Prostate cancer: 3 foods and products to avoid

What do fatty meat, saturated fats of dairy products and sugar have in common? You should avoid them all to protect yourself against prostate cancer.

Researchers still do not know if meat consumption is associated with prostate cancer, but it may be that some methods of cooking promote it.

• When the meat is fried, grilled or cooked rare, carcinogens could occur.
• Thus, researchers found in a study that men who consumed more than 75 grams (three ounces) of cooked meat per week saw their risk of prostate cancer increase by 40 per cent.

As for saturated fats, especially of whole milk products, there is no doubt that they increase the incidence of this cancer.

• Indeed, the consumption of dairy products inevitably causes high calcium intake. However, researchers think that when consumed in excess (over 1.5 grams/three eighths of a teaspoon per day, or about five servings of dairy products), this mineral increases the risk.
• In addition, saturated fat promotes inflammation, which in turn causes cell damage and stimulates the formation of blood vessels for the tumour to grow and spread.
• As inflammation is associated with cancers of the stomach, esophagus and colon, it would be surprising that it does not contribute to prostate cancer.
• In fact, a study of a thousand men shows that those who consumed the most saturated fat, the risk of virulent tumor formation was more than two times higher than that of the others.
• Furthermore, these lipids increase cholesterol levels. At high doses, the saturated fat provides the raw material needed for the production of hormones, including testosterone, which promote the development of prostate cancer.
• A recent study indicates that among the 93 men who followed a vegan diet (no animal byproducts), the evolution from early stages of the cancer to more advanced stages was slowed.
• During the year of the study period, the PSA (prostate specific antigen) of vegan subjects declined on average by four per cent, a sign that the cancer was progressing more slowly. By contrast, the rate averaged six per cent in the control group .

You also have every reason to be wary of donuts, sweet desserts, white bread, bagels and other foods made with white flour, as these fast-digesting carbs are driving up insulin levels.

• This raises the level of insulin-like growth factor I, which promotes the development of tumours.
• Excess insulin is directly related to the metabolic syndrome (fatty waist, hypertension, high triglycerides and blood sugar, reduced HDL cholesterol level).
• According to a study lasting 13 years conducted in Finland involving 1,880 men, those suffering from this syndrome at the beginning of the study were twice as likely to contract prostate cancer than those who did not suffer from it.
• Among overweight men, the risk was three times higher.
• Metabolic syndrome also increases the risk of dying from this cancer.

Replacing "white" foods and sugary products with whole grains can prevent or even reverse the course of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.

• The fibres of these foods slow the digestion of carbohydrates and prevent sugar spikes and the rise of insulin levels.
• We should, however, avoid over-consuming carbohydrates, even if they are healthy.
• Small portions allow you to maintain a healthy weight and avoid driving up blood sugar.