Healthy Diet for Prostate Cancer

A healthy and balanced diet is one of the best ways to live a long and healthy life. It is also one of the best ways to recover and/or prevent disease, including prostate cancer. A diet filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and that limits foods high in sugar, salt, and fat ensures that you are consuming the right balance of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. This results in increased energy and the ability to handle the everyday stresses that mentally and physically affect your body. Overall, it is suggested to mimic the diets of the Japanese and Southern Mediterraneans. Japanese enjoy a low calorie diet filled with green tea, soy, vegetables and fish. The Southern Mediterraneans fill their plates with fresh fruits and vegetables, garlic, red wine, olive oil, fish and very little red meat.

Trying to change your diet all at once can be overwhelming. Slowly integrating the items below will result in a diet filled with cancer fighting foods.

 

Foods to Regularly Consume

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables:

• Tomatoes - High in Lycopene

• Broccoli and Cauliflower - Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium, Folate, & Fiber

• Watermelon - Lycopene, Vitamin C, & Beta Carotene

• Pomegranate - Antioxidants

• Garlic - Best consumed raw

• Onions - Best consumed raw

• Shallots - Best consumed raw

• Scallions - Best consumed raw

• Leeks - Best consumed raw

• Chives - Best consumed raw

Lean Meats

• Beef - USDA Select Cuts and/or 90% Lean Cuts
  • Round Steaks and Roasts (eye round, top round, bottom round, or round tip) top loin, top sirloin, chuck shoulder, arm roast, ground round, and ground sirloin (90% lean).
• Pork - Lean Cuts - Firm and greyish-pink cuts with little marbling
  • Tenderloin, Center Loin, Pork Loin, Canadian Bacon, Sausage with 1 gram of fat per ounce or less.
• Lamb & Veal - Lean Cuts - USDA Choice Cuts
  • Chop or Roast
• Poultry - USDA Grade A - trimmed of fat without skin; up to 1 gram of fat per ounce.
  • Chicken, Turkey, and Cornish Hen with no skin (white meat is leaner than dark meat).

Fish - Cold Water Fish high in Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids

• Fish should be grilled (but not chard), poached, or baked. NOT FRIED.
  • Salmon
  • Sardines
  • Mackerel
  • Trout
  • Tuna

Beans, Legumes, & Soy - High in Isoflavones, Antioxidants & Fiber. **Good alternative to Red Meat.

• Kidney Beans                                         • Lentils

• Chickpeas                                               • Black Beans

• Black Eyed Peas                                    • Edamame

• Lima Beans                                             • Fava Beans

• Soy Beans

Plant Based Fats - High in Vitamin E & Antioxidants

• Olive Oil                                                  • Coconut Oil

• Avocado                                                 • Hemp Seeds

• Savi Seeds                                              • Chai Seeds

• Sunflower Seeds                                  • Walnuts

• Almonds                                                 • Brazil Nuts

• Cocoa Beans

Green Tea - High in antioxidants 

• Drink daily or consume Green Tea Extract

Foods to Consume in Moderation

• Calcium - Diets High in Calcium have been shown to stimulate prostate cancer growth.
• Salt
• Alcohol - Consume in moderation, no more than 2 drinks per day. Red wine is preferred source of alcohol as it contains antioxidants and resveratrol.
• Animal Fat - Excess Red Meat and High Fat Dairy stimulates prostate cancer growth.

Foods to AVOID

• Trans Fatty Acids - Margarines, Fried Foods, Baked Goods
• Excess Fat
• Excess Calories - Excess caloric intake can stimulate cancer growth
• Certain Oils - Flaxseed Oil, Corn Oil, Canola Oil, Soybean Oil

Photos Courtesy of: http://real-food-rocks.blogspot.com/2012/08/lifestyle-factors-and-heart-disease.html, http://crossfituncompromised.com/nutrition/, http://blogs.prideangel.com/post/2010/05/Pregnant-women-should-be-allowed-to-eat-more-fish.aspx, https://www.organicbuyersgroup.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=11