Prostate Health

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Prostate Health

 

NUTRITION AND THE PROSTATE

 

We will briefly consider three all too common problems

with the male prostate: infection, enlargement and

malignancy.

 

PROSTATITIS

Bacterial infection of the prostate may be acute or

chronic. A nonbacterial prostatitis is actually more

common. (Merck Manual, 14th ed., pp 1566-1567)

Saturation doses of vitamin C are at least as

effective as antibiotics in any of these conditions.

We know this through the work of Frederick R. Klenner,

M.D., Robert Cathcart, M.D. and other physicians who

have used very large doses of vitamin C to cure

infections for decades. Vitamin C is admittedly

nonspecific, but no more so than the pharmaceutical

antibiotics that are given for infection no matter

where in the body it may be. Vitamin C has the

advantages of being cheaper and considerably safer

than drugs. Saturation of vitamin C is indicated by

diarrhea, so one takes just less than the amount that

would produce loose bowels. It will be a lot,

measured in grams and not milligrams. The need for

vitamin C will diminish as the infection subsides. A

maintenance dose effectively helps to prevent a

recurrence.

 

If there were a mineral that could be as important for

the prostate as vitamin C is, it would be zinc.

Infection or other stress results in lower blood serum

zinc levels in general and lower prostate levels in

particular. In prostatitis, zinc levels are only

ONE-TENTH of those in a normal prostate. (Fair and

Heston,1977; Pfeiffer, 1978) One time-tested prostate

remedy is eating pumpkin seeds. It is no surprise

that pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc, as are

shellfish (especially oysters, which would account for

still more folklore) and nutritional yeast. A daily

zinc supplement totaling 50 to 100 milligrams is

frequently recommended in the natural healing

literature, and that amount cannot be faulted by

medical literature.

 

Since men lose zinc in every seminal emission, their

need for the mineral is higher than a woman's.

Research by Dr. Irving M. Bush and the Center for the

Study of Prostatic Diseases in Chicago employed 50 to

100 mg of zinc per day for as long as 4 months to as

little as only two weeks. There was prompt

improvement in 70 per cent of the cases.

 

Not bad for just a single mineral. (Taylor, D. S.

" Nutrients Can Remedy Prostate Problems, " Today's

Living, February 1990, pp 12-13)

 

BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERTROPHY OR HYPERPLASIA (BPH)

The Merck Manual has historically indicated surgery as

" definitive " therapy for this common condition.

Medication is now commonly prescribed first, one of

the more popular being finasteride ( " Proscar " )

manufactured, conveniently enough, by the Merck

company. Proscar is actually a somewhat dangerous

substitute for an herbal remedy, as at least half of

all pharmaceuticals are. The classic herb pirated in

this case is the saw palmetto berry.

 

Saw palmetto is a shrub that grows down south in

Georgia and Florida along the ocean. The leaves are

palm-like, and the stems are saw-toothed, hence the

name. According to The Herb Book by Dr. John Lust, a

teaspoon of the dark-colored berries is steeped in one

cup of water, and that is taken once or twice daily.

There are no side effects or contraindications listed.

This is in sharp contrast with the drug Proscar.

Proscar has many serious side effects, and they are

stated on the package insert, published in

advertisements for the drug, and listed in the

Physician's Desk Reference (PDR). The PDR is

available in any bookstore or library, and you will

find a copy at all drug counters. European studies

have confirmed that saw palmetto berries are a

statistically significant therapy for enlarged

prostate. They are clearly a safer treatment, and

cheaper as well. Even the American Medical

Association is beginning to support the use of saw

palmetto berry extract. About time!

 

Zinc is as helpful with enlarged prostates as it is

with inflamed ones, since zinc deficiency results in

prostate enlargement. Very few men obtain even the

low US RDA of 15 milligrams of zinc a day, and this

would explain a lot. Larger supplemental doses,

commonly between 50 and 100 mg daily, may help shrink

a swollen prostate. Toxicity

of zinc is very, very low and side effects of diarrhea

and anemia begin at about 500 mg daily, vastly more

than anyone would need to take. (Even at that level,

supplemental iron and copper alleviate the side

effects.) How effective is zinc therapy? Dr. Irving

Bush (mentioned previously) of the Chicago Medical

School and researchers from Cook County Hospital

studied over 5,000 patients and have confirmed that

zinc prevents prostate enlargement.

 

Vitamin C would almost certainly be of benefit to the

enlarged prostate. At the very least, infection would

be avoided and vitamin C's modest diuretic effect

would probably make urination easier.

 

PROSTATE CANCER

This is the one we're really worried about, and there

is much that can be done to prevent this number two

cancer killer of American men (Wall Street Journal,

April 22, 1992). Adequate zinc and abundant vitamin C

both help to strengthen the body's immune system and

prevent cancer. As mentioned above, optimum prostate

health requires these nutrients in particular.

 

There is no doubt whatsoever that diet has a major

role in allowing - or stopping - prostate cancer. A

Harvard University School of Public Health study

indicates that you are 250% more likely to suffer

advanced prostate cancer if you eat red meat every day

than if you eat red meat only once a week. The

message is clear and generally ignored: move your

diet in the direction of vegetarianism, and start

today (USA Weekend, December 3-5, 1993, p 14).

 

Prostate cancer is very slow growing. Because of

this, radical measures such as radiation or surgery

are often reasonably postponed. This " watchful

waiting, " to see if surgery is truly needed, is

advocated by more and more doctors. Obviously,

regular medical examination and follow-up is

important. Although there is question as to whether

it actually saves lives, the Prostatic Specific

Antigen (PSA) blood test is one way to monitor the

prostate's condition. The actual benefits of surgery

and radiation therapy are statistically quite small.

After ten years, only slightly more of the treated

patients are still alive than those that did nothing

at all ( " Prostate Cancer Cure Questioned, " The

Associated Press, January 27, 1994).

 

In the mean time, an especially good diet and

appropriately generous use of supplements may

positively influence the situation. It certainly

cannot hurt to have lots of raw salad foods, sprouts,

and fresh vegetable juices every day. Natural health

research has continually emphasized these measures to

help fight cancer. A particularly good example is the

work of Max Gerson, M.D. Dr. Gerson used a mostly raw

food and fresh vegetable juice diet for cancer

patients with remarkably good results. He also used

substantial quantities of vitamin supplements. His

entire program is set forth in a tremendously valuable

book he wrote called A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50

Cases (Gerson Institute, California). More recently,

eating a lot of lycopene-rich, fresh tomatoes has been

shown to radically reduce your prostate cancer risk.

 

Soy products appear to have a special benefit against

prostate cancer. Japanese men have especially low

death rates from prostate cancer, even thought they

get the disease as often as American men do. The

Japanese eat a lot of tofu, tempeh, miso, soy milk and

other soy foods. Even animals fed a lot of soybeans

have far less prostate cancer than others. There are

at least two specific substances in soybeans that seem

to help fight cancer: genistein and isoflavinoids.

These natural chemicals are especially effective

against the hormone-dependent cancers, which includes

prostate cancer. ( " Soybean Products May Lower

Prostate Cancer, " Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal,

January 12, 1994)

 

Good nutrition beats watchful waiting any day!

 

REFERENCES:

Balch and Balch, Prescription for Nutritional Healing,

Avery Publishing, Garden City Park, NY, 1990, pp

271-273

 

Fair, W. R. and Heston, W. " Prostate Inflammation

Linked to Zinc Shortage " Prevention 113: June, 1977

 

Gerson, Max A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases,

Gerson Institute, P.O. Box 430, Bonita, CA 91908

 

Lust, J. The Herb Book Bantam Books, 1979

 

Pfeiffer, C. Zinc and Other Micro-nutrients, Keats,

1978 pp 46-47

 

Taylor, D. S. " Nutrients Can Remedy Prostate

Problems, " Today's Living, February 1990, pp 12-13)

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.