Study finds simple diet swaps ‘significantly improve’ odds in battling this disease

The ‘forbidden’ foods that could be the missing link against prostate cancer

You know the rule: If it bleeds, it leads.

What about if it saves lives?

Well, then it’s usually buried — unless it comes with a big Big Pharma push.

Still, the findings from this recently published study should lead the evening news everywhere:

“Men with prostate cancer may significantly improve their survival chances with a simple change in their diet.”

Because this is big news that men everywhere need to be reading.

This study revealed that the secret to lowering your risk of dying from prostate cancer — and other diseases — can be as simple as making some really minor food swaps.

Good fats…bad fats

The entire “war on fat” was a colossal mistake to begin with. We sure aren’t any healthier because of it. Actually, it’s just the opposite.

But if you have prostate cancer, going along with this low-fat dogma is an even worse idea. Much worse.

Look, if a drug offered the kind of results that researchers found with these simple diet changes, well, you can imagine what would happen. The commercials would be going nonstop and the pages would be flying off prescription pads at record speed.

And yet here’s a way to “significantly” improve your odds with prostate cancer that’s simple, has no side effects, and that anyone can start right now. So why am I the only one talking about it?

The researchers found that by substituting some healthy vegetable fats (including nuts) for some carbs and animal fats every day, men who had prostate cancer had a “markedly lower risk” of dying from that disease and from other causes.

And the amounts of these “healthy fat” replacements were very modest.

The best part is you don’t have to change your whole diet and eat only nuts and twigs dipped in olive oil or some crazy food you can’t pronounce.

By replacing just 10 percent of calories from carbs with a good vegetable fat, the researchers found a 26 percent lower risk of dying from any cause.

Better yet, they found substituting vegetable fat for only 10 percent of the animal fat in your diet was associated with a whopping 34 percent lower risk of dying. (Again, that’s from any cause.)

The study’s lead author gave some examples. Okay, I know they don’t sound that exciting, but we’re only talking about a few trades here. You don’t have to become a vegetarian or start blending green-colored drinks three times a day…

Here’s what they suggested to get you started:

• Replace a half-cup of white rice or spaghetti with salad topped with one tablespoon of olive oil.
• Instead of a potato, have half an avocado.
• Replace a ham sandwich with a peanut butter one.

The most remarkable findings involved those in the study who ate the highest amount of vegetable fat — including nuts — after their cancer had been diagnosed. They had a 36 percent lower risk of dying from the disease than the group who ate the least of these good fats.

The researchers concluded that these healthy vegetable oils and ‘nut fats’ help by lowering insulin and bad cholesterol and also upping your antioxidant intake.

Trans fat, on the other hand, had just the opposite result. In fact, men who consumed a mere one percent of calories from carbs with added trans fat upped their risk of dying by 25 percent!

This test-tube additive, called “partially hydrogenated oil” on food packaging, is made by chemically altering fat for one reason — to improve a product’s shelf life. But the result can be to shorten yours.

Especially if you already have prostate cancer.

Sources:
“Men with prostate cancer should eat healthy vegetable fats” Elizabeth Fernandez, UCSF press release, ucsf.efu

“Vegetable fat linked to longer life for prostate cancer patients” Daily Health News, bottomlinepublications.com