Foods to eat for a healthy prostate

Tess May 6th, 2008

The cells around the prostate gland are likely to start multiplying after men cross the age of thirty. An enlarged prostate, sort of, strangulates the urethra that creates problem during the urination process.The extent to which this affects your overall prostate health depends entirely upon you!

Changes in your diet can help in restricting the enlargemnt to a great degre. The prostate is actually controlled by hormones. In the prostate cells, the male hormone, testosterone is changed into a more powerful hormone called DHT(dihydrotestosterone). It is DHT that causes enlargement of the prostate.

It is observed that certain foods enhance this conversion whereas others block it. If you change over to a diet that maintains testosterone levels to the minimum required and also helps in reducing the conversion of testosterone to DHT, you can effectively save your prostate from enlarging to dangerous levels and reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Herbs for controlling prostate enlargement form an integral part of the diet recommendations for a healthy prostate. Saw palmetto is extracted from a palm like tree and helps in preventing the conversion of testosterone to DHT. Natural foods like garlic and some other herbs and natural products have cancer inhibiting properties.

The following foods contain a powerful antioxidant agent, lycopene. This phytochemical gives them their color and is very effective in restricting the enlargement of the prostate gland.

* Tomatoes
* Tomato-based products like puree and pastes. Ensure they are organic and do not contain additives
* Guava
* Watermelon
* Pink grapefruit

The calcium in milk is instrumental in inhibiting the synthesis of a form of vitamin D that reduces chances of malignancy in prostate growth. On the other hand, fructose, the sugar in fruit, stimulates production of that form of Vitamin D and inhibits tumors. Avoiding foods that contain calcium and a high intake of fruits can help manage the prostate gland effectively.

Sometimes it is a matter of simply enhancing or reducing the trace nutrient that is lacking in diet. The prostate gland uses zinc much more than any other part of the body. Zinc alters the metabolism of steroid hormones to restrict enlargement. It may surprise some of us, but pumpkin seeds are one of the richest sources of natural zinc. Barley, wheat, oysters, chicken and crab are some of the other foods rich in zinc.

The prostate will enlarge on its own with age. It is, however, in your own hands to control its growth so that it does not enlarge to an extent that it starts showing clinical symptoms. Studies conducted all around the word have established, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that diet plays an important part in the health of the prostate.

It is essentially a matter of restricting red meat and dairy products and switching to a prominently plant based diet. Once the enlargement is big enough to necessitate prostate medicine, you may have to live with it through out your life.