Veggie foods fight prostate cancer

| 2 June 2007
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A review of 25 studies shows that a plant-based diet can help slow prostate cancer. Writing in the journal Nutrition Reviews, scientists reported that prostate cancer patients who ate the most fruit, vegetables and pulses (peas, beans and lentils) and the least meat and dairy products lived longer. In contrast, men who ate the most saturated fat were three times more likely to die from prostate cancer than those who ate the least. Lead author Dr Susan Berkow says that high-fat, low-fibre diets fuel prostate cancer cell growth and that the key to improving the odds of survival is avoiding these foods in favour of fruits, vegetables, pulses and other cancer-fighting veggie foods.

Berkow SE, Barnard ND, Saxe GA and Ankerberg-Nobis T. 2007. Diet and Survival After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis. Nutrition Reviews. 65 (9) 391-403.

About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
I joined Viva! as a health campaigner in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. My scientific training helped me research and write numerous reports, guides and fact sheets for Viva! including Meat the Truth, Fish-Free for Life, One in Nine (breast cancer and diet) and the substantial report on the detrimental health effects of consuming dairy; White Lies. This accompanied Viva!’s report The Dark Side of Dairy which spelt out the inherent cruelty of dairy farming. We were the first UK group to take on the dairy industry in this way, and many of our supporters go vegan after reading these reports.

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