Enlarged Prostate: Does Diet Help?

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Enlarged Prostate: Does Diet Help?

As men throughout the Inland Empire begin to age, their risk of developing an enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia, increases.

At the age of 55, the risk of developing an enlarged prostate starts to increase by 4 percent each year for men. This means that by the time a Rancho Mirage man reaches the age of 85, he has a 95 percent chance of having an enlarged prostate.

This can result in a variety of symptoms, but many men notice that the most prominent symptom is frequently having the urge to urinate. Urologists are beginning to notice that diet also may play a role in a man’s risk for developing an enlarged prostate.

How Can Changing My Diet Help My Prostate?

Adopting a healthy lifestyle and well-rounded, nutritious diet early on can help reduce a man’s risk of developing an enlarged prostate. Recent medical studies have found that men who have low body fat, enjoy a low-fat diet, and live an active lifestyle have a decreased risk of an enlarged prostate.

Most importantly, men who have enjoyed five or more servings of vegetables each day throughout their life had a significantly lower risk of developing an enlarged prostate.

Men should choose vegetables that are high in Vitamin C. Men who are changing their diet in order to improve their prostate health should choose certain vegetables over others.

Those with high contents of Vitamin C have been found to be especially beneficial, including broccoli, snap peas, cauliflower, tomato, kale, bell peppers, and brussel sprouts, to name a few. Increasing the amount of vegetables that a man eats, as well as choosing those vegetables wisely, may help when it comes to having an enlarged prostate.

Men also should consider foods that have a high content of zinc. Research is showing that foods that have a high content of zinc are also beneficial for prostate health.

While vegetable sides are important and should be incorporated into as many meals as possible, these foods might also be good meal choices, as a man begins to change his diet to improve his prostate health.

Foods that have zinc include beef, duck, crab, lamb, oysters, and baked beans. Men who are choosing to increase the amount of beef they eat should choose lean beef, as there is less fat in this type of beef.

While the risk of having an enlarged prostate increases as a man gets older, there are steps he can take in order to minimize the risk and to combat the symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

It is essential that male patients visit their urologist on a regular basis, for this is the best way to monitor their reproductive health and take advantage of all early detection testing.

Men who work with a trusted urology expert can discuss their own dietary habits, as well as have a conversation about changes that can be made to their diet, in order to improve their prostate health.