Selenium and Prostate Cancer Prevention

Prostate cancer prevention is the best hope for most men. Prostate cancer prevention is the best thing you can do for yourself so before you notice the signs of prostate cancer take the proper steps to avoid it altogether. There is a wealth of evidence to show that healthy diets and lifestyles can help to prevent cancer. In particular, there is convincing evidence that regular physical activity reduces the risk of colon cancer, and that diets high in vegetables help reduce risk of both colon and rectal cancers.

Diets

Many of the risk factors for prostate cancer are more prevalent in the Western world, including longer life expectancy and diets high in animal fats. It has recently been reported that Westernised diets high in saturated fats and dairy products could contribute to prostate cancer development as men in the USA and the UK have much higher incidence rates of the disease than Asian men do for example.

Eating a diet with the right balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats may well help to keep prostate cancer within the prostate gland where it may be monitored safely or more easily treated with surgery or radiotherapy, they conclude, adding that a healthy balance of these two types of fat would be about half as much omega-3 as omega-6. Men whose diets include high levels of selenium significantly reduce their risk of progressive prostate cancer, researchers report.

Supplementation With Selenium

One of the most promising new concepts for prostate cancer prevention is supplementation with selenium. Selenium is an important constituent of the body's naturally produced antioxidant, glutathione peroxidase, and its cancer preventive effect may be associated with increased glutathione levels. Selenium was linked to a significant reduction in deaths from lung, colon, esophageal, and prostate cancer; protection appeared strongest for prostate cancer, with 63% fewer deaths in the men who took selenium.

Regular Exercises

While most people know of the link between poor diet and lack of exercise and heart disease, few understand the role these lifestyles play in cancer – and that by being good to yourself you can reduce your cancer risk. Regular exercise combined with a low-fat diet, moderate alcohol consumption, and no smoking are important components of a healthy lifestyle.

Regular exercise also makes fat more responsive to insulin; research shows that exercise reduces the fat cells’ production of a protein (RBP4) that contributes to insulin resistance. In the process of burning up calories, exercise does indeed generate more free radicals, but it also boosts the body’s control mechanisms. In fact, regular exercise protects against heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and even malignancies such as colon cancer, breast cancer, and possibly prostate cancer.