|
Prostate disease, Soy and the Western/Eastern diet
22nd July 2007
As much as I love to share stories and jokes with you, I'm going to cut right to the chase today.
Because this is IMPORTANT...
You really need to read this amazing piece about how and why our western diet is causing the cases of prostate cancer to skyrocket.
It reveals why Asian countries don't have the same rates of prostate disease... and suggests that it could come down to one simple difference in our diet.
I've got kind permission to reproduce this chapter from Mark Greener's 'Prostate Problems' so you can read it for free. (Many thanks to the publisher.)
It's a great book, and one that ALL men should read... and that all women should think about getting for their husbands... especially if he's too stubborn to take some action regarding his own health.
So if you want to know more, please click here:
Prostate Problems by Mark Greener
Now, read on...
***********************************************************
DIET AND PROSTATE DISEASE, From Prostate Problems
by Mark Greener
Prostate Problems by Mark Greener
Your mother was right. You are, to an extent, what you eat. And that applies to prostate disease as much to your health in general.
For instance, diet plays a central role in many cancers, including those of the prostate gland. Indeed, some experts believe that eating a healthy diet - low in fat and high in fruit and vegetables - could prevent around a third of cancers worldwide. They base their conclusions, in part, on studies comparing cancer rates in countries with very different eating habits, such as Asia and the UK
Traditional Asian diets are lower in total saturated fat and higher if either of those typically eaten in Europe and North America. These dietary differences might contribute to lower rates of prostate breast: and some other cancers in Asian countries compare to the west.
For example, men living in North America are more than 50 times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those in China. Moreover, prostate cancer often remains at an early stage that does not cause symptoms in Asian countries, despite men's longer life expectancy. In the west, deaths from prostate cancer rise sharply with advancing age.
However, when men from the Far East migrate to the west, the risk of prostate cancer rises sharply. The likelihood of developing prostate cancer increases again amongst those who are born in the West to parents migrated from the east. Indeed, the risk among second-generation immigrants is a must as high as that among the native Caucasian population.
Changes in diet as well as exposure to other environmental factors seem to explain why the risk of prostate cancer rises.
Assessing the effect of diet on any disease is fraught with difficulties. Often, for instance, the studies rely on the volunteer's ability to remember their diet, but could you recall your diet in detail over the last month? If you ask people to keep a diary, however, they might change their habits to seem healthier.
It is also difficult to exclude other factors that might influence the risk of developing cancer. So, people who eat a healthy diet are usually healthier and fitter in other ways. Environmental factors, such as pollution, could also play a role. This means, inevitably, that the results of studies assessing the effect of diet on the risk of developing prostate cancer are mixed. Some show strong association, while others failed to find any link.
Nevertheless, considerable evidence now suggests that your diet influences your risk of dying from prostate cancer, although estimates of the extent of the association vary.
|
There are several reasons why eating a low fat, high fibre diet protects against prostate cancer. Firstly, for example, many carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) dissolve in fat. So, a high fat diet can increase the amount of carcinogens that you absorb from the environment.
Secondly, diet can produce dramatic hormonal effects. Prostate cancer, as we will see, is largely hormonally driven. The evidence that diet influences hormones is all around us. For example, Western diets contribute to the younger average age at which girls have their first period (menarche).
Diet also plays a role in a greater number of Western woman who become obese after the menopause and in Asia. Early menarche and postmenopausal obesity are both linked to increased oestrogen production.
In turn, high oestrogen levels increase breast cancer risk. As with prostate cancer, breast cancer is more common in women from Europe and North America than in those from less economically developed or Asian countries.
Thirdly, some chemicals in food commonly eaten in Asia seem to directly reduce the risk of the cancer will develop. In particular, soya beans are rich in two chemicals, called genistein and daidzein. These members of the isoflavanoid group seem to prevent cancer in animal experiments and in the test tube, possibly because the body mistakes and to oestrogen. Oestrogen counters the effects of testosterone.
This might offer one explanation as to why Soya seems to protect against prostate cancer.
Traditional Western diets are almost devoid of phyto-oestrogen is (the name for isoflavanoids that mimic oestrogen). Typically, a person eating a traditional Japanese diet consumes around 60 mg of isoflavanoid a day. This compares to less that 1mg in the average British diet. The large amount of isoflavanoid in the traditional Asian diet might contribute to the lower risk of prostate and other cancers.
However, although it seems plausible, doctors do not know whether eating a diet rich in Soya proteins will either prevent prostate cancer or slow its progression.
Good stuff...
Mark Greener's book is very detailed, balanced and informative on all aspects of prostate disease... from prevention, to complementary and conventional treatments.
If you are a man over 40, you should get this book and read it, cover to cover. It's vital that you know all the options available.
Click here now and find out more about how you can prevent and treat prostate problems:
Prostate Problems by Mark Greener
Yours, as ever
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
|
|
|
|
