Red Grapefruit and Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer for American men. One in six will be diagnosed with the disease during his lifetime. And one in thirty-five will die from it, making it the second deadliest type of cancer after lung cancer. The only silver lining, if one can call it that, is that prostate cancer takes a long time to grow. That is why only fifteen percent of its victims succumb to the disease. There is also evidence that certain foods can lower a man's risk of prostate cancer. In this article we will discuss a simple dietary addition that every man over fifty should make.
The grapefruit has long been considered one of the healthiest foods on earth. Dieters the world over have used it to help them lose weight and to flush toxins from their systems. But did you know that some grapefruits have anti-cancer properties? According to the experts, red and pink grapefruit contain a special flavonoid. A flavonoid is nothing more than a simple organic compound which can be found in all fruits and vegetables. But few of them contain the flavonoid
known as Naringenin. What makes it so special?
Prostate cancer studies have shown that Naringenin may be able to help repair damaged cancer cells. How does it work? Scientists aren't exactly sure why Naringenin is more effective at fighting cancer than other flavonoids. All of them work as antioxidants, which many believe help repair damaged cells, even cancer-stricken cells. But for some strange, unexplained reason, Naringenin is better at its job than the other flavonoids.
As we mentioned, both the red and the pink grapefruit are excellent sources of Naringenin. Red grapefruit from Texas has actually been tested. The results of one study were particularly encouraging. It found a substantial decrease in the incidence of prostate cancer for men who consumed at least one red grapefruit and two cups of green tea each day.
Men of any age can reap the benefits of grapefruit consumption, but it is especially important that men over the age of fifty take preventative action against this deadly disease. However unpleasant it may be, they should get a prostate exam at least once a year. And they should add foods that are high in Naringenin, like the grapefruit, to their diets.
Like other cancers, the heritability of prostate cancer is extremely high, well over forty percent. Some medical professionals put the rate at near sixty percent. In other words, if you have a history of the disease in your family, it is extremely important to get annual checkups, even before you reach the half-century mark. Diet and exercise is also imperative for high-risk patients. Red grapefruit may not be a panacea, but it is hope. The early evidence is encouraging and there are many more studies in the works.
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