Diet and natural living for Prostate cancer ? - I want to stay off the hormone Roller Coaster!

Hello Allen,

I am following a similar diet and with several of the same supplements. I have lost 30 lbs since June. I recently had my PSA tested but do not have the results yet. I am, however, on a second round of lupron. I have noticed that the hot flashes have not been as frequent nor intense as the first round. I attribute this to the exercises I do and perhaps partly to the diet. I developed metabolic syndrome the last time and have been battling my blood glucose ever since. Got it down to an average of 115 but need to go lower. Hoping the diet and supplements will help. Keep us posted on your results.

Best of luck to you.
Don

Depends on what one considers "strict". I eat meat, fresh lean cuts beef, chicken, pork. No more than three to five ounces per meal. Fresh, frozen and canned vegetables. I try to stay with low glycemic types. No potato, no rice (except brown but no more than half a cup), no pasta. no bread. I try to avoid processed foods such as cold cuts. Sometimes, though I just have to have a salami slice. Sugar free on sweets or sugar substitues. Cut down on fruit and try to stay with fresh. No canned fruit. No seafood but that is just because I dislike the taste of any of it. Modest amount of cheese. No other dairy. No chips or sodas (diet or sugared). Water and unsweet tea are my primary beverages but do drink sugar free lemonade now and then. I measure my food now instead of just piling it on. Believe it or not this seems to be the key to not over doing it.

Most of my diet is aimed at getting control of by blood glucose again. Was running over 150 and I gained 22 lbs the second year of my lupron therapy. The fatigue kept me from exercising as much and as hard as I typically do. I was just getting back into the exercise after a 19 month holiday when my PSA began to rise again and so I have started a second round of lupron. I am, so far, staying ahead of it right now. Waiting to see if my PSA test from last week shows improvements over the May measurement.

Supplements in addition to those you describe include chromium, cinnamon, vitamin C, and green tea extract. No lycopene but could be a good addition.

Non smoker, glass of wine once in a while. Like once a month or less. Exercise daily with weights and aerobic activity. Love riding my bike but that will soon have to be put up for the winter. Too cold in Idaho to bike ride in the winter.

As for whether or not any of this is good for PCa.... who knows? It has sure has dropped my blood sugar though. I suppose good nutrition is probably good for one's health in general. But sometimes I wonder if it is good for a normal cell in the body why would it not be good for a cancer cell too? Am I boosting the cancer right along with the good guys? Something to ponder.

Sometimes I feel like I have given up so much that I am existing vs. living. Sex, wine, cheese, pasta, bread, pizza, rice.... Begining to be a bleak exisitence!

Don

 

Hi Allen, I follow a modified mediterranean diet pretty strictly and take most of the suppliments that you take. In addition, I take soy isoflavones. I eat no red meat, but eat white meat chicken/turkey (skinless) or fish daily. I have very few meatless days. I try to add soy to my diet. I avoid suger and sugery drinks. I avoid cheese and any dairy products, including butter. I only oil that I use is olive oil, which I don't limit. I focus my carbs on whole grains, but I must say that I have a weakness for potatos. I do drink alcohol.

I know men who have been successful with diet, but it is impossible to measure.

Allen - check out this article on the impact of pritikin diet on prostate cancer cells. This is "in vitro" not "in vivo" so it may not prove to work, but at least it's a starting point.


http://www.annieappleseedproject.org/pritdietkilp.html

also, Dean Ornish published a study on the effects of the ornish diet on prostate cancer. This was done with "watchful waiting" patients, half of whom were randomly assigned to the diet (and other changes), and half were not, and the ones on the ornish program showed significantly slower progression. This is a well-executed study.

You might also want to buy and read Snuffy Meyers' book because he is a huge supporter of promoting diet and HT in combination.

Both pritikin and ornish might be hard diets for many to put up with over the long term, but the do seem to help.

I would add that bringing PSA down might not be a realistic goal, but slowing its growth rate might be realistic and that, after all, would be enough.

Post Edited (proscapt) : 9/29/2011 12:09:48 AM (GMT-6)

Here is blurb from MSN health about anti cancer foods.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cancer/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100233884

Don

Allen,  Here is a good summary of the literature on food and PC by an oncological nutritionist at UCSF:   

www.cancer.ucsf.edu/_docs/crc/nutrition_prostate.pdf. 

  

I think Proscapt originally posted this link in an older thread some time ago.  It is a lenghty article but has a lot of information with footnotes and soucres.  Hope it helps and good luck with your plan.

 

Carlos

On supplements, from my medical team (Dr. Son-in-law, Urologist, Oncologist) they all say its best to get the whatever from natural sources and not from supplements.

Taken from - Nutrition & Prostate Cancer -

Other studies have also observed lycopene supplementation to have no effect on PSA in men with prostate cancer
Lycopene from fruits and vegetables significantly reduced the risk of prostate cancer in a recent case-control study
As with most nutrients and non-nutrients, it is best to obtain lycopene from foods. Supplements appear to be capable of interfering with normal nutrition by promoting oxidative damage, which increases cancer risk

Note that patients may be advised to NOT consume high dose antioxidant* supplements during chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Antioxidant* consumption via food sources and a basic
multivitamin are very safe.

• If supplementing with vitamin D, it is wise to test serum vitamin D. Although unlikely, excessive doses of vitamin D can be toxic and cause high blood levels of calcium.

Soy supplements or isoflavone extracts are not recommended.

FDA recalled PC-SPES supplements in February 2002 because it was found to contain undeclared prescription drug ingredients

In the same document it has this information
Summary – Healthy Diet for Prostate Cancer
• Eat 8-10 colorful fruit and vegetable servings (4-5 cups) daily
➤ 2-3 pieces of fruit
➤ 1 cup or more of vegetables with lunch and dinner
➤ 12 fl oz tomato-based juice
• Consume 30-45 grams of fiber daily
➤ You will likely meet your fiber goal if you eat 8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables plus one serving beans/legumes or at least two servings of whole grains.
• Avoid processed and refined grains/flours/sugars
➤ Keep WHITE off your plate - bread, pasta, rice, cereal, cream sauces, cakes, and more.
• Limit or eliminate meats and dairy
• Include healthy fats daily like cold-water fish (i.e. sablefish, salmon, trout, herring, sardines),
flaxseed, walnuts, soybeans, avocados, and olive oil
• Consume dietary lycopene (30 mg) regularly
➤ ¾ cup tomato sauce, 12 fl oz tomato juice, 6 ½ tbsp tomato paste.
• Vitamin E (50-200 IU)
➤ Natural vitamin E supplement that contains gamma-tocopherol
• Maintain serum 25-OH vitamin D above 40 ng/mL
• Drink 1-4 cups green tea daily
• Drink plenty of fluids, water or non-caffeinated beverages, daily to help meet fluid needs
• Engage in daily physical activity to help achieve and/or maintain a healthy body weight

Practice Precaution
• Always discuss changes in diet and supplement use with your physician.
Words Of Wisdom
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”
- Hippocrates


From --Nutrition, Exercise and Prostate Cancer--

Thus, the benefits to the red group are
likely due to more than just lycopene, and simply
taking a lycopene supplement will not confer the
same benefit as eating whole fruits and vegetables.
Again, this is a simple reminder that there are no
shortcuts to a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Dietary supplements are just that — a supplement
to a healthy diet, not a replacement for one. Taking
megadoses of any vitamin is never a good idea. The
body’s own protective mechanisms have ensured
that it’s nearly impossible to get to toxic levels
when ingesting vitamins and minerals from eating
fruits and vegetables.

Bud