Can Your Diet Help Your Prostate?
Posted by Owen Jones in Uncategorized, tags: cancer, disease, elderly care, family, fitness, food, health, illness, medicine, men's issues, other, prostate cancer, therapy, Uncategorized, unclassifiedMany, if not most, men over the age of fifty or so worry about the prospect of their prostrate causing them issues in the near future. The fact is that numerous men will have problems with their prostate and the number is quite high.
For most men, this will mean little more than frequent visits to the bathroom, where urination will be sparse. Nocturnal visits to the bathroom are also common. Some men may find themselves in the upsetting situation of ‘dripping’, which involves a wet patch on the trousers.
These are fairly dreary prospects, but there is a lot worse that can occur. It all has to do with the prostate which encircles the tube from the bladder to the penis. It swells from the inside not the outside and so it ‘bites’ on the urethra restricting the flow of urine.
This produces the feeling of having a full bladder but not being able to evacuate it fully. This in turn can lead to urinary tract infections (UTI’s) and produce issues for the kidneys which may become life-threatening.
Some people think that a diet containing certain foodstuffs in quantity can defer or even prevent serious concerns with the prostate gland. Here are two of the most important ones:
Lycopene: is a robust antioxidant which is accountable for the red colouring in numerous foods such as carrots, red grapefruit, watermelons, papayas and tomatoes (but not cherries or strawberries). It is a carotene that exists in many red-orange natural foodstuffs.
Lycopene is deposited in the adrenal glands, the liver and the testes, which appears to cause it to be particularly useful against prostate cancer. Research continues and there is not enough proof to convince the world’s Western health authorities yet, but it is recognized as a non-dangerous food dye in the USA, Europe and Australia.
Lycopene is normally best eaten raw, but with one notable exception - tomatoes. The chemical is more readily absorbed from cooked tomatoes. Hence the advice to consume unsweetened tomato sauce.
Lycopene is not merely beneficial for men as it will help in glandular, heart and liver concerns as well. It is worth keeping an eye on the development of this research vigilantly and adding red fruits to your diet anyway.
Quercetin: is a flavonoid discovered in fruits, vegetables, leaves, grains, and both green and black tea. It is particularly present in (red) onions, red grapes, raspberries, lingonberries, cranberries and tomatoes. (Nota bene all the red fruits).
Studies have shown that naturally grown or wild fruits have far more quercetin than the ‘intensively farmed’ varieties. 70% more in with regard to tomatoes. Comparable percentage increases, between 50% and 100%, were found for most wild fruits.
Quercetin has anti inflammatory characteristics and some research has indicated that it might help reduce the risk of cancer, but as yet, no leading health authorities have been persuaded that it is functional at preventing or curing cancer. Another one to watch though.
It is not at all a problem to add some of these foods into your diet. Scientists have been telling us for decades to consume more fresh fruit and vegetables, simply make certain you add a few more red ones and drink tea rather than coffee.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with the proton prostate cancer treatment. If you want to know more go to What is the Treatment for Prostate Cancer?
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