Food

+1 for the Prostate Care Cookbook, also available from Ebay, buy it now, new and 'pre-owned.'

Also 'Eat and Heal' by FC&A Medical Publishing, as above, good general book on healthy diet, with a section on PCa.

The recommendations are based on the low rates of PCa and breast cancer found in east Asia/China, as Jane Plant recognised.

Soy milk and soy based foods, green tea and their combination are shown in research to halt PCa cells.

Processed tomatoes, tom. paste, sun dried toms.

Cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, Brussels, rocket etc  

Allium vegetables, onions, spring onions, shallots, leek, chives, garlic (full of anti-oxidants).

Beans peas and lentils

Oily fish

Vitamins D and E and Selenium

Turmeric, Pomegranate juice, Watermelon

I've cut back on cheese and milk, I very rarely have red meat anyway. I've also significantly cut back on alcohol.  I didn't think eggs were in the cut back list.  I keep thinking that in theory I've no prostate cells so it's irrelevant but on the other hand I might have some cells and they might be bad ones.

I didn't understand the plastic bag part of Lyn's post.

Lately there are 2 new topics.  One is asparagine in asparagus having shown in mice that it helps breast cancer cells to metastise.  There was mention of prostate in the study as well.  Aspargine is in a lot of foods and the doctors say it's early days in the study and they're not suggesting anyone cut out asparagus.  Anyway we've just thrown some asparagus out although I had a load last week.

There is also Dr Longo's fasting diet which has a relationship to a theory by a lady called Dr Blackburn, who won a Nobel Prize for her work, who says fasting protects telomeres which protect the chromosomes from ageing and damage.  A journalist in the Times, called Jenni Russell, supports the 3 day fasting, 800 calories, she says it changed her life as she had an auto immune illness and had cancer.

In general moderation is my plan, I'm cutting nothing out completely.

I’ve made a few dietary changes but have generally always had a balanced diet. I’ve reduced red meat substantially and mainly cut out processed meat (surely some processes are good?) and I bought a juicer so that I can take a lot of veg that I wouldn’t otherwise eat but in juice form.

Yes - cling film and shrinkwrap being my worst nightmares. Organic apples presealed in plastic wrapping = misnomer :-(

Bill in Wales, You are a lucky man to have had effective treatment for your PCa through a Stampede trial. At least you don't claim that the dietary changes you advocate got your PSA to under 0.1!

I don't know why you intervened in this discussion with two points which fail to address the essential fact. Your first point is a piece from an American Lifestyle magazine with advertising by suppliers of food supplements. It reminded me of Readers Digest and I'd trust it in this debate about as much. I read the whole of the article you quoted and found the flow of logic strange to say the least, muddling as it did the whole debate about PSA testing with dietary questions. The second point is about preventing prostate cancer, not treating it once diagnosed. Neither is a piece of evidence that proves that dietary changes can treat prostate cancer. People are better off doing as you did, relying upon proven medication. When someone writes in a serious urological journal about a peer reviewed, properly conducted trial that proves snake oil helps treat prostate cancer, then I'll embrace the new truth.

One of the issues with a site such as this is that people turn to it for help when they are most worried and vulnerable. It is incumbent on us all not to mislead such folk and to give genuine and effective support in a serious forum.

I wish you well in your battle, successful so far, against this disease. For so many others, the battle is far from won.

AC