Keeping the prostate healthy is of utmost importance for men. Most men will experience prostate problems at some point in their lives. By age 60, 50% of men will have some signs of prostate enlargement. By age 85, that figure jumps to 90%. And it is estimated that one third of men who experience prostate enlargement will require treatment.
So, what can you do? Well, researchers have discovered that vitamin E and selenium are two very important nutrients when it comes to prostate health. In one clinical study, a group of Finnish researchers did a massive trial involving almost 30,000 male smokers. The researchers were not actually studying anything to do with the prostate. They wanted to determine if vitamin E and beta-carotene supplementation could help prevent lung cancer. The results were disappointing. But what they did find out, unexpectedly, was that participants taking vitamin E had 32% fewer cases of prostate cancer and 41% fewer deaths from the disease.
Vitamin E works by fighting dangerous free radicals in your body’s fats and oils. The vitamin also significantly boosts your immune system’s ability to fight infection and disease. Not sure how it all works? Well, your immune cells constantly synthesize new molecules as they grow. When vitamin E is present during this synthesis, it can help the new healthy, strong molecules replace the older, damaged molecules. And this in turn strengthens your immune system.
You can get a healthy dose of vitamin E in the following foods:
–Vegetable oils such as sunflower, canola, corn, soybean and olive oil
–Nuts (peanuts, peanut butter, almonds, sunflower seeds)
–Whole grains
–Wheat germ
–Egg yolks
–Papaya
–Avocado
–Green leafy vegetables
–Fish (salmon, tuna, shrimp, lobster)
Selenium works along with vitamin E to protect your cell membranes against free radical damage. Selenium is a trace mineral. It helps your body to produce a certain enzyme called “glutathione peroxidase.” This enzyme is able to roam around your body killing free radicals before they oxidize.
Selenium was used in a trial to determine if it had any effect on skin cancer. The trial involved 1,312 patients previously treated for skin cancer. But the researchers found out something very interesting about prostate cancer prevention. Those patients given daily doses of selenium were found to have 63% fewer cases of prostate cancer than those not taking the mineral! Here are some of the best sources of selenium:
–Shellfish
–Liver
–Mushrooms
–Wheat germ
–Brazil nuts
–Mustard seeds
–Oats
–Brown rice
–Garlic
–Orange juice
–Chicken breast, turkey