April 2009
Stop spending your life in the bathroom—use these proven cures to get your swollen prostate under control.Whether it’s from your doctor or from the media, you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about prostate health. Much of the conversation focuses on prostate cancer, and with good reason—31,000 men a year (one every 9 minutes) die from this sinister disease.
But there’s another prostate condition called benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) that’s making life miserable for hundreds of thousands of older men. If you suffer from BPH, you know the misery I’m talking about…the difficulty urinating…the feeling like you constantly have to go, which may keep you up at night…and, for some men, painful bladder infections and kidney stones.
The worst part about BPH is that it’s beyond common. In fact, if you’re a man over 50…
You have a one-in-three chance of developing an enlarged prostate.
For men who suffer from BPH, the misery often begins after the initial diagnosis. Your doc will probably put you on Finasteride (Proscar), which has been linked to sexual dysfunction and the development of breasts. And even though BPH is not a cancerous condition, one prominent study on Finasteride found…
This common drug may increase your chance of developing severe cancer!
Other drugs, such as alpha blockers, only help you urinate more easily—they don’t do anything to address the underlying cause of your BPH.
If you want to stay off the prescription drug carousel, the best thing you can do is to get BPH under control using proven, natural cures. By understanding how your prostate works—and the natural support it needs—you can keep yourself from being another BPH victim.
“So just how big should my prostate be?”
Given the risks men face from BPH and prostate cancer, it’s amazing to me how little many of my male patients know about their prostates. Here’s the scoop—your urethra carries urine out of your bladder through the tip of your penis. The prostate surrounds the bottom portion of your bladder and the top of your urethra. It helps produce semen and propels it during orgasm.
People with BPH ask me all the time, “Exactly how big should my prostate be?”
Well, at birth it’s the size of a pea, and it grows to its normal walnut size by the age of 20. When it grows beyond that, you’re developing BPH and you’ve got a problem. The first symptom most men get is frequent urination, especially at night. With more advanced disease, you might get up 3-4 times a night.
So what causes your prostate to grow? The truth is…no one knows for sure, but I suspect estrogen and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) are the main culprits.
Men produce less testosterone as they age, but they keep making small amounts of estrogen. The ratio of testosterone-to-estrogen gets thrown out of whack, and this may make your prostate grow.
The estrogen theory gains some steam when you consider that insulin resistance, obesity and prolonged stress—all of which stimulate estrogen production—have been linked to BPH.
DHT, which is derived from testosterone, also may play a role in BPH. You see, even though you’re making less testosterone as you age, you may continue to accumulate DHT. And here’s an amazing fact researchers have uncovered—men without DHT do not get BPH.
There are other theories on what causes your prostate to grow—some docs believe it’s genetic, and others say it’s due to blood vessel deterioration and inflammation. The truth is, there are probably many reasons. That’s why you need a well-rounded and proven natural treatment plan that can help you…
Slash your risk of BPH—without ever taking a drug!
When it comes to fighting BPH, there are no overnight cures. You’re best off starting treatment before your symptoms get more severe. So, if you’re getting up to urinate even once or twice a night, it’s time to get started.
Clearing the air on a proven prostate support
Let me clear the air on saw palmetto right now. It not only works for treating prostate enlargement…I swear by it for my patients. You see, lots of folks got taken in by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that claimed taking 160 mg of saw palmetto twice a day for a year was no better than placebo.
Here was the problem with that study—the research subjects were men 49 years or older with moderate to severe symptoms. They only treated guys with advanced BPH, even though the previous studies, primarily European, were on men with milder, earlier disease. And, big surprise, three researchers who ran the study (and had ties to Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline) never raised this issue.
It was a Big Pharma hit job if I ever saw one!
It’s good to know that saw palmetto may not work in advanced cases of BPH—all the more reason to get an early start. Here’s why I recommend saw palmetto as part of your treatment plan—it works to inhibit the conversion of testosterone to DHT, which, as I said earlier, may be one of the main culprits behind BPH.
Beyond saw palmetto, there are some other natural supplements with a proven track record of inhibiting DHT and reducing the symptoms of BPH. They include:
Unlock the African secret to prostate health—and sexual vigor
Now that we’ve looked at some natural, proven DHT blockers, let’s take a gander at some safe remedies for the other likely causes of BPH. One remedy I swear by is stinging nettle, which is widely used in the India Ayurvedic tradition for BPH. It inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen, and is extremely effective when used with Pygeum, which is derived from the bark of an African Evergreen tree.
The great thing about Pygeum—and the reason it’s been used for decades in Europe—is that it’s a great symptom reliever. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and a mild diuretic, to relieve pressure on the bladder. It also enhances prostatic secretions and can increase enhance sexual vigor because of the support it gives to bladder and genital tissue.
Beta-sitosterol is another great anti-inflammatory and symptom reliever. It’s found in a variety of commonly consumed plants, including, wheat, rice, soy, corn and peanuts. An oft cited study from the British Journal of Urology found that men who took 130 mg of beta-sitosterol a day saw significant improvement in their urinary symptoms.
Beta-sitosterol also has been shown to lower cholesterol and may have cancer-fighting benefits.
Eat your way to a healthy prostate
While all of these supplements can be useful in the battle against BPH, I tell my patients all the time…
You can fight BPH right at the dinner table!
Omega 3 fats, zinc, vitamin B6 and vitamin D3 all support prostate health. All four of these proven prostate supports are lacking in most American diets. Omega 3 fats are found in deep-sea, cold-water fish, such as salmon (Pacific wild-caught only, please), sardines, herring and mackerel.
Most of your zinc should come from meat, although crab, lobster and oysters are good sources, too. Important sources of B6 are meat, fish, egg yolks and leafy green vegetables.
A word of advice on meat: You’ll read that eating too much saturated fat from animal sources is associated with poor prostate health and cancer. Here’s the real truth on that—supermarket meats tend to come from feedlots, where the animals will have
pesticide residues and trace amounts of estrogens stored in their fat. That—and not the meat itself—is causing the problem. Eat organic, pasture-fed meats and dairy and I promise your prostate will thank you.
To get more Vitamin D, you can eat more deep-sea, cold-water fish. But most of our vitamin D comes from the sun, and many parts of America don’t have plentiful sunshine year-round. That’s why I recommend supplementing with at least 2000 IU’s of D3 daily, at the very least in the wintertime, if you live anywhere north of the Gulf Coast.
Some other prostate-healthy nutrients include flax seed—grind some up for cereal or salads—and tomatoes, which are rich in prostate-healthy lycopene. Crucifers such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage and turnips help maintain a healthy balance of testosterone and estrogens.
Finally, take a look at your lifestyle. Moderate amounts of alcohol—one or two drinks a day—are fine, but excess alcohol promotes an estrogen imbalance and should be avoided. Plenty of exercise is key—even 2 to 3 hours of brisk walking a week can make a difference. And, as always, getting enough sleep and managing stress are fundamental to good prostate health.
Products I recommend
If you’re looking for a good prostate-support supplement, I like Prostate 5lx, with saw palmetto, pumpkin seed oil and stinging nettle, from New Chapter.
Use this in conjunction with epilobium, which comes in liquid form, for an aggressive treatment approach.
A word of caution: If you take any prostate supplement, make sure you inform your doctor, as it can interfere with the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test that looks (usually not too effectively) for cancer.
Setting the record straight on vitamin E
I get asked all the time about whether I still believe vitamin E is useful for supporting your prostate and possibly preventing cancer. Doubt has been raised by a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that was so poorly designed it doesn’t pass the sniff test.
The study concluded that there was no benefit from 400 IUs daily of synthetic vitamin E (selenium also was researched in this study).
Why they chose synthetic vitamin E…which is as far removed as you can get from the natural food form our body knows…is beyond me. Further, this synthetic vitamin E can interfere with the function of the natural vitamin E in our bodies…It creates a total imbalance! This research wasn’t just poorly designed—it was useless.
I’ll continue to stand by all the previous research showing vitamin E is very effective as a prostate support. For a full-spectrum vitamin E product, consider Spectrum Naturals Wheat Germ Oil.
I see them in my office every week…patients who are overweight and suffering the consequences, but who feel totally helpless to do anything about it. They all say the same thing—“But, doc, I’ve tried everything!”
Usually, they have tried quite a bit. They’ve been on every diet from Zone to Grapefruit, and maybe added a little exercise into the mix. The problem is, there’s so much terrible diet advice out there, most folks who follow it end up spinning their wheels.
If you feel like you’ve tried everything to lose weight, let me share with you 10 things you might not have tried. I’ve seen my patients use these methods to drop serious weight and enjoy their best health in years.
1 Dust off your apron—and watch the pounds melt away!
If you’re dependent on ready-made meals and fast food, your waistline is in big trouble. Mass-produced food is loaded with flour, high-fructose corn syrup, and hundreds of other ingredients that make us fat. Cooking your food from scratch, with natural ingredients, is a highly effective way to boost your emotional and physical health. People who cook for themselves tend to weigh less and enjoy more energy, better sleep, and improved mood.
2 Take the 2-week microwave challenge
You need to be sitting down for this piece of advice…I want you to toss your microwave in the trash. Yes, really. That might seem like heresy—but once you’re cooking for yourself, you won’t need your microwave any more. I find that a microwave tempts many people to buy frozen, pre-prepared, supermarket junk, which contributes to their obesity problem. Plus, there’s an interesting debate going on right now about the long-term effects of radiation from microwaves. You might not be ready to toss your microwave in the trash yet, but give this a try—don’t use your microwave for two weeks, and make sure you don’t eat out as a substitute. I guarantee you’ll find yourself eating much healthier.
3 Don’t make food your cure for the blues
I see it often. In order to boost serotonin levels, individuals suffering from depression are drawn to heavily-processed sugar- and flour-rich carbs. Of course, these folks end up putting on weight, releasing a bunch of damaging hormones, and their depression only gets worse. You’re better off addressing the actual depression—try 5 HTP Saint Johns Wort, exercise, B vitamins and healthy fats, all of which have proven useful in the fight against depression.
4 Never count another calorie—it’s pointless!
The problem with calorie counting is that people start to believe that as long as they stay within a certain limit, they won’t put on weight. But does anyone honestly think a thousand calories of soda pop, French fries and snack food behaves the same way in your body as a piece of fish cooked in olive oil, a large salad, a piece of fruit and a small piece of full-fat cheese? Different types of fats, proteins and carbs trigger powerful hormonal signals that play a major role in what your body burns up as energy…and what it stores as fat. Many of the overweight people I meet are consuming a fairly normal amount of calories per day…it’s where those calories come from that is causing the problem.
5 Stop pretending to exercise—and embrace the real thing
I treat patients all the time who claim to be on a regular exercise program. In reality, they’re hitting the gym a few times a week, walking lazily on some treadmill while they watch TV. Or maybe they wave around a few light dumbbells a couple times a week and call that strength training. If that’s your exercise routine, all you’re doing is wasting time. Up your program to 30 minutes, five times a week. Get a trainer to arrange a more demanding routine that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat. Have him design a strength program that works your core torso muscles as well as the large muscles of the legs and back.
6 Quit your carb addiction, and start loading up on fat
Most Americans continue to be terrified of fats. The result? They load up on processed carbs that bring on a host of problems, such as weight gain, fatigue, depression, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and premature death. Let’s keep this simple. The omega 3 fats found in fatty fish, walnuts and flax are healthy. Mono-saturated fats found in nuts and olive oil, for example, are healthy. The omega 6 fats that ride along in unprocessed whole foods are healthy. And moderate amounts of saturated fats from dairy and animal foods (from healthy organic sources) are healthy.
Avoid like the plague the trans fats found in processed foods. Once they get into your body, they unleash havoc on your organs and heighten your chances of an early demise. Also avoid those clear cooking oils that line store shelves. They’re free-radical factories that promote disease and death.
7 Discover how that “artificial” sweetener causes very real weight gain
Artificial sweeteners are counter-productive, plain and simple. Take aspartame, for example. There is all sorts of scientific research that strongly implicates aspartame in dozens of health problems, including weight gain! Research shows that many folks figure that, because they use low-calorie sweeteners, they can eat extra. They take the calories they save by drinking diet soda and put them “in the bank,” so to speak. Once they do this, they end up taking in more calories than they would have in the first place.
8 One diet does not fit all—so learn which eating plan works for you
When it comes to diets, one size definitely does not fit all. Some people do fine on a higher-carb diet (quality, unprocessed carbs, of course) and others flourish on a higher-fat, lower-carb diet. This is influenced by genetics and even your cultural background. You may already know, based on trial and error, what kind of diet works best for you. If not, a good place for you to start is The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Wolcott and Trish Fahey (www.metabolictypingdiet.com). A simple paper and pencil test can help characterize your own preferences and show you which diet plan works best for you.
9 Know what triggers your eating—and stop shooting yourself in the foot
If a weight problem is driven by an emotional problem, eating healthier and exercising more are unlikely to work. Dysfunctional eating can result from people turning to food during times of stress, as a substitute for love or a strategy for dealing with abuse. If you’re doing this, you need to be honest with yourself and recognize that food isn’t going to solve your problems. Get a referral for a therapist and get the emotional help you need.
10 Unleash the power of snacking!
Here’s a practical tip you can try. Eat something healthy that includes both fat and protein—such as a piece of cheese or nuts—every two to three hours. So in addition to your three meals, add these snacks at 11 AM and 4 PM, and maybe even bedtime. This will help balance your metabolism, reduce strain on your adrenals, which have to work to maintain blood glucose levels in the absence of food, and may keep you from overeating during your meals.
The cancer-fighting power of…pizza?
Learn the Italian secret to slashing your risk of 4 common — and deadly — cancers.If you’re looking to keep yourself cancer-free (and who isn’t?), you could do a lot worse than hanging around your local Italian restaurant. From pasta primavera to chicken parmesan, it seems tomatoes are a key ingredient to just about any Italian dish. And these tomatoes contain a valuable ingredient that just may be…
The secret to battling today’s deadliest cancers!
Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, an antioxidant pigment that has received a lot of attention for its ability to fight prostate cancer. But studies have shown reduced rates of breast, colon and lung cancers in people who eat lycopene-rich foods (i.e. tomatoes) on a regular basis.
Lycopene is also found in watermelon, pink grapefruits and guava, although over 80 percent of all lycopene consumed in America is from tomatoes. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Tomatoes are also rich in beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, selenium and copper—all of which play key roles in supporting everything from your heart to your immune system.
And here’s my favorite thing about lycopene—you don’t need to eat a pile of raw tomatoes to get it. You see, cooking has very little effect on a tomato’s lycopene content, which means you can get plenty of lycopene from tomato sauce, canned tomatoes and even organic ketchup (avoid grocery store ketchup, which is loaded with high-fructose corn syrup).
Even better, enjoying tomatoes with a fat like olive oil or fresh cheese actually improves lycopene absorption! Imagine that—lycopene actually unlocks…
The amazing healing power of pizza!
Keep it in moderation, of course…I’m not writing you a prescription for a whole pie!
If you’re looking to load up on tomatoes, here’s my advice—stay away from the local supermarket. Most of their tomatoes come from industrial farms, where they’re grown with thick skins that make them taste awful. Plus, they’re picked too early, which reduces their nutrient content. By contrast, locally-grown, in-season tomatoes are a juicy joy to behold and eat.
An average tomato contains 5-10 mg of lycopene. Consider including some fresh or cooked tomatoes in your diet a few times a week and on a daily basis if you’re specifically interested in reducing your risk of prostate cancer.
It shouldn’t hurt to get lycopene…
There is one potential downside to loading up on tomatoes for their lycopene content. Many doctors believe that foods from the “nightshade” family, including tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants, may aggravate arthritis in some people.
The evidence here is purely anecdotal, but it’s enough to raise my concern. I mean, there’s just never going to be a full, large-scale study on this. Neither the food industry nor the drug companies have any interest in it. But I can tell you I have treated patients who were eating a lot of these foods and saw their arthritis pain increase.
If you’re eating a lot of nightshade foods and your arthritis is acting up, try going without them for a few weeks and see how you feel. No one knows why, but some folks do get relief.
A crystal ball for breast cancer
Learn how to catch breast cancer before it forms—and even reverse it!Q. I’ve been getting mammograms every year for 10 years—I put up with it because my sister had breast cancer, so I’m supposedly at greater risk. But I’m getting pretty concerned about all that radiation. I’ve been hearing a lot about breast themography lately—should I be getting that done instead?
—B. Cavalli, Cedar Rapids, IA
A:Mammograms are useful for detecting cancer once you already have it, but…
Thermography catches cancer before it forms!
You see, breast thermography detects early tissue changes that often result in breast cancers. Even better, these changes are potentially reversible through diet and lifestyle. That seems a lot better to me than a mammogram that’s only designed to tell you when the horse has already left the barn.
Thermography works by measuring temperature patterns in the tissue. Areas of high temperature may reflect the increased blood flow that can be a precursor to tumor formation.
Researchers began studying thermography in the 70s and 80s as a method to detect cancer. It got some bad press in the medical community because of a 1982 study where it seemed to give a lot of false positives—it was diagnosing cancer where there didn’t seem to be any. The problem?
Thermography wasn’t just working—it was working too well!
Researchers came to understand that many of these false positives likely would have developed into cancer if the study had been extended. And this is when docs began to realize that thermography could detect cancer before it formed.
There are many docs today using thermography and mammograms together. For women who refuse mammograms due to radiation, a position I respect, thermography is a good preventative procedure on its own. Once at-risk tissue is identified, you can be treated with anti-inflammatory nutrients such as omega 3 fats, hops, rosemary and flax lignans, along with vitamin D and iodine, based on your individual need.
Some doctors also are using bio-identical hormones and diindolylmethane (DIM) and indole 3 carbinole (I3C) to help establish a favorable balance of different estrogen types, which is important for breast cancer prevention. The good news is that DIM and I3C come from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale, so adding these to your diet can help cut your cancer risk.
And here’s the kicker—patients with mild tissue changes who have been treated with these natural cures often see…
Pre-cancerous tissue changes reversed in as little as 3 months!
Thermography is not covered by insurance and runs in the $200 – $300 range. Some docs are new to thermography, so the standards for technology and interpretation are not as tight as I would like. However, Breast Health and Wellness Centers (www.breasthealthandwellness.com) is a reputable company with clinics in several states. They’re a good place to start.
Posted in Newsletter.
