Since it is ‘No shave November’, AKA Movember,
I thought I would make this month’s nutrition topic about foods that promote a
healthy prostate! But in addition to
some healthy food choices, I can’t help but also give you some lifestyle tips
as well, to maintain a healthy prostate as you age into your forties, fifties
and beyond. For example, did you know
that regular ejaculation is absolutely
one of the healthiest things you can do for your prostate? To be more specific, a recent study (don’t
ask me how they studied this), showed that men age 40 and over who ejaculated
at least 21 times per month were at 33% lower risk for developing enlarged
prostate gland, or prostate cancer than those who ejaculated less frequently. Obviously the safest but least fun way to
accomplish this is through masturbation, because increasing sex partners will
increase your risk of exposure to many other STDs which could be more way more
life threatening than prostate cancer!
Why should you be so concerned with
your prostate anyway? Well doctors
recommend at age 40 that you get your first prostate check, by having your
rectum probed with the finger of a medical expert. This type of check will allow a doctor to manually
feel your prostate gland and see if it is enlarged or has any lumps, or hard
spots. At age 50 doctors recommend a
prostate check every year, by either manual check through the rectum or a blood
lab PSA test (Prostate Specific Antigen test).
The problem with blood PSA tests is they are really only useful when
several tests are taken over a period of time detect a trend. Because your PSA levels can acutely rise into
a risk-alert level through many activities such as sexual intercourse,
bicycling or any other kind of trauma near that area of your body. Even a sitting too long during a road trip
can spike your PSA levels, possibly alarming you and your doctor for no reason. So as
unpleasant and as violating as it may be, many experts feel that the manual
finger-insertion check is more accurate and reliable than a blood PSA test. What all these tests are trying to check for
is early onset of enlarged prostate gland, medically known as ‘Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia’ or
BPH. BPH can then be a precursor to
prostate cancer, which at least is considered very curable and isn’t likely to
kill you. But still nobody wants cancer!
