Patriot Health Digest
One prominent medical researcher educating men about the relation between dairy and prostate cancer, and the overwhelming amount of research that reveals dairy is dangerous and that eating more plant-based foods could lower your prostate cancer risk.
Dr. Shireen Kassam, Ph.D., director of Plant-Based Health Professionals in the UK, wants men to know there is a relation between dairy and prostate cancer, according to new studies. Dr. Kassam helped create the first University-based course about plant-based nutrition in his country.
What should you know about dairy and prostate cancer?
A new review on prostate cancer and drinking milk found that: “Most of the studies … were suggestive of a connection between drinking milk and increased risk of having prostate cancer.” Also, research reveals that dairy drinking following a prostate cancer diagnosis might increase the risk of death.
“There is a consistent link between drinking dairy and a risk of prostate cancer,” she says. “For example, a total analysis of 32 studies released in 2015 found that for each 400 grams of dairy, there was a 7% greater risk of having prostate cancer, and this risk was applied to both cheese and milk,” she says. Another analysis from 2019 investigated the connection between cancer risk and plant based foods, and found that drinking dairy had the greatest link to prostate cancer, whereas plant-based foods actually lowered the risk of getting prostate cancer.
How a plant-based diet can support prostate health
Eating more foods that are plant-based has been proven to protect your prostate health. “Several studies reveal that consumption of lycopene, the antioxidant in vegetables and fruits that gives them a red color, is connected with a lower rate of prostate cancer,” says Dr. Kassam. “Tomatos in particular, could have a protective effect, although the link is strongest for cooked tomatoes rather than raw tomatoes.”
Dr. Kassam also says cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, cabbage and Brussel sprouts are some of the best vegetables for cancer prevention. “As one example, a study revealed men with prostate cancer who consumed the most cruciferous veggies had a 50 percent less chance of cancer progressing when compared to men who consumed the least,” she reports. “A newer study showed how a compound in cruciferous vegetables could activate genes that are connected to suppressing the growth of prostate cancer cells.”
In general, a plant-based diet can lower your risk of getting prostate cancer and lower your the chances of dying from prostate cancer.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
