You don’t have to rely on good lucky to avoid prostate cancer. You can control the major risk factors – watching what you eat and getting enough exercise.

The majority of Dominican men, don’t realize the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having regular screening done for prostate cancer and testicular cancer.

You’re wise if you’re looking for way to protect you prostate. Prostate cancer is all too common in Dominica – the numbers are scary.

You may thing living a healthy lifestyle – eating nutritious meals, and staying active – will head off heart disease, but your chance of getting cancer are up to your genes and your lucky stars 🙂

But that’s not completely true. Exercising regularly really can reduce you risk of prostate cancer. So can burning those extra calories in your everyday activities, for example – walking to work in steady of riding the bus.

The numbers show that African Caribbean men are three time more likely to get prostate cancer, so if you’re staying active and eating right, you’re doing you prostate a favor and saving yourself a lot of pain, disability and heartache later.

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Photo Source:National Cancer Institute

Around the Caribbean, Prostate Cancer is one of the biggest killers among black men – if not the biggest. In Dominica there is a strong chance that 7 out off 10 men over the age of 65 will suffer from Prostate Cancer. For some unexplainable reason Prostate Cancer is more likely to develop in black men.

In this post I’m going to outline some different foods, if eaten in correct proportion can help protect your Prostate gland from swelling. You don’t have to rely on good luck to avoid prostate cancer. A lot of men around the Caribbean don’t realize that they’ve control of a major risk factor – what you eat.
Prostate cancer, like breast and colon cancers, is partly caused by eating too much fat and too little fiber. In fact a large portion of all cancer deaths each year are caused by poor dietary habits.
Here are some ideas on what you can do to control your chances of getting prostate cancer.

Remember this basic rule: Fat Promotes cancer; fiber protects against it.

Try Eating Only 15% of Your Daily Calories in Fat.

If you’re like most men, you’re maybe eating 37% of your diet in the form of fats. Some dietary fats are more dangerous that others. For example some of the most harmful fats are contained in meats, eggs, cheese, cream, hydrogenated vegetable oils, butter, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and many baked goods.

On the other hand, Poultry fat has not been linked to prostate cancer. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils seem to suppress tumor growth.

So how do you reduce the amount of fat you eat to 15% percent of your daily calories? Reading packaging labels and keeping track of the grams of fat you consume is a great place to start. The amount of fat you can eat depends on the daily calories you need to stay at a healthy weight.
Remember that one gram of fat contains about 9 calories. For example: 28 grams for a 1,700 calorie diet.

Be Sure That Your Diet is Rich in Fiber

Enjoy whole-grain breads and at least five servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. Some examples of high-fiber vegetables are: broccoli, cabbage, and legumes such as dried beans, lentils, peas and lima beans. Eat fresh vegetables raw, steamed or microwaved. Boiling vegetables tends to leach away half of the beneficial nutrients. For maximum benefit, leave the skins on fresh fruits.

If you’re Overweight, Eat Less

Obese men have a larger percentage of deaths with cancer than men at their normal weights.
Add Soy Products to Your Diet

Soy products are a rich source of chemical agents that suppress tumor growth. For example Tufo, is a soy product available in many local supermarkets. It can be scrambled like eggs or used in many stir-fry recipes. You can also use soft tofu in salad dressings, dips and milkshakes. But because of the unpleasant taste of soy milk, you can always make a half and half mixture of soy milk and regular milk for your breakfast cereal, cream soups and sauces.

Include in Your Diet, Foods That Contain the Antioxidant Vitamins, A, B, C and Beta-Carotene.

Antioxidants can be harmful if they are taken as some type of mega-supplement. Good sources of vitamin A are deep-green and yellow vegetables and fruits, broccoli, squash, apricots, peaches and cantaloupe.

Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C, including oranges, grapefruit, berries and watermelons. Whole-grain cereals and dark-green vegetables contain vitamin E, as do nuts, vegetable oil and margarine.

Get Out in the Sun

Researchers are saying that sunlight help your body produce vitamin D and Vitamin D seem to slow prostate tumor growth. Studies show that men with prostate cancer often have low levels vitamin D in their bodies.

There is strong chance that this studies don’t pertain to men in the Caribbean- because if is one thing very Caribbean man has in his body is vitamin D. 😆

Finally Change you Habits Slowly, Over Time.

Remember to read package labels carefully and become aware of what you are eating. Get tested early, you don’t have to lucky to avoid prostate cancer-but you must make healthful eating a part of your everyday life.

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Health Matters

Fear shot through my body like a jolt of electricity when heard the news that my granddad had Prostate Cancer. On an estimated one in four black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime and, surprisingly, that rate is much higher than sisters’ one-in-ten risk of getting breast cancer. For Black men, the chance of developing prostate cancer are about 33 percent greater than for white men, and they’re twice as likely to die of it. Black males have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world.

Prostate Cancer has reached almost epidemic proportions, and people don’t even know it, maybe if the death rate were two times higher in white men, you’d see a lot more action. But because the disease targets our community in high numbers, black men and women must take action to learn about the condition, detect it early and get the best treatment possible.A `Silent` Sickness

Cancer of the prostate begins as a silent, stealthy intruder that can fester and grow for years without yielding a telltale clue. Our prostate is a walnut size gland that lies just below the bladder and surrounds the urethra, tube that carriers urine. Cancer usually starts on the outer part of the prostate: a tumor has to grow fairly large before it begins to press on the urethra and cause urination problems. According to the American Cancer Society, signs may include weak or interrupted urine flow; inability to urinate or difficulty starting or stopping the urine; frequent urination, especially at night; blood in the urine; pain or burning while urinating; and persistent pain in the lower back, pelvis or upper thighs. Experts don’t know what causes prostate cancer but in some cases the condition may be hereditary.

Sex, Stigma and Saving Lives

Whatever the cause of the disease, early diagnosis of a prostrate malignancy saves lives. If the condition is caught before the cancer spreads, the five-year-survival rate is 90 percent. Yet, too often our lovers, husband, fathers and brothers wait too long before they agree to see a doctor and even then they put up a fight. That concern, coupled with distrust of white physicians and refusal to submit to the indignities of a prostate examination (a doctor must glide his or her finger into the man’s rectum to feel the prostrate), can set the stage for prostate cancer to flourish. But because Black men tend to develop the condition at younger age, they should undergo annual prostate exams beginning at age 40. The two standard tests for prostate cancer are the digital rectal exams, known as the DRE and the prostate specific antigen or PSA test.

Survival and Side Effects

Depend on the stage of disease, symptoms and a man’s age upon diagnosis. Immediate treatment may not be necessary. Prostate cancers tend to grow slowly and “watchful waiting�? is sometimes the best approach. However, when treatment is called for options typically include surgery, radiation and hormone therapy.

Preserving Prostate Health

In addition to our learning about early detection and treatment, we’ve to education ourselves about the value of preventive health maintenance and to lower our risk of prostate Cancer.

• Exercise routinely – Physical activity reduces testosterone, which will lower your risk of prostrate cancer.
• Cut of fat – A high fat diet is thought to increase the risk the disease.
• Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables per day- These foods contain carotenes,which protect against cancer.
• Consider supplements- Beta-carotene and selenium supplements have been shown to reduce prostate cancer.

To learn more, turn to these organizations: American Foundation for Urologic Disease, Inc (AFUD) and the American Cancer Society.

Source: Essence Magazine (Nov 1997)

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