Preventing Prostate Cancer: Top 3 Ways To Reduce Your Risk

You can lower your risk of prostate cancer by making healthy choices, such as exercising and eating a healthy diet. If you are concerned about your risk of prostate cancer, prevention you may be interested in prostate cancer.

There is no sure-fire way to prevent prostate cancer. Study results are often contradictory and most studies are not designed to definitively prove that a product prevents prostate cancer. Therefore, no method of preventing prostate cancer has been clearly defined. In general, doctors recommend that men at average risk for prostate cancer make choices that benefit their overall health if they want to prevent prostate cancer.

1 Choose a healthy diet

It seems that choosing a healthy diet, low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables, may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer, although research results are mixed and this has not been proven in practice. If you want to lower your risk of prostate cancer, consider trying to:

– Choose a low fat diet. Foods that contain fat include meats, nuts, oils, and dairy products, such as milk and cheese.

– In some studies, men who ate the most fats every day had an increased risk of prostate cancer. This does not prove that excess fat causes prostate cancer. Other studies have not found this association. But reducing the amount of fat you eat each day has other proven benefits, such as weight control and heart protection. To reduce the amount of fat you eat each day, limit fatty foods or choose low-fat foods. For example, reduce the amount of fat you add to foods when cooking them, select leaner cuts of meat, and choose low-fat or reduced-fat dairy products.

– Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat each day. Fruits and vegetables are packed with vitamins and nutrients that are believed to lower the risk of prostate cancer, although research has not proven that any particular nutrient is guaranteed to lower your risk. By eating more fruits and vegetables, you also tend to have less room for other foods, such as foods high in fat. You can consider increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat each day by adding an extra serving of a fruit or vegetable to each meal. Consider eating fruits and vegetables as a snack.

– Cut down on the amount of dairy products you eat each day. Studies have shown that men who consumed the most dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt each day had the highest risk of prostate cancer.

2 Maintain a healthy weight

Obese men, body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, may be at increased risk prostate cancer. If you are overweight or obese, make an effort to lose weight. You can do this by reducing the number of calories you eat each day and increasing the amount of exercise you do. If you are at a healthy weight, try to maintain it by exercising most days of the week and eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

3 Exercise most days of the week

Studies on exercise and prostate cancer risk have mostly shown that men who exercise exercise may have a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

Exercise has many other health benefits and may lower your risk of disease heart and other cancers. Exercise can help you maintain or lose weight.

If you are not already exercising, make an appointment with your doctor for make sure you can get started. When you start to exercise, take it easy. Add physical activity to your day by parking your car farther from where you are going, and try taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Try to get 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.

Talk to your doctor about your risk

Some men have an increased risk of prostate cancer. For those at a very high risk of prostate cancer, there may be other options to reduce the risk, such as medications. If you think you have a high risk of prostate cancer, discuss it with your doctor.

Sources

Wein AJ, et al., eds. Epidemiology, etiology and prevention of prostate cancer. In: Campbell-Walsh Urology. 11 th ed. Philadelphia, Pa .: Elsevier; 2016.

Prostate cancer prevention (PDQ). National Cancer Institute.