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Wellness

How to fight prostate cancer with flavanoids

Fight prostate cancer with flavonoids like blueberries Photo by © Royalty-Free/Masterfile

With Movember over (get out the razors boys!), we'd like to present you with a more practical way to remember the fight against prostate cancer: eat more colourful vegetables and fruits.

New research suggests that a high intake of plant-based, flavonoid-rich foods and beverages may lower the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Flavonoids are naturally occurring compounds that give plants their characteristic yellow, red or blue colour; but they can also act as antioxidants to help prevent free radicals from damaging brain and body cells.

The study, lead by Susan Steck, an associate professor at the Arnold School of Public Health, analyzed data collected from 1,897 men (in the in the North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project) who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Results show that men whose diets included the highest intake of flavonoids had a 25 percent lower risk for diagnosis of the harshest form of prostate cancer, compared with those men who consumed the lowest amount.

While the study doesn’t evaluate the effects of flavonoids on preventing prostate cancer itself, Steck suggests that eating a more plant-based diet overall may be beneficial to your health: “In particular, for those people who are at increased risk for cancer, such as smokers.”

Dietary questionnaire results showed that citrus fruits and juices (such as oranges and grapefruits), tea, grapes, strawberries, onions and cooked greens were among the top sour

ces of flavonoids consumed by the participants.

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Fight prostate cancer with flavonoid-rich foods such as red cabbage, cranberries, dark chocolate, blueberries, citrus, black beans, tofu, hot peppers

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