DEALING WITH PROSTATE CANCER

June in the Southern Hemisphere is typically associated with wooly mittens and log burners, but this week, and right at the pinnacle of all pub talk, comes Men’s Health Week. So, while winter is definitely on its way, so too is talk of old mate prostate cancer.

All around the man caves and sports field sidelines of New Zealand and beyond, we are hopeful that men are encouraging each other to get checkups if they have any alterations to their urine flow or are getting up at night to pee.

Because just like winter, with its unpredictable and changeable weather, we can’t always tell how old mate prostate cancer will behave. Sometimes it’s aggressive, and other times it stays small and slow-growing. But what we do know is that it is very common in men as they get older.

In fact, many men in their eighties will even have traces of cancer in their prostates, and this incidence starts to increase in men as early as their fifties. Many older men will pass away never knowing they had prostate cancer at all. And sadly, in some situations, an aggressive cancer is picked up too late to treat effectively.

This week is also about encouraging the man in your life (and all you other blokes out there!) to take care of your bodies by eating right, exercising, and working to prevent disease, especially regarding the seriousness of regular routine checks to minimise the number of cases where it’s too late for old mate prostate.

But there is also hope for blokes when it comes to caring for old mate prostate. Whole food plant-based nutrition (WFPB) has been shown to cause regression of cancers which were borderline for operative treatment compared to those consuming a standard western diet whose cancers progressed.

Converting to a whole food plant-based diet is probably the most important health decision you’ll ever make regarding living a longer, more healthful life. This involves eating a wide variety of whole plant-based foods because it increases the amount of antioxidants in our body which protect against damage that causes cancer cells to grow. Eating animal foods has been scientifically proven to have adverse effects on the growth of cancer cells through compounds such as Insulin-like growth factor. Eating dairy definitely increases the risk of developing cancer in the prostate.

So, just to mansplain for a minute here, if you really want to take care of your old mate prostate or minimise the risk of developing prostate cancer or even maximise your recovery chances for those already living with prostate cancer, then you need to eat plenty of whole fruits and vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains. And if the idea of cutting meat and dairy from your diet and converting to a whole food plant-based diet doesn’t seem very manly, I encourage you to google Mike Tyson.

So guys, it’s quite simple – look after your prostate with whole food plants on your plate. We want you around to catch the blossoms come springtime for many years to come.