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Prevention | MHC Home | ||
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Prevention |
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Vegetable Intake Reduces
Onion Family Foods Reduce |
Nutritional data continues to accumulate on the protective affect of good nutrition in preventing certain cancers. I'll review three recent studies dealing with prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers for men. Several studies have hinted that lycopene, found in tomatoes, may protect against prostate cancer. Not all studies, however, were conclusive. New data from the large Health Professionals Follow-up Study confirms the earlier finding. This study included 47,365 men followed for six years. During this time 2,481 men got prostate cancer.
Author's conclusion. "Frequent consumption of tomato products is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer." This study provides strong evidence of the value of nutrition in preventing prostate cancer. It's quite remarkable to think that if all men ate tomato sauce and other tomato products at least twice per week that nearly 1/4th of all prostate cancers might be prevented! King County Study. Another study on diet and prostate cancer in men looked at the intake of vegetables and cancer risk. They found that men who ate at least 4 servings of vegetables daily had a 35% decreased risk of prostate cancer compared to men eating less than 2 servings daily. When they looked specifically at cruciferous vegetables (cabbage family), those men who ate 3 or more servings of cabbage family vegetables per week had a 41% decreased risk compared to those eating less than 1 serving per week.
Summary: Here are three nutritional studies that show how you can significantly reduce your risk of prostate cancer. You might be able to cut your risk by half or more and it's not that hard to do: 1. Eat more tomato products, especially tomato sauce. A little olive oil in the sauce actually helps lycopene absorption. 2. Eat more vegetables, especially cabbage family vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts etc.) 3. Eat more onions, garlic, and scallions (green onions). References
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Wong MD, et al. Contribution of major diseases to disparities in mortality, New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 14, 2002; 347:1585-92 |
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Copyrighted 2002 by PrevMedix LLC. All rights reserved. Do not make unauthorized copies. |
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Updated: 12/17/02 |
When
the diets of these men were analyzed, frequent intake of tomatoes or
lycopene was associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer (16% fewer
cases of cancer). When researchers looked specifically at the intake of tomato
sauce, they saw an even further reduced risk. There were 23% fewer cases of prostate
cancer in those who ate tomato sauce at least twice per week versus those
who seldom ate tomato sauce (lycopene is absorbed much more readily in
tomato sauce than in fresh tomatoes). 
China
Study3. The most recent study
on nutrition and prostate cancer was done in China, and is reported in this
month's Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers looked at the
intake of onion family foods, specifically onions, garlic, and scallions
(green onions). They compared men who ate the most of these foods (top
one-third) with those who ate the least (bottom one-third). Here is what
they found.
