How to Improve Prostate Health

Eat whole grains and more fruits and vegetables. Choose whole-grain bread and pasta over white bread and pasta. Make sure to get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every single day. Include produce high in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, such as red peppers and tomatoes. Lycopene is what makes fruit and vegetables red, and has been proven as a cancer-fighting ingredient. In general, the deeper and brighter the color of your produce, the better.

• There are currently no guidelines as the amount of lycopene you should try to get each day. However, research indicates that for lycopene to make any difference, you would need to eat lycopene-foods all day to get the amounts needed.
• Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy and kale are also good defenses against the development of cancer. Some controlled studies have found a link between increased ingestion of cruciferous vegetables and reduced risk of prostate cancer, although the evidence is merely associative at this point.

Be more selective in your consumption of protein. Cut back on how much red meat you eat, including beef, pork, lamb and goat. It's also a good idea to limit your consumption of processed meats, like sandwich meat and hot dogs.

• Instead of red meat, eat fish with high levels of omega-3 acids, including salmon and tuna. These foods will help your prostate as well as your heart and immune system. The research about the relationship between dietary fish intake and prostate cancer prevention is largely based on correlative data and namely, the fact that the Japanese have so few cases of prostate cancer and eat large amounts of fish. Whether there is a causal relationship is still being debated.
• Beans, skinless poultry, and eggs are also healthy options for protein.

Increase the amount of soy in your diet. The properties of soy, which is found in many vegetarian dishes, fight cancer. Sources of soy include tofu, soy nuts, soy flour and soy powders. Swapping cow's milk for soy milk in your cereal or coffee is one way to get more soy into your diet.

• Note that recent research has found soy beans and some other specific products, such as tofu, to be preventive in prostate cancer. However, this cannot be extrapolated to all soy products, including milk. There are also no current anecdotal or evidence-based guidelines on the amount of soy you should try to incorporate into your diet.

Limit your alcohol, caffeine, and sugar intake. Though you don't need to entirely cut out caffeine from your diet, try to limit how much you ingest. For example, limit yourself to one to two 4-ounce cups of coffee per day. The same goes for alcohol; try to view it as a treat and stick to a couple of small glasses a week.

• Avoid sugary (sometimes also caffeinated) drinks like sodas and fruit juices. These have nearly zero nutritional benefit.

Keep good fats and get rid of bad fats. Limit your consumption of saturated fats from animal and dairy products and instead switch to healthy fats, like olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Animal products high in fat, such as meat, butter, and lard, have been associated with an increase risk of prostate cancer.

• Avoid fast food and most processed foods. These often contain partially hydrogenated fats (trans fats), which are extremely unhealthy.