Slash your risk of prostate cancer....

Today's post: Friday, 6-20-2008

We’ve already posted on many ways to prevent cancer, prevent prostate cancer, & prevent the most dangerous & aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Suppose you did all those things & could cut your risk in half again.

You just may be able to do that.

It would certainly boost your chances of escaping prostate cancer & being able to escape having the treatments for it end your sex life.

I’ll list a few of the things I’ve already posted on that will help prevent cancer, prevent prostate cancer, & prevent the most dangerous & aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Then I’ll add & comment on the article I read today that may be able to cut your risk in half on top of all that whole list.

Prevent all cancers:

People who take 200 micrograms a day of selenium are more likely to survive if they get cancer & may be less likely to get it.

People who take or get 2,000 to 4,000 iu a day of vitamin D or more from food, supplements, or sun exposure look now to be much less likely to get cancer & less likely to get the severe forms. They also look to be more likely to escape autoimmune diseases & be healthier in other ways.

Taking resveratrol apparently helps prevent cancer by reducing your rate of aging so your immune system can fight off cancers longer & by promoting new blood vessels to healthy cells while PREVENTING cancer cells from getting new blood vessels.

Eating right as we have been describing it here means you will be less fat & you will ingest far less herbicides and pesticides & other harmful chemicals.

Exercising each week with progressive strength training, interval cardio, & walking or other more moderate activities will make you less fat than you otherwise would be.

And, eating right, exercise, & not being too fat have each independently been shown to reduce the incidence of cancer.

As we posted on recently, eating right & exercising can even reset the expression of a genetic pattern that has resulted in a family history of getting prostate cancer. In fact, that study showed a curative effect on existing prostate cancer as well.

It also looks like eating cooked tomatoes, particularly with garlic & extra virgin olive oil AND also taking 30 mg a day of lycopene make prostate cancer less likely.

Taking 30 to 45 mg a day of Zinc – but NOT more -- may also help.

Taking 200 to 600 mg a day of magnesium may also help & is health protective, as is vitamin D, in many other ways.

Eating raw broccoli or cauliflower at least once every week has been shown to cut the incidence of the dangerous & aggressive kind of prostate cancer about in half.

Suppose you do all that. Wouldn’t it be nice to cut your remaining chances of getting prostate cancer in half from there?

Here’s the Total Health Breakthroughs article that suggests it may be possible to do just that.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

“Friday, June 20, 2008

This Cancer Fighter Isn't Even on their Radar Screen

By Al Sears, MD

If you're a man in this country, you've probably heard a lot about skyrocketing rates of prostate cancer. With good reason: it's the second leading cause of cancer death in American men.

Today I'll tell you about a little-known weapon in the battle against this man killer. It's a basic, plentiful mineral, but few doctors know much about it -- or its health benefits. It's called boron.

Boron is one of nutritional science's ugly stepchildren. It's a "trace element," meaning it's toxic in high doses, but vital to health in small amounts. It's also toxic to animals and insects, which is why it's still used as a commercial pesticide in the form of boric acid.

That's one reason people don't know about boron. Another is that researchers didn't even recognize its role as an essential nutrient until the late 1980s. They stumbled on it by chance while conducting animal studies.

Add that to the mainstream medical establishment's focus on drugs and surgery to deal with prostate cancer, and you can see why boron's not on the radar screen. You won't find it in most multi-vitamins. And most men don't get enough of it through diet alone.

That's a big problem, because all men really need it.

Boron's one of your prostate's most potent allies. Scientific research has revealed that it can cut your risk of prostate cancer in half.

One recent study compared the eating habits of 76 men with prostate cancer with those of 7,651 men who were cancer-free. The men whose diets were the most boron-rich were 64% less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who got the least boron in their diet.1

Boron's power is not only preventive; it may become an alternate form of prostrate cancer treatment in the future. In mice, boron shrank prostate tumors by 25-38% and reduced PSA levels by 86 to 88%.2

What's more, boron has the power to reverse the signs of aging. It acts like an iron shield against arthritis by blocking the enzymes that cause pain and inflammation.3

It's crucial to bone strength and brainpower, with increasing benefits as people age. Boron keeps bones from losing calcium and magnesium. It also keeps your mind razor-sharp by improving eye-hand coordination, attention span, and even short- and long-term memory.4

Now you can understand why you should know about boron. But how can you get enough of it?

One way is through diet, of course. Foods rich in boron include fruits, nuts, and legumes. Plums (and prunes), red grapes, apples, pears, and avocados all contain boron. I tell my patients to make all-natural trail mix their snack food of choice -- all those raisins and nuts are a great source of boron.

Another surefire way to get enough boron is to take a supplement. I recommend 3-6 mg per day.

References

1. Zhang Z-F et al. FASEB Journal. 15:(2001)A1089.

2. Gallardo-Williams et al. Proceedings of the American Cancer Association. 43(2002):77.

3. Hall et al. Archiv der Pharmazie (Weinheim). 328(1995):39-44.

4. Penland JG. Environmental Health Perspectives. 1994. 102 Suppl 7:65-72.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, Chairman of the Board of Total Health Breakthroughs, is a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure. He is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness and heart health…..]”

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Here are two other things that are worth noting.

1. The foods he lists that are high in boron have multiple other health benefits. Avocados are so nutritious they are almost as good as a natural vitamin mineral pill & they have fiber & health OK fat. They are a real superfood. Apples help prevent being too fat & are heart protective. And, purple and red grapes & plums and the juices & wines made from them contain resveratrol. Plus. eating a diet plentiful in these foods provides other vitamins, antioxidants, & phytonutrients.

Lastly, eating a lot of these foods tends to increase your HDL & lower your LDL cholesterol. It also tends to keep your blood pressure in the normal zone. This definitely protects your heart & blood vessels. I’ve seen studies that suggest doing these things may also prevent prostate cancer directly.

2. I’ve taken 3 mg of boron a day as a supplement for many years. Now I’m very thankful I did.

But I didn’t know any of the other benefits described in this article. I did it when I read that people who had higher blood levels of boron were more alert than people with low blood levels.

I took it because it looked like it would help me think better & be more effective.

When you add that benefit to the others listed above, taking boron & eating a lot of these foods looks to be quite valuable indeed.