Higher consumption of a healthy plant-based diet was significantly associated with a lower

chance of having an elevated PSA, which can be a sign of prostate cancer.

We're talking about potentially cutting the odds of having an elevated PSA in half with diet.

The researchers concluded that this study provides strong evidence supporting the potential

use of plant-based foods in the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.

Not so fast, replied an editor of the journal,

this paper certainly doesn't present final convincing proof that reduced PSA levels due

to a plant-based diet in fact translate into what we actually care about, less prostate cancer.

Harvard cohort researchers took up the mantle to answer that question, and indeed greater

consumption of a healthful plant-based diet does appear to reduce the risk of getting prostate

cancer and dying

from prostate cancer by nearly half for men under age 65.

And those adhering more to a healthy plant-based diet who do get cancer had 90 percent lower

odds of ending up with high-grade, more severe prostate cancer, and appeared better able to handle

cancer treatment and ended up with better

sexual function, less incontinence, and more vitality.

This is consistent with the role of diet and nutrition and the prevention treatment of

cancer more generally, where the evidence points to a diet with minimal animal products.

What if you already have cancer, though?

Study findings suggest that adhering to a plant-based diet may be beneficial for overall

cancer survival and may potentially improve the prognosis for common cancers,

such as breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers.

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