Is a healthy prostate on your list of 2014 objectives?
Maybe not, but it could be a nice side result of one or more of your top New Year’s resolutions. Healthy eating is much more than a weight loss strategy, and your urologist Des Moines has found that his patients may have finally made the connection between mouth and body.
Now, a group of researchers are taking the idea of using food as disease prevention one step further. The Men’s Eating and Living Study (MEAL) is exploring how increasing fruit and vegetable consumption might actually play a key role in the battle against prostate cancer.
Participation in the MEAL Study is open to men ages 50-80 who have had a prostate cancer analysis within the past two years. The qualification is that participants must not be involved in active prostate cancer treatment such as robotic prostate surgery, radiation or hormone therapy. This could prove to be counterproductive as participants are under active monitoring of their prostate cancer.
Your urologist Des Moines says that while we’re far from counting on fruits and vegetables to eliminate prostate cancer, there is great value in grasping how these foods can help to fight the disease. Disease prevention and disease treatment are intricately united.
While the MEAL study focuses on fruits, vegetables and nutrition counseling, the list of prostate cancer-fighting foods may be huge. Previous studies have explored various foods and ingredients (such as green tea, fish, broccoli and cabbage) that seem to be a factor in preventing and managing cancer cells.
According to some studies, lycopene – that is found in tomatoes and other red foods – may reduce prostate cancer risk by up to 80 percent. And consumption of four cups of coffee each day could reduce prostate cancer progression or reappearance by almost 60 percent.
Diet is so easily controlled and the concept of modifying what we eat to control the progression of disease for even one day, supplement treatment to optimize recovery is very powerful.
As a prostate cancer expert, your urologist Des Moines favors more conclusive and confirmed treatment options such as robotic prostate surgery. He also encourages men of all ages, regardless of status of their disease, to maintain a healthy weight. Excess belly fat and metabolic syndrome are known contributors to prostate cancer and are very controllable risk factors.
If you are interested in more information concerning prostate cancer and steps to take to fight it, contact our office today to schedule an appointment. We’ll put your mind at ease.