Health & Fitness
Help Prevent an Enlarged Prostate with Food!
An enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH for short), is the most common health problem among males over the age of 50.
Dr. Stephen Sinatra is a cardiologist that has a number of recommendations about what to eat for different conditions and diseases. One of these conditions is an enlarged prostate.
An enlarged prostate is medically called benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH for short. BPH is the most common health problem among males over the age of 50. By the time men get in their seventies and eighties, at least 90% are afflicted.
It is good to know that you can help support a healthy prostate through the foods you choose to eat.
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One problem that arises is that an enlarged prostate can put too much pressure on the urethra, which is the tube that drains urine from the bladder. The pressure often disrupts muscle function that regulates urine flow. The result: more frequent bathroom visits including during the night, difficulty to start and maintain a good stream. Incomplete evacuation of the bladder is also common.
Even more serious than BPH is prostate cancer, which accounts for at least 29,000 deaths each year. Although no connection between BPH and prostate cancer has been found, both can present similar symptoms. An additional indicator of cancer may be blood in your semen or pain during urination/ejaculation. Be sure to see a doctor immediately if these symptoms occur.
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Dr. Sinatra’s book The Healing Kitchen, focuses on the diet changes that can help to prevent enlarged prostate issues and even guard help to against cancer.
Dr. Sinatra’s Tips:
1. The best protection against prostate disease is to adopt what Dr. Sinatra calls the Pan-Asian Mediterranean Diet (PAM Diet). By combining documented anti-cancer and disease-fighting elements in both the Asian and Mediterranean diets, you maximum the dietary firepower of your body. This is a high-fiber, vegetable-rich strategy that limits fats and alcohol and definitely reduces the risk of BPH.
2. Aim for at least ten servings of high quality, prostate protective fruits and vegetables daily to reduce risk of BPH.
3. Tomatoes are terrific, especially when cooked! Cooking tomatoes increases their concentration of lycopene, an antioxidant that neutralizes the cell damage caused by free radicals. Eat tomatoes in as many ways as you can, including juice, sauce and paste. Add a bit of healthy fat, such as from extra-virgin olive oil, that makes lycopene better absorbed.
4. Eat a diet rich in selenium, an immune boosting trace mineral with powerful antioxidant ability. Selenium helps your body to fight early cancer cells. Foods like fish and shellfish are great sources of selenium, along with whole grains and oats. For fish, Dr. Sinatra recommends wild salmon, mackerel, and herring.
5. The allium family of vegetables, including stars like onions, garlic, scallions and chives defend against prostate tumors by targeting the compounds that initiate tumor growth.
6. Load up on legumes to reduce your risk of prostate cancer. Research consistently shows that eating more legumes like kidney beans, split peas and lentils, just to name a few, significantly reduces the risk.
7. Raise your level of omega-3 fatty acids by adding fish to your diet. These healthy, anti-inflammatory fats have been found to curb the growth of prostate cancer cells.
8. Cruciferous vegetables are anti-cancer powerhouses, rich in antioxidant and sulfur content. Eating them three or more times a week may lower your prostate cancer risk by a whopping 40% over individuals who eat them once or less. This category of vegetables includes broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, Brussels sprouts and collards.
9. Ditch the added sugar as well as refined carbs like white bread, chips, crackers and pastas. These foods flood the body with sugar. In excess they cause spikes and drops in your blood sugar level, causing fatigue and inflammation. Cancer cells actually use sugar for fuel, which means you can help starve them by just not eating junk!
10. Don’t exceed a drink or two of alcohol a day. Too much alcohol depletes your body of critical minerals such as zinc that helps keep your prostate healthy.
11. Lower your risk of prostate cancer by reducing dietary fat, processed meat and red meat.
Dr. Sinatra also recommends soy for men with BPH. I do agree that organic, or non-GMO fermented soy, such as natto, is good for BPH. But it is my opinion that any other soy should be avoided for everyone, since soy mimics estrogen.