Does anyone have any information on how nutrition affects BPH. I started a plant based diet about ten days ago. I am not doing so specifically for BPH but for overall health and to loose weight. I have read that a plant based diet slows the rate of prostate cancer so perhaps it has some benefit to BPH as well.
I think there is a theory that anything that raises estrogen levels in men is responsible for prostate growth, but don't know much about it. With that in mind you might want to be careful of soy products.
Hi...all I know from an intelligent well meaning guy who was told from an mpMRI and digital discovery of a lump that he would not have long to live from aggressive prostate cancer (but without biopsy proof) decided to try intravenous vitamin c and ditch all carbohydrates and sugar and anything cow and ate 7 walnuts/day and pomegranite and 1 tea spoon tumeric with 1/4 teaspoon black pepper dissolved in coconut oil(dissolved increases uptake) along with heaps of greens for 3 months first before a biopsy and chose to have the suspicious area only biopsied with 2 needles came back as no cancer infact came back as white corpuscles which was the hoped for result based on the vitamin c suffocating the cancer cells and the white corpuscels doing a clean up job, he has unhypocritacly religiously kept to this diet and vitamin c and feels on top of the world for the last 21/2 years since the mpMRI.He now uses vitamin c sachets which is much cheaper but uses 8 sachets a day 3 days a week after gradually increasing it to that amount, remember though that he did not have biopsy proof of aggressive prostate cancer.ps prevoius to this diet he felt like garbage ang foggy thinking and difficult toilet issues but after 2 months things got much better and after 3 months felt like a new man and still does.
Here is a link to web md that says soy is good for prostate. Don't know but worth a look. Right now I am not using soy but am using Flax seed and Flax seed milk. I may try some soy products eventually. I see a lot of similarities between Cardio vascular disease treatment and BPH treatment. Lots of surgical approaches but not much in the way of prevention and dietary remedies. From all that I have been reading, even with surgical intervention for BPH, the prostate probably will keep growing and need another procedure. I am not against having a procedure and I may have one in the near future but I sure don't want to go through it multiple times. Here is the link on Soy:
http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/news/20040924/soy-improves-prostate-cancer-outlook#1
BTW, it has been proven that a plant based diet can reverse plaque buildup in the arteries. I have a friend who can testify to this. I have also read that a plant based diet can improve ED condition. Hey, Tom Brady eats a plant based diet and it has not hindered him playing football. BTW - NOT a Brady fan.
I am very interested in your post enquiring whether nutrition might positively affect BPH.
Six years ago I was suffering from urge incontinence during the day and severe nocturia during the night - waking three times at the very least.
While suffering a bout of constipation, I woke for my 2:00 AM pee and found myself with total urinary retention. I was catheterised on two separate occasions during the following nineteen hours and was in extreme discomfort.
I saw my usual GP on the Monday morning who gave me a DRE and a PSA blood test. Prostate was estimated at 40 grms but nothing unusual detected.
I received a phone call three days later informing me that my PSA was 30 ng/mg and that I had been referred to a urologist to investigate possible prostate cancer. The urologist was not at all perplexed and suggested that my high PSA was the result of a UTI, the DRE and the trauma caused by two catheterisations.
I was started on Finasteride and Doxazosin and my PSA plummeted... but so unfortunately did my sex life.
I tolerated Finasteride for six months and then dumped it for 5 mg daily Tadalafil. Symptoms of my BPH decreased considerably and I was leading a comparatively normal life again.
It was difficult to understand why others were not being similarly helped by this combination until I realised that the improvement really accelerated when I started a Ketogenic Diet (low carbohydrate, high fat).
If you do some diligent online research you will find powerful peer-reviewed literature describing the positive effects of depriving cancer cells (and even benign prostate cells) of glucose. I will leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions but for me the evidence is compelling.
Just a few words of caution. Tadafil is contraindicated with Doxazosin (an alpha-blocker) as it might cause hypotension in those with normal blood pressure. Fortunately it works for me.
Thanks for info, could be I saw something about Soy and Estrogen and it was not accurate. I don't eat much meat in general, didn't really help me - I don't think anyone knows for sure what causes prostate to grow, except it seems to be hereditary.
My PSA is generally about the same over the years except for between 2009 and 2010 when it doubled. I looked back into my notes and discovered that in 2009, I had many free all-you-can-eat buffets from a local casino. When I had a buffet, I consumed lots of cheese pastries and yogurt parfaits. It must be the dairy + sugar + carb.
Hank
How much doxazosin are you taking with 5mg Cialis ? I was taking Finasteride with 4mg doxazosin. Three days ago I just replaced doxazosin with 5mg Cialis. So far, 5mg Cialis is not as effective as 4mg doxazosin. I will give the trial a week. Hank
From what I've read, high estrogen level increases risk of BPH as well as prostate cancer. Among top foods high in estrogen are beans, including soybean. Hank
The same used to be said for breast cancer. It has been debunked. See the link below:
http://www.webmd.com/breast-cancer/features/soy-effects-on-breast-cancer#1
Paul
Eat a healthy serving of broccoli every day. Broccoli sprouts have the highest concentration of sulforaphane, which is one of the most prostate-friendly foods you can eat. There are other members of the brassica family that can potentially help you, such as cauliflower and cabbage. These are super foods in their own right, so you won't just be helping your prostate but, to use your words, your "overall health" as well. You may also want to avoid all dairy, caffeine, and excess alcohol. Hope this helps.
That is a cogent post, jackal. I especially liked what you said regarding a relationship between glucose and cancer. It's true. Robert Lustig, MD has a compelling video on Youtube called "Sugar: the Bitter Truth," in which he invokes John Yudkin's Pure, White and Deadly, written 45 years ago. It's truly worth watching. And now, I'd like to juxtapose two of your sentences: "While suffering a bout of constipation" and "a Ketogenic Diet (low carbohydrate, high fat)." Hope you're paying attention to the kinds of fat. Moreover, if that fat is inextricably linked to protein, which most are, then something called the mammalian (a.k.a. mechanistic)Target Of Rapamycin (mTOR) can easily be overstimulated, thereby causing the oversecretion of IGF-1 - something we don't want. Translation - ease up on the protein by easing up on the meat. One of the biggest myths on the planet is that Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) is caused by overconsumption of carbohydrates. Type 2s are insulin resistant, not because of carbohydrates, but because - and this is an oversimplification - lipoproteins (especially the low density variety) make it difficult for blood glucose to be shuttled into cells where it is sorely needed. The cruel irony is someone who suffers from morbid obesity, yet is malnourished because of insulin resistance. T. Colin Campbell in his seminal work The China Study, looked at people from every walk of life in China. Some of those provinces had inhabitants who had never tasted meat in their lifetime. Results: Cancer was an extremely rare disease for them. We fear Kwashiorkor if we don't get enough animal flesh protein, yet the protein in animal flesh pales in comparison to the protein found in vegetables. Finally, when we ingest meat, we're also ingesting xenoestrogens. Not good, not good, NOT GOOD, especially for the prostate. Just my two cents.
Yes, I am currently on a plant based eating plan. I read the book "Eat to Live" and was very impressed with the logic and reason. For example, calorie per calorie, broccoli contains more protein than steak. Just one of the amazing facts. Once or twice a week I eat salmon or halibut or cod. I eat a very large salad for lunch with romain lettuce and many other vegetables and some beans. I also eat three servings of fruit per day. In just two weeks time, I have dropped a lot of weight, never hungry AND I seldom get up during the night to urinate any more. This eating style may not be for everyone and it may take some time to get off the animal fats and dairy but so far it is working for me and I think I can eat this way the rest of my life. I personally know of some people who have been able to get off their blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds and there pre diabetes restults show it has gone away. Surely with all these changes, the prostate benefits also.
Two of the major factors are race and family history.
Genetics is the major player, although poor health, eating habits, lack of exercise can compound the problem.
When males enter their 40's / early 50's, hormone fluctuations can be the source of many medical problems (including prostate issues).
If genetics is potentially working against you, then you have to be extra strict with a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy lifestyle is a constant "work in progress".
Just to add ► Searching for the highest incidence of prostate cancer was a list describing a French island, with predominately black males. It had the highest rate of prostate cancer, to the point it separated itself further then gradual margins from other countries.
Searching again led me to a article that seemed to explain the reasoning: The fruit on the island (grown? / eaten?), was being treated with a pesticide that seemed to be the cause of the large prostate cancer rate.
Agent Orange has also been linked to increased cancer risk and is on the list of disability for Vietnam Veterans.
Well said. I agree completely. I had a follow up appointment just this morning following my Cystoscopic Laser Lithotripsy and Stone Extraction (Cystolithalopaxy). I told the Urologist I started a plant based diet several weeks ago and I feel a lot better. He said that was well and good but the diet would not help my prostate or keep stones from coming back. He then went on to say that no one really knows for sure what causes the stones or even prostate cancer. Well, DUH, if no on really knows then no one really knows if diet influences both of those conditions. Sorry, Doc, can't have it both ways. I have a follow up in 6 months to check to see if stones have returned. If so, he is in favor of TURP. I told him I have been investigating other procedures and he became real defensive and said the other procedures are all a way to make money from equipment manufactures, studies etc etc. He said non of them have reached the gold standard of the TURP. I am going to continue researching the alternatives to TURP and keep eating my plant based diet. I had with me a CD with my MRI that was ordered by Inova Hospital last week as a precursor to a possible PAE procedure. He did not want to look at it and did not even want to have it put in the system. Strange for a person in the medical science field and practice to purposely refuse data. My experience with Johns Hopkins was the same.
Hi Alan THANKS! what you and others are saying all matches up with what I too have been hearing, this webb site is really great at helping us all to avoid sickness, loss of income, and even a horrible death, thanks to all who contribute their research and experiences.
Hi Vigneron...I am not surprised at the weak reaction you received from your turp urologist, my experience with them is disappointing to say the least and after studying turp If I were you I would be determined to find a safer option .
Thank you Alan for your considered and very helpful response to my meanderings.
I have not read Pure, White and Deadly but I will stick it on my reading list and watch Lustig's YouTube. I will also bone up on Xenoestrogens.
Regarding T. Colin Campbell's work, this is not without controversy and the China Project Myth (Minger D, 2012) amongst others, discusses the inherent selection bias and misrepresented data in supporting his various assertions.
Nevertheless, I believe that you and he are quite correct regarding the in-advisability of excessive meat ingestion. Unfortunately, in attempting to follow a true ketogenic diet I have frequently loaded up on meat when it's difficult to get fat from non-protein sources (think restaurant eating). Life ain't easy!
However, in suggesting a possible relationship between my improved BPH symptoms and LCHF I was hoping that fellow sufferers might be sufficiently predisposed to give it a shot. The only downside is that they might shed a few pounds in the process.
Jack