A review of recent cases seen at the METI Clinic prompts us to focus in this Column on the most frequently occurring cancer in men: cancer of the prostate which affects mostly older men. The conventional treatment offered is radical surgery, radiotherapy or hormone treatment. It is when such treatments fail and the cancer spreads (metastasizes) that some patients seek help at our clinic. 

A spreading cancer of the prostate can be monitored by the patient taking the PSA test. This test measures the amount of ‘prostate-specific antigen’ (PSA) in your blood. Increasing levels of PSA indicate the progression of the cancer. So far, all this sounds gloomy but in 2005, Dr Dean Ornish, one of the pioneers of whole foods, plant-based (WFPB) nutrition, and his research team, concluded a remarkable project.

They recruited 93 men, who were found to have early prostate cancer proven by biopsy (a small piece of cancer tissue having been removed from their prostate) and who did not want to undergo any of the conventional treatments. The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups: called the ‘experimental’ and the ‘control’ groups. Those in the experimental group were told to make comprehensive lifestyle changes: strictly following the WFPB diet, regularly exercising, and stopping smoking and alcohol use. The control group were asked to continue their present lifestyle. PSA levels were checked regularly for a one-year period.  

The results of the experiment showed that the stricter the volunteers followed the WFPB diet, the more their PSA levels dropped. On the contrary, in the control group, PSA levels increased and several of the volunteers finally opted to undergo one of the conventional treatments. Another part of the experiment was to take the blood of the volunteers and spray it on cultured prostate cancer cells: it showed that the blood of the volunteers following the plant-based diet and lifestyle program was nearly eight times better at suppressing cancer cell growth (compared to the blood from the volunteers in the control group). 

However, this project focused on early prostate cancer. What about the effect of the WFPB diet on advanced cancer of the prostate? In those cases, PSA levels typically rise fast as a result of the continuous growth of the cancer. So, researchers in California, heartened by Dr Ornish’s results, tried the WFPB diet on such patients…same results! The stricter the patients followed the WFPB diet, the more PSA levels dropped. Indeed, in the absence of treatment, levels of PSA increased exponentially, but eating the WFPB diet: nine of the ten patients showed an apparent slowing of cancer growth, and four of the nine an apparent reversal in cancer growth. In summary, a strong link has been found between saturated fat intake (high in animal-based foods) and prostate cancer progression. To put it differently: consumption of animal products (meat, fish, eggs and dairy) has the greatest influence on increasing the growth of prostate cancer, while consumption of a plant-based diet, like what METI recommends, has the opposite effect. 

Many epidemiological studies (population studies) have confirmed this fact. Those populations that follow mostly a plant-based diet (like in Japan or China) have far less prostate cancer than say Western populations consuming mostly animal-based diets. In fact, the incidence of cancer of the prostate in Asia is 50–100 times lower than in Western countries. However, when such populations migrate to Western countries and adopt animal-based nutrition, they will develop the same prostate cancer rates as the Western populations. The risk of prostate cancer development grows within the first generation of immigrants from Japan and China to Western countries, probably because of their transition to the Western style of dieting. 

As final proof, veterinarians looking after wild animals report that prostate disorders like cancer are extremely rare in chimpanzees and apes. The low incidence of such cancer in these so-called hominids is primarily explained by the fact that they are strict plant-eaters. In conclusion, if you suffer from prostate cancer and especially if your PSA levels are rising, do not despair but start strictly following the WFPB diet. As Dr. Ornish pointed out, “With such treatment, the only side effects you might observe are beneficial ones!” 

We invite you to visit METI’s Healthy Living Clinic at House No. 51 at Motootua (across from the Kokobanana Restaurant) to become acquainted with METI’s whole food plant-based diet and Lifestyle Change programs. Or call us at 30550. Learning how to follow these Programs might be your ‘game changer’!