Vitamins for Prostate Health

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Vitamins for Prostate Health

Prostate, is a small gland in men. It is part of the male reproductive system .

The prostate is about the size and shape of a walnut. The prostate is a male sex organ. The prostate helps make semen, the milky fluid that carries sperm from the testicles through the penis when a man ejaculates.

It is located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The prostate surrounds the upper part of the urethra, the tube that empties urine from the bladder. The prostate needs male hormones to function. The main male hormone is testosterone, which is made mainly by the testicles. Some male hormones are produced in small amounts by the adrenal glands.

The causes of prostate cancer are not yet understood. Researchers are looking at factors that may increase the risk of this disease. The more they can learn about these risk factors, the better the chance of finding ways to prevent and treat prostate cancer. It is thought that whatever the causal factors are, they act by altering the balance of male hormones in the body.

Age: The prostate cancer is mainly found mainly in men over age 55; the average age of patients at the time of diagnosis is 72.

Family history: A man has a higher risk for prostate cancer if his father or brother has had the disease. However, researchers are uncertain why some families have a higher incidence of prostate cancer.

Diet: A diet high in fat increases the risk of prostate cancer and a diet high in fruits and vegetables decreases the risk, but these links have not been proven. There is current interest in the possibility that the low risk of prostate cancer in certain Asian populations may result from their high intake of soy products.

PROSTATE CANCER 

Prostate cancer is very slow growing.  Because of this, radical measures such as radiation or surgery are often reasonably postponed.  This "watchful waiting," to see if surgery is truly needed, is advocated by more and more doctors.  Obviously, regular medical examination and follow-up is important.

Food and Nutrient Supplements:

Prostate dysfunction has been called a nutritional disease. It is much more common in developed Western countries that emphasize animal-derived foods, such as red meat, dairy products, and eggs, all foods that tend to accumulate environmental toxins. In contrast, fruit- and vegetable-rich diets exert a protective effect.

Other nutritional factors that may inhibit prostate cancer include vitamin D ; vitamin E , an antioxidant that inhibits cancer growth; soy-based foods , which contain the cancer-inhibiting agent genistein; and garlic , which possess cancer-fighting, sulfur-containing compounds.

Food Factors

More than any vitamin or mineral, fat may influence prostate health, say the experts. Here are some dietary changes that they recommend.

Vitamins For Prostate Health:

The prostate health is supported by the combination of Lycopene, Selenium, Vitamin E, and Zinc.

Selenium and vitamin E: The daily doses of the mineral selenium, vitamin E or both may help to prevent prostate cancer. Vitamin E is a major antioxidant nutrient that helps maintain healthy membranes and retards cellular aging due to oxidation. It is especially important to sexual and reproductive health. One study that followed more than 29,000 male Finnish smokers, ages 50 to 69, for five to eight years, showed that Vitamin E reduces the risk of prostate cancer.

Our diets contain mostly the gamma tocopherol form of Vitamin E. Most dietary supplements contain only alpha tocopherol, not gamma tocopherol. Unfortunately, high intakes of alpha tocopherol actually pushes the preferred gamma form of Vitamin E out of the body. And since the most current research shows it is gamma tocopherol that is associated with a reduction of prostate cancer-especially when combined with selenium and alpha tocopherol-make sure you take a supplement that contains gamma and alpha, not just alpha tocopherol!

Vitamin C: Vitamin C would almost certainly be of benefit to the enlarged prostate.  At the very least, infection would be avoided and vitamin C's modest diuretic effect would probably make urination easier.

Zinc: It is as helpful with enlarged prostates as it is with inflamed ones, since zinc deficiency results in prostate enlargement.  Larger supplemental doses, commonly between 50 and 100 mg daily, may help shrink a swollen prostate.  Toxicity of zinc is very, very low and side effects of diarrhea and anemia begin at about 500 mg daily, vastly more than anyone would need to take.