There is standard treatment for men who have prostate cancer. These include synthetic medications, radiation therapies, and surgeries that all pose unwanted side effects. Due to these side effects, several men have been looking for natural treatment for prostate cancer. There are biomedical pieces of research in recent years that have also proven the effectiveness of natural treatment to prostate cancer.
So here in this article, we have broken down several natural ways to treat prostate cancer so you can lower your risk against it. Let’s check it out!
Natural Treatment For Prostate Cancer
Changes in diet
One of the first things to lower your risk to prostate cancer in the long term, or any cancer for that matter, is to make positive changes in your diet for men with prostate cancer. The kind of foods and drinks you consume has a large impact on how your body responds to certain pathogens.
Let’s start with having a diet low in fat, especially saturated fat because it increases your risk of prostate cancer and other types of cancer. You may opt for a plant-based diet, which has been proven to be one of the healthiest diets. You can also try juicing once in a while so you can detoxify your system. When you switch to a plant-based diet, make sure to have a wide selection of nutrient-dense vegetables and fruits.
Cancer-fighting foods help battle against prostate cancer?
- Cruciferous vegetables e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, Brussel sprouts, kale, and spinach. The bioactive components found in cruciferous vegetables have positive effects on cancer biomarkers.
- Lycopene-rich foods e.g. tomato, watermelon, apricot, grapefruit, carrot, red bell pepper, and papaya. There is a 2016 study that concluded that increased consumption of tomatoes helped in reducing risks to prostate cancer.
- Soy products e.g. tofu, miso, soy milk, alfalfa, chickpeas, and beans.
- Foods with antioxidants e.g. pomegranate, berries, and green tea.
- Green tea is a known antioxidant because it has a set of antioxidants called catechins that are known to boost the immune system and slow the progression of prostate cancer.
Foods you need to avoid?
- Sugar and carbohydrates. Some medical studies showed that a body with a high glycemic load can increase the risk of development of prostate cancer, although the relationship between sugar and cancer [2] remains to be an obscure discussion.
- Red and processed meat. Eating too much of these types of meat can increase your risk of advanced and aggressive prostate cancer.
- Vegetable oils. The omega-6 fatty acids in vegetable oils like corn oil and sunflower oil can promote the growth of prostate cancer cells.
- Dairy foods. There is still no strong evidence about the link between dairy products and prostate cancer, but some studies suggested that too much consumption of calcium (found in dairy products) might contribute to an increased risk of prostate cancer.
Positive changes in your diet is the most crucial natural treatment of cancer prostate alongside other remedies that are proven helpful. Having a healthy diet helps in hormone regulation and cell cycle progression since healthy foods can have a beneficial impact on this kind of progression.
Dietary supplements
Besides the diet changes, you also need to take a careful evaluation on whether you need to take dietary supplements in the long term or not. In this case, it’s still always reasonable to consult your doctor for side effects. Only the experts would know if your body requires an additional nutrient supplement, what type of supplement to be taken, and how long you will need to take it.
Common dietary supplements for prostate cancer recommended by doctors?
- Zinc. This supplement may not be one of the specific natural remedies for prostate cancer, but it has a beneficial effect in reducing urinary symptoms that can reduce risk to prostate cancer.
- Selenium and Vitamin E. There have been several debates on how selenium and vitamin C helps reduce the risk of prostate cancer. There are studies in the past that reflected the useful effects of these two components. Unfortunately, on the recent studies conducted by Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial or SELECT, no evidence shows neither of the two lowers the risk of prostate cancer.
In fact, according to Harvard Health, data from the SELECT study in 2014 showed that high doses of selenium at 200 micrograms per day and vitamin E at 400 international units per day did not provide any benefit to men exposed to prostate cancer. In some cases, the high doses of these nutrients even posed danger. For example, study participants who already had high selenium levels upon the start of the study had increased their risk of prostate cancer after consuming the selenium supplements.
Herbal supplements or plant extracts
Like our recommendation for dietary supplements, we do not recommend that you take herbal supplements by themselves if you have prostate cancer because the contents of these supplements can interfere with your treatments or medications.
Herbal supplements are a natural treatment for prostate cancer although there is no current study that gives it the credit that it can cure nor can it prevent prostate cancer. The only possible potency of these herbal supplements is lowering your risk of developing prostate cancer.
However, due to several studies that support the benefits of herbal supplements in treating prostate cancer, more people now have chosen to include herbal supplements on their treatment plan. You need to be careful though, because negative interaction between medicinal properties may be dangerous to your health. For instance, the plant named St. John’s wort can negatively impact the liver by igniting the cytochrome P450 enzymes that metabolize drugs.
Subject to your doctor’s supervision, here are some notable plants that are considered natural remedies for prostate cancer:
Saw Palmetto
This is a variety of palm that grows in the southern coastal regions of the US. It also grows in Mediterranean countries and the West Indies. One of its most potent parts is its fruit that can improve urination, reduce inflammation, and treat benign prostate hyperplasia or BPH due to its phytosterols and fatty acids. There is currently no strong evidence, however, that backs the previous studies on the correlation of saw palmetto in treating prostate cancer.
Pomegranate
According to a study conducted by UCLA, men who drank an 8-ounce glass of Pomegranate juice a day had slowed down the increase of their PSA levels. When your PSA levels are kept to a minimum, you don’t need a treatment involving synthetic medications that can potentially block your testosterone which can lead to bone loss and sexual dysfunction.
Other foods
Other foods that can help in lowering risks to prostate cancer are green tea (previously mentioned above), Berberine, Turmeric, and milk thistle. However, these foods still lack stronger evidence that backs the preliminary studies of their potential capacity to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth.
While BPH is not the same with prostate cancer, it would still be useful to look at the list of some plants that are significant to reducing the BPH symptoms of men who have them. Here’s a run-down of these herbs that are typically recommended to aid symptoms in BPH:
- Zi-Shen Pill (ZSP)
- Stinging Nettle
- Cernilton
- Babassu
- Pygeum (African plum)
There are a lot of herbal choices that are great natural treatments for prostate cancer, but you should be extra careful so as not to interfere with your treatment plan.
Essential oils
Essential oils are plant extracts from aromatic plants that process to become oils that can be inhaled through a diffuser or directly through an inhaler. They can also be applied topically when necessary.
As to the role they play in treating prostate cancer, there is no specific study that tackles essential oils concerning such a disease. However, there is tangible evidence that supports the fact that essential oils can reduce anxiety, stress, and cancer treatment side effects.
How do essential oils reduce stress and anxiety? Essential oils can largely impact the brain’s emotional or sensory system and be able to relieve pain due to their anti-inflammatory properties. They are also widely used in massages, which is another form of complementary medicine in relieving pain and reducing stress.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information also cited the antimicrobial activity [3] present in essential oil. In a vast range of mechanisms of action, cytotoxicity and cancer cell prevention were exhibited. Essential oils target cancer cells that have also been proven alongside their ability to increase the effectiveness of commonly administered chemotherapy drugs like docetaxel and paclitaxel.
What are the recommended essential oils that can potentially aid in treating prostate cancer?
- Myrrh. Due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, this essential oil can help in avoiding infection and calming tissue inflammation.
- Frankincense. This essential oil is topically-applied as it has significant effectiveness in soothing inflamed skin by reducing swelling, redness, and itchiness thereby accelerating the healing process.
- Rosemary. With its antimicrobial properties, this essential oil can help decrease the level of dihydrotestosterone which has long been assimilated with prostate health.
When you consult conventional doctors regarding natural treatments for prostate cancer, they would most likely recommend herbal and dietary supplements as well as lifestyle changes. Essential oils are not recommended because the usage of such natural remedies have only been studied lately.
Cannabis
The cannabinoids in a cannabis plant have long been associated with cancer due to their anticancer properties. Because of that, cannabis is usually administered for the relief of treatment side effects and reduction of pain brought by cancer symptoms. Alleviating pain in managing symptoms or side effects is typically done through the use of cannabidiol or CBD oil.
However, the downside of the use of cannabis is its psychoactive properties that can result in mind-altering effects. The use of cannabis for cancer has been backed by multiple studies around the globe with some nations even prompting the legalization of cannabis, so it can be legally used to treat certain diseases including cancer.
Another credible study[4] on cannabinoids for the treatment of prostate cancer is from a published medical study in the National Center for Biotechnology Information under the Indian Journal of Urology. It is said that prostate cancer cells have cannabinoids receptors and their stimulation resulted in anti-androgenic effects. In other words, the stimulation and increased expressions of these cannabinoids led to a decrease in cell viability.
Additional studies that involved the efficacy of cannabinoids in treating prostate cancer have shown that cannabinoids have significant positive effects in men with metastatic prostate cancer. The analgesic properties found in cannabinoids also help in alleviating pain brought by bone metastatic cancer.
Harvard Health studies also support the usefulness of cannabinoids in treating prostate cancer It also cautioned that these researches have only shown benefits in laboratory experiments and not in clinical trials which would have been crucial for the development of these studies.
It would be amazing to witness this progress if these researches would be brought to clinical trials because a series of experiments demonstrated how cancer cells died after being killed by cannabinoids. Such a fundamental medical process called apoptosis can tell cancer cells die by suicide after being targeted by its relative component.
As of now, without any confirmed conclusions of the potency of cannabinoids in treating prostate cancer, it would still be best not to incorporate marijuana in your treatment especially if it is not legal in your state.
What Is The Best Natural Treatment For Prostate Cancer?
There is no best treatment for prostate cancer because each recommended treatment even has its adverse effects, which usually outweigh the benefits brought by such cancer treatment.
The natural treatments for prostate cancer are even not considered to be the best treatment since most of these natural treatments still lack the necessary studies to make them potent for clinical applications in treating prostate cancer.
There is not even a single treatment that is right for every man because it would also depend on several factors, such as the size of your tumor and how far it has spread, how fast the tumor will likely develop, your age, your health status, and your personal preference with whatever feels right for you.
Meanwhile, here’s a brief description of the conventional treatments used for prostate cancer:
Active surveillance
This is not a medical treatment, but simply a medical phase wherein your doctor will recommend waiting whether or not your tumor will grow and spread before any official treatment is done. In this stage, your doctor will usually inquire about how you are feeling with the disease and will subject you to regular tests to check on your cancer progression.
Surgery
This treatment is usually done only to those who are healthy and whose prostate cancer cells have not yet spread throughout the body. Sometimes, your doctor will only have to remove your prostate gland or with the tissue around it. The known side effects of this surgery done to men with prostate cancer are erectile dysfunction and urinary problems.
Radiation therapy
This radiation treatment therapy uses high-energy beams similar to what x-ray uses in killing cancer cells. This is the typical choice when your cancer is not yet aggressive, or in medical terms, low-grade because the cancer cells remain around the prostate gland.
Proton Beam Radiation
This is another form of treatment radiation therapy but instead of using x-rays, this treatment uses protons to kill cancer cells. The protons when exposed to high energy can destroy cancer cells.
Cryotherapy
This is a cancer treatment that uses very cold temperatures to freeze and kill cancer cells. Consult your doctor before buying to know the side effects and other concerns.
Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy is also sometimes called androgen suppression therapy. The male hormones called androgen fuel prostate cancer cells to stop their prostate cancer cell stimulation, their levels have to be removed through this therapy.
Chemotherapy
This therapy is done by injecting or giving anti-cancer drugs by mouth to kill prostate cancer cells.
Immunotherapy
As the name suggests, this kind of therapy administers certain medications to stimulate the immune system of the body to fight off prostate cancer cells. Consult your doctor before buying to know the side effects and other concerns.
Now, with the above-mentioned conventional treatments against prostate cancer, it’s important that whatever step you will undergo in battling prostate cancer, you should talk with your doctor. Discuss your ideas openly, so your doctor would also know what treatment options he can recommend. You may also ask about natural treatments for prostate cancer and ask if any of these natural remedies can be administered to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
The latest treatment regarding prostate cancer is a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. By pairing these two together chances of cancer treatment are dramatically increased, although the drug used for chemotherapy (Taxotere) is very potent and only a select few are eligible for it.
Radiation therapy is currently one of the safest treatments for prostate cancer. It isn’t invasive and it doesn’t have very severe side effects like other treatments.
Yes. The majority of prostate cancer cases can be cured in the early stages. However, once cancer reaches stage 4, it is incurable.
Men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer have a 95.5% success rate to be cured while those with high-risk prostate cancer have a 91.3% chance of being cured.