Apart from skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common type of malignancy among men in the US. According to the American Cancer Society, 191,930 people in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020.
Luckily, there are things you can do to control the risk and reduce it significantly.
Addressing some of the most common risk factors and dealing with a few harmful lifestyle habits can both contribute to a healthier prostate. If you don’t know how to get started, here are some of the best tips that will help you bring down your prostate cancer risk.
Improve Your Diet
Nutrition can be used to become healthier. Certain kinds of foods will enable you to maintain optimal weight, nourish your body and ensure the malignancy-free status of your prostate.
Some evidence suggests that reducing the consumption of unhealthy fats, while boosting fruit and veggie intake can have a protective effect.
It’s a good idea to reduce as much as possible the consumption of red meat, dairy and other prominent sources of fat. If you do enjoy meat, stick to lean cuts. But do your best to minimize your dairy intake. Studies show that the men who consume the most dairy are the ones at the highest risk of prostate cancer development.
Up your fruit and veggie intake as much as possible. Some foods of plant origin like tomatoes, for example, have shown a protective effect on the male prostate. Tomatoes are a source of lycopene – a powerful antioxidant that keeps the prostate healthy. Cooking tomatoes makes lycopene more readily available for absorption.
Control Your Weight
Men who are overweight or obese are at a much higher prostate cancer risk than their peers.
If you’re starting to put the pounds on, the time has come to consider changes to your diet and lifestyle.
Some of the nutritional changes mentioned above can help you lose some weight.
It’s also a good idea to start working out a couple of times per week.
Physical activity has a protective effect on many organs and bodily systems. In addition, moving more is fairly easy to do. You don’t have to go to the gym – visit the park for a walk, go for a bike ride with your kids, swim in the local pool.
Mix things up and explore different activities. Something as simple as taking the stairs instead of using the elevator can contribute to a significant boost in your daily activity level.
Enjoy Intimacy More Often
One of the biggest studies on the topic concluded that frequent ejaculations reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
The Harvard study was carried out in 1992 and it involved 29,342 male volunteers. Researchers asked the participants in the study to record the number of ejaculations they experienced over a certain period of time.
Researchers concluded that men who ejaculated21 times or more per month had a 31 percent lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those who only ejaculated four to seven times per month.
Having sex doesn’t just feel good, it also improves your health in a number of important ways. So don’t hesitate to be intimate with your partner much more often. Even if you’re not in a relationship, you can have some fun with solo play while also making sure your prostate is perfectly healthy.
Try a Prostate Massage
A prostate massage is a practice that so many men wouldn’t go for (and this is an actual pity). Not only does it feel incredibly good, it has also proven to be quite beneficial.
Prostate massages can be carried out either internally or externally through the perineum. The application of pressure to the prostate feels good and it’s also been proven to deliver various kinds of health benefits. A prostate massage can be therapeutic against prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, erectile dysfunction and even prostate cancer.
Urologists often perform prostate massages, an experience that’s quite similar to a digital rectal exam (DRE).
You can also give yourself a healthy prostate massage at home. The market features a ton of prostate massagers you can use on your own or incorporate in sexual activity with your partner. Alternatively, you can go for more versatile sex toys like butt plugs and even a realistic black dildo if that’s your thing.
Stop Smoking and Control Your Alcohol Consumption
If you’re looking for additional sources of motivation to tackle your bad habits, here they are.
Smoking and excessive alcoholic beverage consumption may boost your prostate cancer risk. This is another health problem to add to the long list of conditions caused or aggravated by smoking and drinking.
You can still enjoy the occasional glass of wine or beer. Moderation, however, is very important to keep yourself healthy later on in life.
Be Careful about Supplements
Most people consider supplementation highly beneficial but this isn’t always the case.
To make the most of supplements, do talk to your doctor about those and stick to a recommended those. If you take vitamins and minerals on your own, you could be getting yourself in trouble.
If you follow a healthy diet, you really don’t need to take a multi-vitamin. Most essential vitamins and nutrients are available in whole foods. Multivitamins often contain much higher doses of ingredients than your body needs. As a result, the elimination of such minerals and vitamins could become problematic.
You need to be extra careful about high calcium intake. Some studies suggest that taking more than 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day can have a negative effect on prostate health.
Finally, do the responsible thing and have regular prostate screening after the age of 45.
Your urologist will discuss your lifestyle, genetic and other factors that could be contributing to a higher risk of prostate cancer. A doctor will also let you know how often you’ll need to have the condition of your prostate checked.
If identified early enough, prostate cancer is treatable. Even if you are a very healthy man, you could still experience a malignancy later on in life. This is why you need to choose a reputable urologist and see your doctor at least once per year for a checkup.
