UPDATE - Issue 10 - January 2002
Healthy eating - What men can do to help themselves without calling on the doctor
Much that the medical profession can do for people with prostate problems seems to have negative as well as positive features. Surgery carries risks and for many is associated with adverse side effects. The same is true of radiotherapy. Drug and hormone treatments may work for a time but often fail to deal with the problem over the long term. Yet there is much that men can do to help themselves. And what might that be? Why, to eat the foods and take the minerals and trace elements which have beneficial effects on the prostate. And no side effects.
Selenium
Selenium is the essential trace element as far as the prostate is concerned. It is found in grains, nuts and oily fish. It enters the food chain through plants at variable rates dependent on selenium concentrations in the soil. In Great Britain this concentration is low, as it is in other parts of Northern Europe where glaciers washed it out of the topsoil in the last ice age. The average intake in this country is well below the recommended amount. A trial on over 1000 men has shown that the group taking a supplement of 200mg per day have developed one third fewer prostate cancers during the seven years since the trial started than in the placebo group. Selenium may also be effective in delaying the progress of the disease amongst those who already have it. A trial to test this theory has started amongst a group of 260 men. Meanwhile, there seems to be no downside to taking a modest amount of selenium as a supplement. A month's supply of selenium in tablet form costs about £3.50 and can be obtained from any high street chemist. Increasing the dose significantly may not be such a good idea as nail brittleness and neurological problems have been noticed when the dose is above 200 micrograms per day.
Vitamin E
Whilst vital to life, oxygen plays a part in the production of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are a natural product of the body's metabolism but more are produced as a result of pollution, smoking and certain foodstuffs. These are harmful to healthy cells in the body. They can damage a cell's DNA, causing cancerous cells to develop and spread through the body. Certain chemicals, known as antioxidants can break down free radicals. Amongst the best known and most effective are Vitamin E and Lycopene.
Vitamin E is a complex of eight fat-soluble chemicals. It is found in vegetable oils, nuts and leafy green vegetables. In a Finnish trial involving some 23,000 men over a five to eight year period it was shown that those taking a 50 International Units per day supplement were 32% less likely to develop prostate cancer and 41% less likely to die from it. In the US an even bigger trial involving many more men is just starting but, regrettably, its findings will not become available for another five years or more. Vitamin E can be found in jars in every chemist in the land. Why not get onto the band wagon?
Lycopene
Lycopene, one of the most powerful antioxidants is found in tomatoes.. Research has already indicated that those who frequently eat tomatoes and tomato products have a lower risk of certain cancers, particularly prostate cancer. Lycopene is even more effective when the tomatoes have been processed or cooked because heating with a little oil releases the lycopene which is found in the tomato skin and makes it easier for the body to absorb.
It is no big surprise, therefore, that Heinz is sponsoring a number of studies which focus on Lycopene's potential in the fight against cancers of the digestive tract, breast and prostate. A recent study has found that taking a tomato-extract supplement (such as Lycomato) significantly lowered the level prostate specific antigen (PSA) amongst patients with prostate cancer. Another study at Harvard Medical School claims that taking the supplement reduces the chance of developing cancer by 35%.
What other anti-oxidants are there? Vitamins A and C, both to be found in fresh fruit and vegetables are important sources of anti-oxidants as well as Vitamin E.
Cranberries
As early as the 1840s, German researchers were examining the connection between European cranberry species and urinary tract infections. At that time the theory was that the cranberry's acidity was what gave it its effectiveness. Today, researchers are focusing on a different action: cranberry's potential to keep bacteria from attaching to urinary tract walls.
Urinary tract infections are common in both men and women. Infections in men become more frequent amongst those who have enlarged prostate gland, a condition which may be the most common health problem in men older than 60 years.
Although these infections aren't considered life-threatening or even a significant health risk for most people, their financial and social toll is considerable. A 1994 Harvard University study involving 153 elderly women showed that regular consumption of cranberry juice cocktail can decrease the incidence of urinary tract infections.
If you enjoy the flavour of cranberry juice, one way to reap its benefits is to drink one or two glasses a day. Most cranberry juice or cocktails contain between 10 and 20 percent cranberry, and for some individuals such amounts are effective enough to prevent urinary tract infections.