Monday Aug 29, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- It has been known for long that eating a plant-based diet can prevent a wide range of chronic diseases including cancer.   A case report published in 2012 in International Journal of Science & Clinical Laboratory, now suggests that simply eating a plant-based diet can also help treat cancers like prostate cancer.

According to the case report, a 73-year old man with prostate cancer, residing in Iligan city, Philippines, was treated with a plant-based diet (vegan diet) for TEN days and his prostate specific antigen was dropped to 5.29 ng/mL from 24.21ng/mL.  The plant-based diet also decreased carcinoembryyonic Antigen (CEA) from 7.21 ng/mL to 2.21 ng/mL.  The patient did not receive any conventional treatments like thermotherapy and radiation therapy other than the plant-based diet.

The man went to a local hospital and complained about some typical symptoms associated with prostate cancer including frequent urination at night, pain or burning sensation during urination, occasional blood in urine, back pain, fatigue and reduced appetite.  He was diagnosed with prostate cancer with Gleason score 4+3=7 and the concentration of prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) at 24.21ng/mL

The patient was treated with the following dietary protocol.

For breakfast, he used unpolished rice and two to three kinds of sweet fruits such as banana, jackfruit, star-apple, and prunes or sub-acid fruits such as apples, ripe mango, papaya and pears.

For lunch, he ate unpolished rice, along with cooked vegetables and raw vegetables salad made of carrots, broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, and green leafy vegetables.

For dinner, the patient used two to three types of subacid or acid fruits including oranges, calamondin, guava, pineapple, all berries, and strawberry with potato, cassava, sweet potato and turnips.

The patient also drank plenty of water and fresh fruit juices between meals.

There are some possible reasons for the therapeutic effect of the plant-based diet.  According to the report, many bioactive constituents in fruit and vegetables including fiber, micronutrients like vitamin C, E and folate and phytochemicals such as carotenoids, phenols, isoflavanoids, isothiocyanates and indoles can promote the production of detoxification enzymes, scavenge pro-oxidants and inhibit malignant  transformation. (David Liu)