Treating Early- and Late-Stage Prostate Cancer

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• Greater consumption of a healthful, plant-based diet is associated with nearly halving the risk of getting prostate cancer and dying from it for men under 65, and significantly reduces the odds of developing high-grade prostate cancer.  Copied to clipboard!
• Dr. Dean Ornish's randomized controlled trial demonstrated that a plant-based diet and lifestyle program significantly suppressed prostate cancer cell growth in patients' bloodstreams (by 70%) compared to standard care, leading to fewer men requiring radical prostatectomy.  Copied to clipboard!
• Dietary interventions, specifically whole-food, plant-based diets combined with stress management, showed potential to slow or even reverse the progression of recurrent and advanced prostate cancer, evidenced by significant decreases and even reversals in PSA doubling times.  Copied to clipboard!

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Plant-Based Diet and PSA Levels

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(00:00:20)

• Key Takeaway: Higher consumption of a healthy plant-based diet is significantly associated with cutting the odds of having an elevated PSA, a sign of prostate cancer, in half.
• Summary: Higher consumption of a healthy plant-based diet was significantly associated with a lower chance of having an elevated PSA. Researchers concluded this provides strong evidence for using plant-based foods in prostate cancer prevention and treatment. Subsequent Harvard cohort research showed greater plant-based diet adherence reduced the risk of getting and dying from prostate cancer by nearly half for men under 65.

Ornish Trial Early Stage Cancer

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(00:02:26)

• Key Takeaway: Dr. Dean Ornish’s randomized trial showed that a plant-based diet and lifestyle program made patients’ bloodstreams nearly eight times more effective at suppressing prostate cancer cell growth than the standard diet group.
• Summary: Dr. Dean Ornish adapted his heart disease reversal program for 93 men with early-stage, watch-and-wait prostate cancer. Blood from patients on the plant-based program knocked down cancer cell growth by 70% in petri dishes, compared to only 9% for the standard diet group. By two years, significantly more men in the control group required radical prostatectomies, whereas none in the lifestyle group did.

Recurrent Cancer Dietary Intervention

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(00:04:21)

• Key Takeaway: A plant-based diet intervention for men with recurrent prostate cancer resulted in the largest reported increase in PSA doubling time (from 12 months to 112 months) in any dietary intervention trial.
• Summary: Ten patients with recurrent prostate cancer (rising PSA after initial treatment) were asked to center their diets around more whole plant foods. Nine out of ten men saw a reduction in their PSA rise rates and an improvement in PSA doubling times. The average doubling time increased from about 12 months before the change to 112 months after adopting the diet.

Advanced Cancer Regression Study

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(00:05:32)

• Key Takeaway: In a non-randomized study of Stage 4 prostate cancer patients on a plant-based macrobiotic diet, three men experienced long-term regression of multiple bone lesions, living an average of 19 years longer than matched controls.
• Summary: Nine patients willing to adopt a plant-based macrobiotic diet showed regression of bone lesions, compared to no healing in nine control subjects on the standard American diet. Those on the healthier diet lived an average of 19 years more, versus less than four years more for the control group. The host notes the only side effects of this heart-healthy diet are beneficial ones.

Advanced Cancer Intervention Results

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(00:08:03)

• Key Takeaway: In a four-month intervention for men with probable metastatic disease (rising PSA post-prostatectomy), eight out of ten participants showed slowed cancer growth, with three experiencing apparent reversal and shrinkage.
• Summary: Ten men with rising PSA after prostate removal were put on a whole-food, plant-based diet with stress reduction. The intervention appeared to slow cancer growth in eight men, and three experienced apparent reversal. Compliance, proxied by fiber intake, strongly correlated with outcomes; the man with the best fiber improvement had the best PSA result.

Recurrent Cancer Slowing Progression

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(00:11:16)

• Key Takeaway: A six-month intervention focusing on increasing whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans while decreasing meat, dairy, and junk food slowed the average PSA doubling time for recurrent prostate cancer patients from one year to nearly ten years.
• Summary: Patients with recurrent prostate cancer who followed a whole-food plant-based diet slowed their PSA rise significantly, with the average doubling time slowing from one year to closer to ten years. This occurred despite some dietary recidivism by the end of the study period. These findings suggest that disease progression can be slowed or reversed without further surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.