Most men suffering prostate disease can improve their health dramatically with improvements in diet and lifestyle.
Below are some of my notes on treating this disease.

I hope someone here finds them helpful.
You can get more free resources at www.undersizeme.com

Andrew Cavanagh




Prostate disease

Prostate disease is linked to the overproduction of the bad eicosanoid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).
PGE2 is a controlling hormone with many negative effects including increasing inflammation and pain.

Protein/carbohydrate balance in your diet is crucial to reduce the production of the bad eicosanoid PGE2.
See the basic diet guidelines in From Depression to glorious health (free download at www.geocities.com/glorioushealth
or the book Undersize Me
This is the most important guideline.

Best foods to eat:
Broccoli: which could slow down the growth of prostate cancer cells (contains a substance called DIM).
Tomatoes : high in lycopene shown to significantly reduce the chance of prostate disease.
Citrus: high in the bioflavinoid quercetin and pectin, both helpful.
Brazil nuts : high in selenium also shown to reduce the chance of prostate cancer.
Garlic: one clove a day could be helpful.
Curry powder: the circumin in curry powder and turmeric could inhibit the production of bad eicosanoids (inhibition of lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase).
Carrots (especially raw) or greens: beta carotene in these vegetables could reduce your risk of prostate cancer.

The flavinoid quercetin has shown significant benefit in several studies.
Quercetin inhibits the delta 5-lipoxygenase enzyme involved in the production of bad eicosanoids.
Remember that prostate disease is linked to overproduction of a bad eicosanoid called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2).
The main sources of quercetin are apples, onions and citrus fruit.
You could also obtain quercetin from decaffienated green tea.
If you wish to supplement you should find many vitamin C powders with bioflavinoids contain quercetin or you could take 2 to 4 250mg tablets of quercetin a day.
Looking at diet is probably the best option because onions and citrus have other beneficial effects.
The pectin in citrus could help reduce PSA levels.


Avoid vegetable oils.
Nearly all vegetable oils inhibit the production of good eicosanoids (by inhibiting the delta 6 desaturase enzyme.
Deep fried food is especially bad (see the free HealthEAudio HealthETip Would you like Fries with that at www.undersizme.com
Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is a better choice for oil.

Red meat is linked to prostate cancer
Limit your consumption of red meat and especially the fat of red meat that is cooked at high temperatures (eg barbequed). Red meat contains arachadonic acid, the major building block of bad eicosanoids.
It is actually the fat of red meat that is highest in arachadonic acid so sausages are really suspect.
Cooking animal fat at high temperatures causes the production of cancer causing agents called hetrocyclicamines.


Eat more fish
Eating fish could reduce your risk of prostate cancer especially fatty fish like sardines and salmon.


Fish oil
Fish oil is high in EPA the major bulding block of good eicosanoids.
At least four fish oil capsules a day is a suggested dose.
Eight times this dose may be necessary.
For higher doses, pharmaceutical grade fish oil is recommended.
Fish oil is probably the most important supplement with this disease.

Vitamin E
Take 500iu to 1000iu daily.
Vitamin E may reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Vitamin C with bioflavinoids.
Recommended 4 to 6 times a day preferably in water.
250mg to 1000mg each dose.

Selenium
Eat three or four brazil nuts every day and consider taking a selenium supplement.

Zinc
Supplementing with zinc in between meals on an empty stomach could be helpful.
Zinc can compete with copper for absorption hence the directions above.
Zinc gluconate (found in some strepsil cold relief lozenges) is usually the best absorbed form of zinc. 25mg a day is probably enough.
Pumpkin seeds are also high in zinc and make a tasty snack.

Smoking
Smoking can reduce the zinc content of prostate fluid so it could be worth considering giving up the cigarettes.

Fat wars protein powder or colostrum
A supplement containing colostrum could help.
Colostrum is high in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which could reduce the development of prostate cancer.
Fat wars protein powder contains colostrum and is the most highly absorbable form of protein I know of on the market.


Saw palmetto has been shown to be of mild benefit.
Beta sitosterol may also be helpful.


Water
Drink 8 to 16 glasses of water every day.
You may want to reduce the amount of water you drink closer to bedtime.
If you increase daily intake of water you frequency of urination will probably increase for a few days then your bladder will get used to the new intake and things will return to normal.

Exercise
Exercising daily can help.
Sit ups and pelvic floor exercises (where you squeeze your groin muscles together) are especially helpful.
Two pelvic floor exercises are described in From Depression to glorious health in the morning stretching routine.
Older men may need to build up to more vigorous forms of exercise by beginning with walking then building up to a slow jog over a period of months.


Hygiene
CAN good hygiene help prevent prostate cancer?
There could be a link between sexual hygiene and prostate cancer. Male black americans have one of the highest rates of prostate cancer and are twice as likely to die from the disease as white americans. Conversely, Japanese men have one of the lowest rates of prostate cancer and the highest standard of sexual hygiene. It is common practice in Japan to shower before and bathe after sexual intercourse. Several tribes of rural Africa have rituals like swimming before and after sexual intercourse and using special soaps. In those areas the incidence of prostate cancer is very low.
It may be prudent to bathe or shower before and after sexual intercourse. Also pay special attention to cleaning the hands and under the fingernails as the hands are used frequently in intimate contact.
Bathing in salt water once a week or so may also be helpful.
You usually add around a pound of salt to your bath.
You can buy ordinary pool salt from you local hardware store or pool supply store very cheaply (at Bunnings in Cairns pool salt is less than A$6-00 for a 20kg bag).
Consider using clean zone soap and doing daily or twice daily facial dips too.


Sleep
Adequate sleep is essential to reduce levels of the stres hormone cortisol.
Excess cortisol can lead to the overproduction of bad eicosanoids like PGE2 linked to prostate disease.
Getting 15 to 30 minutes of sunshine to help reset your body clock can help sleep and help produce vitamin D which has been shown in several studies to be helpful with prostate disorders.
Exposure to sunlight has been shown to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Melatonin
Studies in rats have suggested that melatonin the sleep hormone could help reduce swelling of the prostate by supressing testosterone dependent prostate growth.
Melatonin also acts as an antioxidant preserving the good fats necessary for the production of eicosanoids.
If your diet is good this should mean the production of more good eicosanoids.
3mg a night ½ hour before bed is usually the suggested dose.
A dose between 1mg to 6mg at night is the norm. Older people sometimes requiring a larger dose.

Emotional health
Anxiety and Depression are linked to prostate disease.
Since depression is also linked to the bad eicosanoid PGE2 this is not too surprising.
Following the basic diet and lifestyle instructions in From depression to glorious health (free download www.geocities.com/glorioushealth ) or Undersize Me is suggested.
Also learning EFT techniques (free info at the same site) to reduce the negative emotions which can be associated with this disease could also be helpful.

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