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I have not changed my diet at all. I eat red meat and dairy in moderation. I'd hate to loose all of the nutrients in that type of food. After all, we are carnivores with all of the teeth and digestive parts to eat meat.
I've tried to follow a healthier diet since my diagnosis but haven't gone to any extremes. My view is that the same diet will reduce the risk of some cancers, heart disease and diabetes. I've cut down on fat, increased fresh fruits and veggies, started drinking pomegranate juice, eating blueberries, etc
There is some evidence that specific diet changes can impact the progression of Prostate Cancer but there is a lot of evidence that diet changes can impact overall health.
I've lost 25 lbs since being diagnosed an 4 months after my surgery I feel better than I have in years.
Unlike the other men in your poll, I did change my diet and a lot. It is based on very low fat. No meat. No dairy. Lots of veggies, beans and rice. In some ways it is more severe than the Dr Dean Ornish, or Jane Plant. Does it work? Who knows.
I did loose 60 pounds and I am in better shape now than I have been for 20 years. I also exercize and take a mouthful of suplements.
Best wishes.
Go here:
http://www.yananow.net/Mentors/RonH.htm
Ron has a cure for cancer (this statement has not been verified by the FDA).
I have been given 2 to 3 years to live. We will see if I beat the odds.
President and founder of SOAR (Save Our Asses Rationally)
I have no medical training and I am not a doctor. I am a recent student (Dx 2007) of PCa who has Stage 4 PCa and is fighting for his life.
My advice is free so please take it for what it is worth.
I think that most of the men who have been diagnosed will not change the way they life or their diets. They might make some initial changes in the aftershock of the diagnosis, but they’ll inevitably revert to their comfortable eating habits (which is why corporations like Weightwatchers make so much money!!)
It would be difficult, from one point of view, to establish how many men have “done fine” by keeping to bad eating habits, not exercising, etc etc, because many of them will die from causes other than prostate cancer – with heart failure being the main cause of death. So, statistically, those men will feature less in the prostate cancer death roll, merely because you can’t die of PCa if you’ve passed on from something else.
There’s an old joke among some of us ‘old timers’ about one of our members who refused to stop smoking. When he was taken to task by some medical people at one of the PCa Conferences, he explained that he was trying to cure his PCa. Sadly he did, by dying of a brain aneurism.
The ironic thing about living a better, healthier life and eating better is that you actually increase your cahcnes of passing on from PCa by lessening the chances of other potentially fatal conditions.
What a quandary!! I personally have taken the middle path. I significantly reduced my intake of the foods that are generally regarded as unhealthy – like red meat and dairy products but have not given them up altogether.
Nettie,
I have found the same as you, my doctors never said anything about diet changes. Still, I made a big change starting right after diagnosis even though my diet had been reasonably good. I did this primarily based on my reading.
My thought is that diet has very different importance to different people. What I eat has never been a major part of my life enjoyment, in my own estimation. But others I know, even in my family, are very different. So a big change of diet could be much more difficult. It is a very individual decision.
My husband's diet has changed drastically... no red meat, limited dairy, and very low fat - all of which were supported by his urologist. However, because of the Lupron, he has gained fat and lost muscle.
I most definitely DID make radical changes to my diet within a month of diagnosis in April 2005.
There is no agreement amongst all of us PCa guys about diet, but in my own case I have to say - my outcome is looking so darn good I dare not change a thing.
I certainly don't know what exactly has produced such good results. Was it very accurate radiotherapy? Was it the optimum use of hormone therapy? Was it because I stuck with the Jane Plant diet? Or was it because I used a lucky combination of supplements too? Let's face it, maybe I needed every one of these.
I will never know for sure, but my guess is that somehow all these factors came together successfully.
Of course, now I am totally stuck with this regime - literally too afraid to change a single aspect of my lifestyle.
Oh well, it's much better than the alternative! :)
My history is on the mentors profile pages at:
http://www.yananow.net/Mentors/GeorgeH.htm
Go here:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2515569
Cancer prevention and cures with dietary and lifestyle changes.
In about 1999 or 2000 I started seeing a doctor who had switched from "conventional" medicine to both homeopathy and natural/herbal medicines. My aim was to maintain heart health primarily, but I also had voiding issues caused by an enlarged prostate.
He put me on a regime of no dairy, no red meat, lots of soya. I also took supplements like Beta-Sitosterol, saw palmetto, pygeum Africanum and a bunch of other highly expensive things imported from California, along with buckets of green tea.
This diet was so boring, that I felt that even if I did not live longer on it, it would sure as heck feel like I was living longer! However I stuck to it through thick and thin.
After 5 years, in November 2006, as a result of biopsies taken whilst I had a TURP, I discovered I had prostate cancer.
Now, I know the Chinese, it seems, don't get prostate cancer like we do, but they get other stuff like stomach cancer. As for the Japanese, I don't know what they get instead, but it surely will be something. The French of course eat, drink and smoke more than anyone but don't get heart attacks like those of us in Northern Europe.
So what I say is this. Whatever food and drink you live on, go by the old English maxim which is that a little of what you fancy does you good. "All things in moderation". Don't get obese and don't get skinny.
It's 5.30 pm here in Blighty and I am opening a nice bottle of Burgundy. Two glasses with my steak and stir fry tonight will suit me fine. Then I'm going to try and find something on telly that will make me laugh. Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares is usually a good bet.
Best be careful about that fruit juice now. According to the Daily Telegraph in the UK today: "Fruit Juices Cut the Potency of Heart and Cancer Medicines" Here is the link http://tinyurl.com/6jm8vx
Like I said yesterday, it's probably best to eat well but moderately, rather than try to second guess scientists and nutritionists about what, specifically,you should eat. They simply do not, and probably CANNOT, know. It is virtually impossible to study a large enough population over a long enough time to know specifically which food to eat.
My own research tells me that French red wine has all the anti-oxidants and reservatrol that a chap needs. Guess what, the University of Bordeaux, backs up my position. (They could be biased I suppose).
Before PC, I was very restricted on what I could eat. To have energy to exercise & get the best sleep, I can not eat: any form of sugar, any form of sugar substitutes, & MSG. We have been label readers for over 35 years. When you are dealing with sugar or sugar subs you take a very large amount of food(?) off your plate, including prepared drinks, most all fruits, wines, beer, licquors, etc. I do eat a lot of red meats, most dairy (no milk), all fats, & lots of veggies. Mostly drink only water. Will eat one or two fruits per month, but that night sleep is difficult .... so for me there are more important things to worry about than PC. I'm 6'1", weight 160 lbs. Have been 160 to 170 lbs since 1960 after Navy Boot Camp. My exercise program is a 2 to 3 day cycle, day 1 floor routine (weights, stretch, crunches), day 2 walk (2 to 4 miles), bike (4 to 7 miles)(off road if I can). Sometimes need day 3 to rest & stretch.
Nettie,
I changed my diet when I was 40 becaues my brother had prostate cancer at 42. I ate right and took 30 supplements a day for 6 years but developed prostate cancer at 46. It is all in the genes in my case. My Dad had prostate cancer at 56 and is 72 today he still smokes,drinks and eats what he wants and has a PSA of 0.01. God only knows if a diet is the answer but it can not hurt.
After all the usual conventional treatment following diagnosis in April 2005 I am coming up to one year of fighting cancer with diet and supplements alone.
But I have a confession to make which would have Jane Plant yelling furiously at me....I have been unable to quit the cigarettes.
I know it's crazy, I ensure that only the healthiest of food passes my lips, yet I pollute my body with all the harmful chemicals apparently contained in the cigs.
However, my PSA remains stable and all my health tests are good. Maybe I'm just lucky and will one day pay the price - so giving up smoking is certainly top of my 'to-do' list. One day I hope I'll succeed.
