Diet may influence prostate cancer risk. Learn how processed
or red meat may increase the risk and how lycopene-rich tomatoes may be a
prostate cancer fighter.
Prostate cancer’s biggest dietary land mine is simply too
much food, says Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical
activity for the American Cancer Society. “Aggressive prostate cancer appears
to be associated with being overweight, so watching your calories is important
from a prostate cancer perspective,” says Doyle.
According to the American Cancer Society, obese men (those
with a BMI above 30) may be at greater risk for having more advanced prostate
cancer and of dying from prostate cancer. A man with a BMI of 27.5 to 30 has a
17 percent greater chance of advanced prostate cancer than a man with a BMI of
less than 25. The finding is adjusted for a man’s age at the time of diagnosis
and comes from analyzing the experiences of almost 70,000 men.
Prostate Cancer Risk and Diet: Foods That May Lower Risk
Particular foods can affect a man’s risk of prostate cancer.
“The thing you always hear about with prostate cancer are tomatoes,
tomato-based products, and lycopene,” says Doyle. Lycopene, a chemical that
imparts a pinkish-red hue to tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit, is
credited with lowering the risk not only for prostate cancer, but also a host
of other cancers. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not found
any evidence of prostate-cancer-fighting ability in lycopene itself, it did
acknowledge that tomatoes might reduce prostate cancer risk.
“Yes, the jury is out whether the benefit is due to
lycopene,” Doyle says, “but whether it’s lycopene or not, tomatoes and
tomato-based products are packed with antioxidants and phytochemicals that are
probably protective against cancer risk.”
To extract the maximum cancer-fighting benefit from
tomatoes, cook them before eating, advises Shayna Komar, RD, LD, a dietitian
with Cancer Wellness at Piedmont in Atlanta, Ga. Heating or crushing the fruit
releases the lycopene inside the cells of the tomato.
And what about taking vitamin E or selenium supplements?
Despite a large study, there is no proof that men who take vitamin E, selenium
(or both) daily have a lower risk of prostate cancer, says Doyle.
Prostate Cancer Risk
and Diet: Foods That May Increase Risk
Some foods are dietary villains in the fight against
prostate cancer. Processed and red meat — beef, lamb, and pork, for instances —
moderately boost prostate cancer risk. “We don’t have a specific amount of red
or processed meat per week not to exceed. For now, our recommendation is to cut
back,” Doyle says.
Calcium has many healthy qualities, but it has been implicated
in prostate cancer risk. “It looks like really high levels of calcium,
especially if guys are taking calcium supplements, seem to be associated with
increased risk of prostate cancer,” Doyle says. “Our recommendation is, ‘Get
your calcium through food.’ That’s probably the safest bet — whatever your age
is, follow that recommendation for your calcium intake.”
To further reduce one’s risk of prostate cancer, it’s always
a good idea to turn to general cancer prevention guidelines: at least five
fruits or vegetables daily, no more than two glasses of alcohol per day, and at
least 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity five days a week.
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