We’ve said that diet probably isn’t enough to cause prostate cancer on its own. However, it can’t be overlooked as a significant risk factor. Several studies have shown that men with high-fiber, low-fat diets are less likely to get prostate cancer. One study found prostate cancer deaths in thirty-two countries to be highly linked to fat consumption (animal fat, not vegetable fat). Another study, of 122,261 men, found a lower death rate from prostate cancer in men who ate green and yellow vegetables every day.
Vitamin A, found in yellow vegetables such as carrots, is a fat-soluble vitamin. Its influence extends far beyond its effect on our vision to encompass systems throughout the body. It is vital for the normal makeup of epithelial cells, for example (these line the prostate and are important in BPH—see Chapter 9). In laboratory experiments, scientists have linked vitamin A defi- ciency to the development of different kinds of tumors. In similar experiments, researchers have also been able to decrease prostate cancer with vitamin A supplements.
There have been conflicting reports about vitamin A and prostate cancer; part of the confusion may be because one kind of vitamin A—beta carotene, which comes from plants and is part of the Japanese diet—appears to lower risk, while another kind—that found in animals and, often, in the American diet— probably raises it.
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