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By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Medicine
Nothing
is more frightening to a man than being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The
good news is, when caught early, it's extremely curable. The bad news? If the
disease isn't found until it's in an advanced stage, it can be deadly.
Not
something most men want to hear.
But
there's a new study out offering men more than a little hope. According to the
study published in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, boosting your intake of zinc can
help lower your risk of dying from prostate cancer.1
Swedish
researchers teamed up with the folks at Harvard Medical School to evaluate what
525 men with prostate cancer ate. They not only looked at how much the men ate,
but also how much of the food contained healthy amounts of zinc. The
researchers then watched and waited. Over the next six years, they noted how
many men died of the disease and compared it with what they had been eating.
The
upshot? The men who ate lots of food rich in zinc were 36% less likely to die
of prostate cancer.
Since
zinc is involved in maintaining a healthy immune system and in repairing
damaged DNA, these results don't surprise me. But there's also some preliminary
evidence that zinc actually kills cancer cells, although it's too soon to tell
how effectively it does so.2 Your
prostate contains the largest amount of zinc of all the organs in the body. Yet
men with prostate cancer typically have lower than normal zinc levels. That's
one reason it's so important to take supplemental zinc. And the best time to
start is before you are diagnosed with prostate cancer.
You
see, several studies suggest that taking supplemental zinc while you're still
healthy may be able to prevent prostate cancer from taking hold in the first
place.
This
mineral also plays a role in preventing BPH. Some studies I've run across show
that zinc reduces prostate size along with many of the exasperating side
effects that go along with an enlarged prostate.
But
when it comes to zinc supplementation, a little goes a long way. While some
studies used large amounts of zinc, the recommended daily dose is just 15 mg—about
what you get in a good multivitamin. Just be aware that taking larger amounts
on a long-term basis can deplete copper. This is why I always advise taking 1
mg of copper for every 15 mg of zinc. And check with your doctor if you're
tempted to take more than 25 mg per day.
A
safer way to boost your intake is with foods that are high in zinc. Tasty
options include:
- Shellfish, especially oysters
- Beans
- Beef (and unlike conventional beef, grass-fed beef
won't trigger inflammation)
- Pork
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Whole Grains
Since
half of all men over age 60 experience BPH and 1 in 7 develop prostate cancer,
protecting your prostate should definitely be on your "to-do" list. Making sure
you get plenty of zinc is one easy way to start.
References:
-
Metabolic Syndrome. American Heart Association. www.americanheart.org
- Baiges I. Lipogenesis
is decreased by grape seed proanthocyanidins according to liver proteomics of
rats fed a high fat diet. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 2010;9:1499-1513.
- Sivaprakasapillai B. Effect of grape seed extract on blood pressure in
subjects with metabolic syndrome. Metabolism. 2009.58:1743-1746.
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