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Last Updated: Apr 20, 2011 - 9:38:09 AM |
SUNDAY FEB 24, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Eating lots of vegetables daily may dramatically help men reduce a condition known as benign prostate hyperplasia or BPH, according to a new study published in the FEB 7, 2008 issue of
American Journal of Epidemiology.
The study by Dr. Alan R. Kristal of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and colleagues showed men who ate lat least four servings of vegetables daily were about 32 percent less likely to have the prostate problem.
Additionally, men who drank two or more glasses of alcoholic beverages were also about 30 percent less likely to have BPA compared to those who did not drink.
According to the researchers, BPH has not been well understood and obesity is the only risk factor that has been known to affect the condition so far. The study was meant to examine the potential impact of diet factors on this condition.
In the study, 4,770 men who were free of BPH when entering the study were followed up for seven years. During the period, the researchers identified 876 cases of BPH.
In addition to the possible benefits from vegetables and alcoholic beverages, the researchers found that consumption of red meat increased the likelihood of BPH, but only in men who ate as often as everyday.
Further, men who ate the highest amounts of fat were 31 percent more likely to acquire BPH while those who consumed highest protein slashed their risk by as much as 15 percent.
Kristal told Reuters Health that high protein does not mean you go out and eat lean meat. It means lean sources of protein, such as beans and vegetable proteins.
Taking antioxidants supplements was not associated with reduced risk of BPH, the study also showed.
A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org cautioned that although there was a positive link between alcoholic beverages and lower risk of BPH, men need to know that alcoholic beverages may cause some inconvenience as a carcinogen, meaning those who do not tolerate alcohol should restrain themselves from drinking alcohol.
BPH sometimes causing painful urination is as commonly seen in older men as gray hair. More than half of men in their sixties and as many as 90 percent in their seventies and eighties have some symptoms of BPH. In the United States more than 4.5 visits to physicians are for BPH, according to US government data.
For more information on benign prostatic superplasia, reads http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/prostateenlargement/
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