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Men who eat a diet rich in vegetables may be lowering their risk of prostate cancer while those who eat a lot of full-fat dairy products may be doing just the opposite and increasing their prostate cancer risk, a new study says.
Researchers from various universities in Europe, including the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, studied nearly 2,800 men between the ages of 46 and 74. Half had prostate cancer and half were prostate cancer-free. All were asked about their dietary habits.
The scientists found that those men who ate the most fiber-rich foods had the lowest risk of prostate cancer, and vegetable fiber was the most protective. By contrast, the more milk and dairy products the men ate and drank, the greater their risk of developing prostate cancer.*
In their conclusions, the authors, lead by Cristina Bosetti, M.D., note that it is very likely that the fiber is not the sole protector. Other nutrients found in fiber-rich foods – or the generally healthier diet and lifestyle habits of fiber eaters – could well be at work. As a team, in short, “players” like fiber, nutrients, a physically active lifestyle, and a decreased intake of prostate cancer promoters like red meat probably create a very powerful “full court press” against prostate cancer cells.
That’s certainly what new research on the Pritikin Program found. In the past two years, UCLA scientists have published five studies showing that 11 days of daily exercise and the Pritikin Eating Plan, low in fat and high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, reduced prostate cancer cell growth by as much as 45%. In lab settings, the researchers documented that the Pritikin Program induced prostate cancer cells to die.
“You can make changes in a short period of time that have a dramatic impact on your health – in this case, on the growth and death of prostate cancer cells,” states R. James Barnard, professor of physiological science at UCLA and lead investigator of the studies.
* International Journal of Cancer, 2004; 110: 424.
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