Healthy Tips for Reducing Your Risk of Prostate Cancer
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle goes a long way toward lowering prostate cancer risk. Believe that you can eat well, be active and feel good about yourself.
Although there may be no current cure for prostate cancer, research has indicated that men who modify certain aspects of their diet and lifestyle also lower their prostate cancer risk.
“Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is always a good start in avoiding serious illness,” says John Blanchard, prostate cancer survivor, and President and CEO of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. “Regular exercise combined with a low-fat diet, moderate alcohol consumption and no smoking are important components of a healthy lifestyle.”
Here are a few healthy and helpful tips for every man:
• Limit the amount of high-fat foods from animal sources and concentrate on a diet that includes vegetables, fruits and grains.
• Focus on three colours for your foods: red, green and white. Red fruits and vegetables contain a powerful antioxidant agent called lycopene. Cooked tomato products, including even ketchup, are rich in lycopene, as are watermelons and grapefruits. Greens – cabbage, broccoli, spinach and brussels sprouts – are rich in sulphoraphanes, which help detoxify ingested cancer-causing compounds and flush them out of your body. Whites – seeds, nuts, olive oils and whole grains – contain Vitamin E that has been shown to decrease risk of prostate cancer. Alliums – garlic, leeks and shallots – contain both selenium (a mineral that may help fight prostate cancer) and antioxidants.
• Include some form of enjoyable physical activity in your day, even if it’s only a daily walk. Exercise not only helps you physically, but it soothes the mind as well.
Don’t forget that family members are an important key in urging the men in their lives to care about their health and well-being! Let them know that it’s important to have a healthy diet, to exercise, to get a moderate amount of sun and to check in with their doctors during the year.
Learning about the risk factors for prostate cancer and determining where improvements in lifestyle can be made is critical. The first step is to complete a quick online assessment of risk using the Risk Assessment Tool developed by the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada, at www.prostatecancer.ca
The Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada is the leading national organization devoted solely to eliminating prostate cancer. Their mission is to raise funds for research into the prevention, treatment and cure of prostate cancer by engaging Canadians through awareness, education and advocacy. Prostate cancer is the number one cancer threat to Canadian men. It will afflict 1 in 7 men in their lifetime.
For more information on a healthy lifestyle, and to assess your risk online, please visit www.prostatecancer.ca
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