Nutrition

A Healthy Lifestyle: Your Best Defense Against Cancer

The cause of prostate cancer is unknown. All men are at risk. Older age, a high-fat diet, inadequate fiber intake, obesity, smoking, elevated testosterone levels, and exposure to environmental chemicals are associated with this risk. African American men may have twice the risk for prostate cancer than other groups.

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”
Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, 337 BC

A diet to reduce your risk for cancer is similar to that for reducing risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and other diseases.

Tobacco use: avoid it
Alcohol: in moderation or not at all
Exercise, get fit and stay fit: 1 hr vigorous or 2 hr moderate activity each day
Avoid obesity and weight gain: if overweight, try losing 11 lbs, it could make a difference
You are what you eat (plant foods contain phytochemicals)

Fruits and Vegetables (6 servings daily):

Fruits: apricots, avocadoes, berries, cherries, currants, dates, figs, grapes, guava, jicama, kiwis, kumquats, lemons, limes, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges, papayas, passion fruit, peaches, persimmons, pineapples, plantains, plums, pomegranates, prunes, red grapefruit, star fruit, tangeloes, tangerines

Vegetables: asparagus, beans, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cucumbers, dandelion greens, endive, escarole, garlic, kale, kelp/seaweed, kohlrabi, leeks, mustard greens, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, peppers (green/orange/red/yellow), raddichio, radishes, romaine lettuce, sorrel, soy beans, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, tomatoes (contain lycopene, a carotenoid), turnip greens, watercress, zucchini

Whole Grains, Legumes, Nuts, and Seeds

Replace intake of fatty red meat and whole fat dairy products with low fat choices such as chicken, fish, nuts, and legumes (remember PORTION control)
Olive Oil: 2 ½ T daily
Tea: green and black
Vitamin E and Selenium: eat a healthy diet - consult with your MD before taking supplements

Recipe: cook kale or greens with ½ t cumin, ¼ t cayenne pepper. Add ¼ c raisins or dried cranberries and ¼ c chopped/sliced almonds, walnuts, or pecans at the end of cooking. Enjoy!

References

Eating to Beat Cancer. Special Supplement to the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter,
May 2007
American Cancer Society http://cancer.caring4health.com