If you recall, a couple weeks back I found out that my Mom's dog Poochie has prostate cancer. So I set out on the task to find out more about the problem. I have to admit that until now, I hadn't really given much thought to prostates (especially since I don't have one being a girl and all). But as a dog "mom" to two fur-boys, I am interested in doing what I can to prevent this problem as they get older. Curly, who is 14, is already old and has other issues, but Cooper is just a young 'un at a little over 1 year old and has lots of time for me to work on prevention. Unfortunately I haven't found any immediate solutions to Poochie's problem, but I did find some research on prevention measures that can be taken. AND since the research that I found relates to human nutrition, this information applies to your Human Boys as well.
A little side note first. A lot of research has been done in human nutrition relating to the effects of nutrients and antioxidants found in real food. The specific field of research is called nutraceuticals and functional foods. Very little research on "real food" has been done with animals. Yes, there have been studies on how to reduce "poo" volume, or how to use sub-quality nutrients more "effectively", but very little on the effects of nutrients from real foods to prevent animal diseases. Many human nutrition studies will use animal models (rats and pigs typically) to test theories. Of course that brings up a whole other topic that I won't get into. Anyway, I asked a vet friend about extrapolating rat data to dog health, and human data to dog health, and the short version of that conversation was that rat data is just as applicable to dogs as it would be to humans. (I hope that makes sense. I didn't want to delve too much into the technical details because that would be BORING!) So armed with that information, here are some real food solutions to preventing prostate problems.
As mentioned previously, the best thing you can do for your boy-dog is get him neutered as early as you can safely do it to reduce the size of the prostate tissue. Beyond that here are some good foods that are showing promising research for preventing prostate cancer (applicable to dogs and humans).
Ground Flax Seeds:
Two words to note: ground and seed. First of all, if you don't grind up the flax seed it is pretty much useless to you. That hard little seed shell protects all of the seed's good stuff. If you use whole seed, what goes in looks exactly the same as what comes out. The seed is not digested and just acts as roughage. Grinding the flax releases the nutrients making it available to the body. And use the whole seed, not just the oil, especially when looking at prostate health. The research indicates that it is likely the lignans, which are seed fibres, that turn into hormone-like compounds, similar to estrogen. The use of ground whole flax seed has shown to slow prostate tumour growth in mice, so Poochie should get an extra dose of flax seed in his food. Word of warning though - too much flax seed will have a laxative effect so up the doses SLOWLY! Start with a teaspoon amount mixes in with the food a few days a week. And for your human boys, don't go out and buy flax seed oil. Early studies indicate that the oil alone may contribute to increasing the risk. You need the lignans so buy whole ground flax seed.
Selenium:
This nutrient is taken up by plants from the soil. Crops grown in selenium rich soil have a higher selenium content. And animals fed with selenium rich feed also have higher selenium content so selenium sources for dog and people food can come from plant or animal sources. Good plant sources include oats, wheat and nuts. In areas of the southeastern U.S., where the soil contains high levels of selenium, there was a noted decrease in prostate cancer incidence. Good meat sources include beef, chicken, turkey and eggs. Too much selenium can be toxic so do not use selenium supplements. Food sources are sufficient.
Tomatoes: (the picture below is from my garden - YIPEE! Fresh tomatoes for me)
Bonnie first mentioned the antioxidant benefits of tomatoes back in May. The fabulous red colour that comes from lycopene is thought to lower the risk of prostate cancer. The initial research was conducted by Edward Giovannucci at the Harvard School of Public Health. (Note the Italian connection!!) Coincidently, tomato paste and sauce has a higher lycopene content than raw tomatoes (cooking releases the lycopene). But here's the catch. Rat research was done with pure lycopene versus tomato powder. There were fewer tumours in the rats that were fed tomato powder and not straight lycopene so it is possible that there is something else in the tomato that reduces prostate cancer risk. HMMM! Either way, whole tomato sauce or paste has been shown to have a positive effect and it has other antioxidant powers so load up on the pizza (Two Cheese Pizza perhaps?).
So there are your top three foods for preventing prostate cancer for dogs and humans. There are other foods that have shown to help humans but should not be applied to dogs.
FOR HUMAN HEALTH ONLY to help reduce prostate cancer risk:
- Reduce red meat consumption and increase fish and vegetable consumption
- Low fat diet
- Possible link to green tea consumption for prevention
- Possible link to soy products to help reduce the risk although studies are still inconclusive
This doesn't apply to dogs because dogs need meat and fat, they shouldn't drink green tea, and soy can be an allergen.
I hope you have a great Friday and for all the Canadians in the crowd - have a great long weekend!
Mavis
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