One Tiny Gland, One Big Problem - Prostate Health Part 3

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When it comes to maintaining proper prostate health our dietary habits are extremely important. Care must be taken to avoid harmful contaminants such as heavy metals and pesticides for example. Since the prostate is a gland that is considered “fatty” these contaminants tend to migrate and store themselves in this vital organ robbing it of nutrients and preventing proper glandular functions. The following are a few keys for the proper maintenance of the prostate gland and could prove beneficial for the reversal of adverse prostate conditions.

• Reduce fat consumption to no more than 15% of total calories. Fats derived from animals or hydrogenated oils often contain the contaminants listed above in addition to fungicides, herbicides and antibiotics none of which could be considered healthy for the prostate at all.
• Increase the consumption of organic fruits and vegetables either raw or lightly cooked. These incorporated fruits and veggies should be about 50-85% of your total diet daily. Eating this way will decrease inflammation in the body and keep the prostate from being overburdened with the contaminants that conventionally grown produce are saddled with.
• Drink plenty of water. Water not only hydrates the body but is also a powerful solvent that flushes our organs and tissues helping to remove toxins from our body.
• Reduce meat consumption especially red meat. Western cultures tend to eat red meat excessively which leads to highly acidic bodies (also known as acidosis). Acidosis is a key contributor to inflammation and opens the door to disease conditions throughout the body including the prostate. In addition, non-organic red meat contains many of the toxins aforementioned in this article.
• Decrease alcohol consumption and refined sugar consumption. Cancer feeds on sugar and prostate cancer is no exception. Sugar that has been refined and alcohol, which metabolizes into sugar, is acidifying and is a pure fuel source for cancers. A lower incidence of cancer has been associated with cultures that have a limited intake of refined sugars.

Keep your dietary habits fresh and non-toxic to optimize your health and the health of your loved ones. In the next installment of this series dietary supplements to foster great prostate health will be discussed.

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One Tiny Gland, One Big Problem - Prostate Health Part 1

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Prostate health is a matter of great importance these days with more and more men suffering from prostate issues and more and more women having to help take care of them. It used to be that most men did not have to worry about prostate health until well into their 50’s. Now, adverse prostate conditions are occurring in men as young as 20 years old. In the United States alone 165,000 men suffer from prostate cancer annually with 35,000 of them passing away because of it. So now is the time to really start paying attention to what is happening to our bodies and deal with prostate health issues head on or do what is necessary to avoid them all together.

Symptoms of prostate trouble can show up at any time. Weak or interrupted urine flow is often one of the first symptoms experienced. This troubling sign is more than a mere inconvenience. It disallows for full bladder relief which causes a person to make several trips to the bathroom. It is not uncommon for some men to have to get out of bed several times a night in order to use the rest room. A disturbing fact of frequent night time bathroom use is that it totally disrupts the sleep cycle adding to the body’s inability to heal or repair itself while compounding the prostate issue. Other signs of prostate trouble are continuous pain in the lower back, pelvis and/or the upper thighs.

Next week we will take a look at some specific risk factors and unhealthy habits that lead to chronic prostate problems.

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Estrogen Dominance in Women and Men Part 1

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A quiet phenomenon has silently gripped the health of our nation specifically and the world generally. We have been enduring soaring obesity rates, epidemic breast and prostate cancer rates and the increased feminization of men. While no single source for these increases exist several suspects can be easily fingered. Decreased nutrient values of our food, environmental toxins, and seemingly unending stress are all culprits but one cause, in particular, has been a silent plague: estrogen dominance. Seldom mentioned, estrogen dominance has flown under the mainstream radar has a health problem for too long.

What is Estrogen Dominance?

Simply put estrogen dominance is either too much estrogen in the body or the ratio of estrogen to other hormones is out of balance in favor of estrogen. Once this happens all sorts of problems can occur. Excess estrogen (and its mimickers) combines with insulin which can lead to hypoglycemia and increased fat production. In addition to increasing fat production estrogen dominance also negatively impacts thyroid function preventing or decreasing the production of thyroxin and decreases the metabolic rate. It also increases the occurrence of blood clotting, histamine release, aging collagen (makes you look older), development of fibroids, tumors and endometriosis.

How Estrogen Dominance Affects the Body of Girls and Women

It is no longer uncommon for young girls between the ages of 7 and 9 to begin their menstrual cycles. It is no longer uncommon to see young ladies around 14 or 15 years old to have a “developed” look as if they were in their twenties. Women today are suffering from estrogen based breast cancers at younger and younger ages. As if all of this is not enough women tend to retain excess fat and have a more difficult time ridding themselves of it due to the estrogenic interaction with insulin and its impairment of the thyroid gland.

How Estrogen Dominance Affects the Body of Boys and Men

Excess estrogen in boys and men can be equally devastating with long term effects. In boys, the growth, development and function of the testes are stunted (need I say more?). This lowers testosterone production and leads to other chronic conditions later in life. Excess estrogen in men interferes with the production of testosterone and sexual dysfunction rises dramatically. Bone density decreases leading to osteoporosis. Mood among men worsens as testosterone falls and estrogen rises.

Please understand that estrogen is a very important hormone for both men and women. Without it or too little of it can also lead to chronic medical issues but in our current xenoestrogenic environment estrogen dominance is far more likely and must be dealt with.

Part II of this article will address the sources of excess estrogen and some of them may surprise you.

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Sources:

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-04-12/entertainment/29426555_1_early-puberty-monthly-hormone-shots-laila

Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Milk: Another White Lie Part II

IGF, or insulin-like growth factor, is a hormone that occurs in the human body naturally. As its name implies it assist with growth and is found in large quantites in children. By adulthood IGF is nearly non-existent because growth is done.


IGF-1 is found in cow's milk and is intended to assist baby cows in their growth and developement. Adding to already high levels of IGF-1 todays milk practices increases those levels through the use of rBGH (recombinate bovine growth hormone). Increased rBGH use has exposed more people to increased the amount of IGF-1 consumed.

Why is IGF-1 consumption such an important issue? As previously mentioned IGF helps things grow. All sorts of things in fact. Unfortunately for humans some of the things excess IGF can help grow are cancerous and non-cancerous tumors. Research has shown how moderate IGF-1 level increases can cause adverse health conditions. For example, men with an 8% increase in circulating IGF-1 were seven times more likely to develope prostate cancer. Women who had increased IGF-1 levels also had increased incidences of breast cancer. In fact a study conducted in China found that women in the top 25% of IGF-1 levels as compared to other women had a 2-3 times greater occurrence of breast cancer. A similar study conducted in England on men found a similar correlation. Those men in the top 25% were 3 times more likely to develope prostate cancer.

Are you wondering why cancer correlations deal specifically with breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men? IGF-1 is produced in abundance in the young especially during puberty. During puberty one of it's key functions it's to simulate the growth of breast tissue in girls and prostate growth in boys. After puberty IGF-1 production falls off to very modest levels having done that bulk of it's work. We, as humans, can increase our circulating IGF-1 levels threw consuming dairy products but for some it will be at our own cancer causing risk.

The next post will address the issue of lactose intolerance and other milk allergies.