Best Foods to Eat with Enlarged Prostate | Reduce Risk of Symptoms, Enlargement & Cancer

Hey everyone, this lesson is on the best foods to eat if you have an enlarged prostate. So some foods we talk about in this lesson have been shown to reduce the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, some foods have been shown to reduce the chances of having an enlarged prostate to begin with, and some have even been shown to help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. So with each food I'm going to talk about what it does with regards to prostate health. So what are some of the best foods to eat if you have an enlarged prostate? So the first category of foods is fruits containing lycopene. So fruits containing lycopene, and a lot of information can be found in this article entitled Lycopene and Risk of Prostate Cancer, a systematic review and meta-analysis. And also from this article entitled Lycopene Inhibits the Growth of Normal Human Prostate Epithelial Cells in Vitro. So what is lycopene, you might be wondering. Lycopene is a red pigment that is found in a lot of different fruits, and it is actually known to reduce prostate size and risk of prostate enlargement, and also reduce the risk of getting prostate cancer as well. Now what are some fruits that actually contain lycopene? So some of them include tomatoes, and actually tomatoes have some of the highest levels of lycopene. We can also find lycopene in watermelon, grapefruit, papaya, and apricots. So some other foods to eat within a large prostate include fish and fish oil, so particularly omega-3 fatty acids. Now the evidence is actually controversial. Fish and fish oil may reduce the risk of cancer, it's still not quite known at this point, but it has been shown to reduce other types of cancer, and also has been shown to be beneficial for other types of health problems. So fish and fish oil, especially omega-3 fatty acids. We can find omega-3 fatty acids in fish like salmon and mackerel. So again, fruits containing lycopene, very important, very beneficial for prostate health in reducing prostate size, reducing the risk of prostate enlargement, and reducing the risk of prostate cancer. And we can find this type of red pigment in tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit, papaya, and apricots. And then fish and fish oil, especially fish with omega-3 fatty acids, may reduce the risk of cancer. Again, evidence is controversial, and we can find it in salmon and mackerel. So some other foods that are beneficial for prostate health include citrus fruits. And this evidence comes from this article entitled, Association Between Dietary Vitamin C Intake and Risk of Prostate Cancer, a meta-analysis involving 103,658 subjects. So the reason why citrus fruits are important with regards to prostate health is because they have high levels of vitamin C. And vitamin C intake has been associated with reduced risk of prostate cancer found in that article I just mentioned. Now some good sources of vitamin C include oranges, lemons, and grapefruit. Another group of foods that are important and very beneficial for prostate health, especially an enlarged prostate, include nuts containing zinc. And this evidence comes from the article entitled, A Comparative Study of Serum Zinc Concentrations in Benign and Malignant Prostate Disease, a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. So the prostate contains high levels of zinc itself. And it has been shown that there is decreased zinc levels in BPH, benign prostatic hyperplasia. That is just the medical term we use for an enlarged prostate. So in normal individuals, prostate has high levels of zinc. But in individuals with an enlarged prostate, we see decreased zinc levels. And zinc has also been found to inhibit 5-alpha-reductase. So 5-alpha-reductase has actually been shown to play a role in prostate enlargement as it converts testosterone to the more potent testosterone known as dihydrotestosterone. And zinc also inhibits prolactin as well. And we also see zinc intake associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. So because of all of these aspects of zinc, it seems to be important with regards to reducing the risk of prostate enlargement and reducing the risk of prostate cancer. So what are some of the sources of zinc? Some of the sources of zinc include cashews, peanuts, and almonds. So again, citrus fruits, very important because they have high levels of vitamin C. And vitamin C intake is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And then nuts containing zinc is also important as zinc has been shown to inhibit 5-alpha-reductase, prolactin, and decreased zinc intake seems to be associated with an increased prostate size. And zinc intake itself seems to be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And we can find zinc in nuts like cashews, peanuts, and almonds. Now the next few categories of foods that are beneficial for an enlarged prostate come from this article entitled Nutrition and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. So one of them is Brazil nuts. So another type of nut. So we can see that nuts seem to be very beneficial, especially cashews and almonds. And now we see that Brazil nuts are also important. And the reason why Brazil nuts play an important role in prostate health is because they contain high levels of selenium. And selenium intake has been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Now another important supplement that is important with regards to an enlarged prostate is vitamin D. So vitamin D supplementation is associated with a reduced risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia or an enlarged prostate. And the reason is because vitamin D binding receptors are present in the prostate and bladder. So vitamin D binding receptors seem to play a role in maintaining prostate size and health. Some sources of vitamin D include fish like salmon. So we talked about salmon being important as a good food to eat if you have an enlarged prostate. And we can also get vitamin D from supplements. Now you might be thinking, oh, why don't you take vitamin D from some other meats or dairy products? Well, we find that red meats and dairy products may not be good for prostate health. If you want more information on foods not to eat with an enlarged prostate, please check out my lesson on that topic. So the sources of vitamin D I mentioned here like salmon and taking vitamin D supplements themselves. I mentioned that here because some other sources of vitamin D like red meat may not be good for prostate health. So again, Brazil nuts, because they contain high levels of selenium and selenium intake is associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And vitamin D supplementation is associated with a reduced risk of having an enlarged prostate to begin with. So we can get vitamin D from sources like salmon and vitamin supplements. Now another category of foods that is very beneficial for enlarged prostate, especially in helping reduce symptoms of an enlarged prostate, are foods containing beta-cytosterol. And beta-cytosterol is a plant phytosterol. And you might be wondering, where can I find beta-cytosterol? It's actually found in a variety of different dietary sources. I'm going to mention quite a few here. And the reason why beta-cytosterol consumption is recommended if you have an enlarged prostate is because it can improve urine flow in benign prostatic hyperplasia, BPH. So it improves symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate. So where can we get beta-cytosterol? We can get it from canola oil. So using canola oil. Canola oil has very good levels of beta-cytosterol. We can also get it from avocados and avocado oil. So high levels of beta-cytosterol can be found in avocados. You can also find it in nuts like pistachios. And we can also find it in dark chocolate. Now dark chocolate as opposed to milk chocolate. So dark chocolate would be a better source of beta-cytosterol. So again, foods containing beta-cytosterol are important with regards to an enlarged prostate because beta-cytosterol has been found to improve urine flow in benign prostatic hyperplasia or an enlarged prostate. We can find beta-cytosterol in things like canola oil, avocados or avocado oil, nuts like pistachios, particularly pistachios, and dark chocolate. And another category of foods to eat if you have an enlarged prostate include allium vegetables. So you might be wondering what allium vegetables are. These are a genus of flowering plants and although that might not help you recognize what they are, allium vegetables include garlic and onions. So garlic and onions are important and have been found to actually reduce the risk of having an enlarged prostate to begin with as was found in this article entitled Onion and Garlic Intake and the Odds of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. So in that article, it was found that increased consumption of garlic and onions, so these allium vegetables, is associated with a reduced risk of BPH or a reduced risk of having an enlarged prostate. So very important. A high level of consumption of garlic and onions seems to reduce your risk of getting an enlarged prostate. So these are important vegetables to consume in your diet. So if you want to learn about foods not to eat if you have an enlarged prostate, please check out my lesson on that topic. And if you haven't already, please like and subscribe for more lessons like this one. Thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you next time.