How To Take Care Of Your Prostate

Admittedly, men aren't always great at taking care of their prostate - until they are told by the doctors it's enlarged. Before it gets to the cancerous stage, it's best to get familiar with the walnut-shaped glandand take good care of it

What is a Prostate?

It's a walnut-shaped gland located in between the rectum and urinary bladder that is responsible for smooth and painless ejaculations. As men get older, or diets get unhealthier, the prostate gland can become enlarged, causing discomfort in urinating or ejaculation. Consequently extreme stress, coffee, fried foods, excess red meat and smokingcauses inflammation of the prostate gland. There are 3 types of problems with the prostate gland you should be aware of:

1) Benign Prostate Hyperplasia: this is when the gland continues to grow to the size of a baseball and you experience difficulty in passing urine and getting up in the middle of the night to go the toilet.

2) Prostatis: inflammation or infection of the prostate gland where you feel a burning sensation when passing urine, groin pass or loss of sex drive.

3) Prostate cancer: Malignant cells are gound after ahigh PSA (Prostatic Antigen, Ultrasounds and biopsy confirm the presence of cancerous cells).

The best way to care for your prostate is through a diet rich in Flavanoids (red peppers, tomatoes and pumpkin) and taking plenty of antioxidants: curcum, grape seed extract, vitamin D, vitamin A (if your bloodtest reveals it's low) sea food (rich in iodine) and selenium (cockles). Avoid coffee, fizzy drinks and alcohol.

Here are some dietary guidelines you can follow:

1) Salads containing watercress, parsley, baby spinach, spirulina, chorella.

2) Choose fruits with a low glycaemic level of sugars like cranberries and blueberries.

3) Have tomatoes every day, spianch, asparagus, fennel, pumpkins, onions and garlic.

4) Opt for herbals made from dandelion, fennel and ginger are the most effective to control digestion, improve circulation and get rid of the excess water in your body.

5) Eat turkey and chicken without the skin three times a week.

6) Oysters, lobster, clams and mussels are rich in selenium and zinc are very important for the prostate gland.

Dr Cecilia Tregear, MD, Medical Director of the Wimpole Skin Care Centre has been practising medicine for over 25 years and has gained worldwide reputation in hormones anti-ageing treatments