they dont even notice them or they simply adapt to them. Many times others notice changes and will point them out. However you acknowledge you have the above symptoms, do not ignore them or they could become a serious medical condition.
With time and no treatment, BPH can obstruct the bladder from emptying completely which can lead to your bladder not functioning properly. A failed bladder may result in you not being able to urinate at all. This is a medical emergency and needs immediate treatment. Even if this is corrected, you might still need a catheter to urinate.
Another complication from untreated BPH is a backup of urine resulting in kidney problems. Once that occurs you may need dialysis or a transplant.
Reduce Or Avoid Foods That Harm The Prostate
You may be surprised at how many common foods irritate the prostate and can contribute to a rise in PSA levels and an enlarged prostate. Here are some of the foods and beverages that fall into this category:
- Foods that contain acrylamide, such as French fries and potato chips and doughnuts
- And these 8 worst foods for prostrate health.
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Losing Weight Is Good For You
Thereâs no proven way to prevent prostate cancer. But exercise, a healthy diet, and a healthy weight may improve your overall health and lower your chance of problems.
Some studies point to following a healthy diet thatâs low in fat and rich in fruits and vegetables as a way to lower your cancer risk. When you exercise, you lower inflammation, boost your immune system, and ward off health problems. That may also lower your risk of cancer.
An Introduction To Eating For A Healthy Prostate
An enlarged prostate diet is a key aspect of promoting prostate health naturally, as there appears to be a connection between the diets of different countries, and the extent to which people there suffer from prostate problems.
The highest rates of prostate disease are observed in Western countries such as the USA and United Kingdom, where typical diets are often high in saturated and trans fats, sugar, salt and simple carbohydrates like white bread. The lowest rates are seen in Asian countries such as Singapore, as diets here tend to include more fruit and veg, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates.
An enlarged prostate diet includes plenty of leafy green vegetables, seeds and nuts, and should exclude alcohol, caffeine and excess sugar. Read on to find out more about the foods you should and shouldnt eat for your enlarged prostate.
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