MayoClinic.com writes that prostate cancer has been found to be one of the most common types of cancer in men. Prostate cancer generally grows slowly and initially remains confined to the prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm. While there are some types of prostate cancer which grow slowly and may need minimal or no treatment, other types of prostate cancer are aggressive and can spread quickly.
Garth Sundem has reported on January 9, 2013, on a news release from the University of Colorado Cancer Center, High fiber diet prevents prostate cancer progression. A high-fiber diet may have the clinical potential to control the progression of prostate cancer in patients who are diagnosed in early stages of the disease.
The rate of prostate cancer occurrence in Asian cultures has been found to be similar to the rate in Western cultures. However, in the West, prostate cancer tends to progress, whereas in Asian cultures it does not progress nearly as much. This research has been published in the January 2013 issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research, Inositol Hexaphosphate Inhibits Tumor Growth, Vascularity, and Metabolism in TRAMP Mice: A Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Study, it shows that the answer may be a high-fiber diet.
The researchers compared mice fed with of inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), which is a major
component of high-fiber diets, to control mice that were not fed this. Then the researchers used MRI to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in these models. Researcher Komal Raina, PhD, has said, “The study’s results were really rather profound. We saw dramatically reduced tumor volumes, primarily due to the anti-angiogenic effects of IP6.”
Basically, it was found feeding with the active ingredient of a high-fiber diet kept prostate tumors from making the new blood vessels which they needed to supply themselves with energy. Without this vital energy, prostate cancer couldn’t grow. Likewise, it was found treatment with IP6 slowed the rate at which prostate cancers metabolized glucose.
Raina has said, “Researchers have long been looking for genetic variations between Asian and Western peoples that could explain the difference in prostate cancer progression rates, but now
it seems as if the difference may not be genetic but dietary. Asian cultures get IP6 whereas Western cultures generally do not.”
