Overlooked Prostate Care: Importance Of Diet & Exercise

In this article I want to chat about what I think may be the most important aspects of prostate health & health in general. I will be providing information about this part of my program that has gotten me back to better health.

I want to you to ask yourself two questions before I start this article. Do you eat a "proper diet"? Do you exercise regularly? Well, I can tell you that I answered "No" to both of these back before I started having prostate problems.

I would assume most of you viewing today would also answer "No" these questions as well. You probably wouldn't be here viewing & looking for helpful information if the answer was "Yes".

I have always been an active person all my life. I grew up playing various sports & was active all the time. I played some type of sport almost every day. If I wasn't playing one of the major sports I was either hunting or fishing.

However, after our son was born in 2001 those things changed. I basically quit playing sports & all other activities. My life had changed & it seemed like I didn't have time for any sports or regular exercise. I found out that was a big mistake in my life. You can make time for things that make you more healthy.

I also was the type that didn't seem to watch what I ate. If I was at home I'd eat too much junk food. If I was out on the road I'd eat too much fast food. I really wasn't eating healthy at all but didn't realize it because I didn't have any health problems.

I never have been a soda person but did drink Sprite at times. I only drank one cup of coffee in the mornings. I was the type that always thought I needed a meat with every meal. I ate meat with breakfast,lunch,& supper. If I didn't get meat then I wouldn't get full, right? Well, that's not the case & this is far from the truth about eating healthy.

You don't need to eat meats with every meal. As a matter of fact, meat isn't even needed to live. You know about the "vegetarians" out there in the world , right? I'm not saying you need to be a vegetarian but certain meats need to be cut down or out of your diet. I will explain further later in this article.

Now, I want to chat about the importance of "water". When I say water, I mean bottled or purified water. Regular tap water isn't good enough here because know matter the source it's got some added chemicals & substances we don't need in our bodies. There is now a lot of scrutiny about the bottled water industry. I can say right now that to make sure you get bottled water that says "reverse osmosis & ozonated" on the label. You should be fine with buying this type water.

I was not drinking water before I started having problems. The only time I'd drink water was when I'd be really thirsty. That was rarely because I had quite playing sports & other activities that involved exercise. Water is a major player in prostate health & health in general terms. Did you know that water is the most natural cleanser for the body?

You should drink 8-10 glasses a day of water. If you're not getting water or enough water then this should be a change you need to make immediately. I now drink over 10 glasses of purified/bottled water daily. A lot of prostate sufferers are scared to drink more because they're afraid it will make them go to the bathroom too much. I was there & didn't want to make things worse.

I was wrong in my thinking because drinking more water actually made things much better after a while. At first upon water increase I did see a spike in symptoms but that was part of the cleansing process for a few weeks.

The only other thing I was drinking in the first 6 months after my diagnosis was "green tea". I would drink about 4 glasses of green tea daily to go along with the increased water intake. I wasn't putting any other liquid into my body for the first 6 months. This was a big help in starting my road to recovery.

Once I started feeling better then I added "organic soy milk" to my diet as well. Soy milk isn't much like regular milk but once you get used to it then it's not bad at all. To this day these are the only 3 liquids I have in my diet. To recap the 3 liquids I drink today are purified water,green tea,& organic soy milk. I put no other liquids into my body period.

Now, I want to chat a little more about meat & other aspects of a proper diet. As I said we don't need meat to live. I thought cutting or limiting meat in my diet would be to hard to accomplish. Well again my thinking was wrong. Was it easy? No! However, after a couple weeks then things were starting to get easier. I didn't cut all meats out of my diet but I did cut certain meats & eat moderate amounts of all others.

One meat that needs to be completely cut or at least very minimized is "red meat". Too much Red meat consumption is not good for prostate health. I was eating a lot of fast food burgers & also red meat at home. I will say to at least cut red meat completely out of your diet until you get your prostate health back.
You can add red meat back to your diet in "minimal" amounts in the future.

Let's just say that "red meat" needs to be a small part of your diet in the future. I cut red meat completely out of my diet for 6 months. I love red meat but don't love it enough to allow it to cause me added prostate problems.

I now eat red meat but it's in limited amounts. I always buy "sirloin" in the choices of meat category. I eat no regular hamburger meat at all. I eat "sirloin" steaks when I do make the red meat choice for a meal. I'd say I average a red meat meal once a month now. For more information about the types of red meat then please "Google" the term. There are quite few in a lists of red meats to eat. Red meat isn't bad for you but when you have prostate problems then too much just makes things worse.

You can eat various types of other meats. I suggest to eat chicken,turkey,& lots of fish. I buy all natural(antibiotic & hormone free) chicken, all natural(minimally processed) turkey(ground),& wild caught & fresh fish.

I eat as much as I want of these type meats. I never thought I'd like grounded turkey. I can honestly say that a turkey burger is much better than any hamburger I ever ate. I wouldn't have thought so but it honestly is a better taste & health option.

I eat all the chicken I want. I suggest you to bake it & not fry it in oils. If you do fry then please use "Extra Virgin Olive Oil". I add "Mrs. Dash" seasonings to all my meats. This is an all natural source for seasonings. There are many different flavors by Mrs Dash.

I also eat all the fish I want. I suggest eating salmon,flounder,tilapia,pollack,catfish,trout,& many other fish. Try to eat the "oily" type fish. Salmon & trout are two of the top oily fish on the market. Here too I suggest baking instead of frying.

Now, I want to move onto another area of the diet. I will be discussing the importance 0f "fruits & vegetables". Fruits was definitely a foreign word to me before prostate problems. I did eat limited amounts of veggies but not enough. I made that change as well in my life. It's very important to eat fruits & veggies to have a healthy diet.

I started out eating fruits & veggies in low amounts until I got used to it. I wasn't used to eating these type products & I didn't want to overdo things. I was eating various types of fruits & veggies. I made sure to eat apples with every fruit setting. What I actually did & still do today is make a bowl of mixed fruits. I eat this 3-4 times daily.

I make sure to eat at least 2 different fresh veggies servings with every meal as well. Of course, this wouldn't be for breakfast for most people but veggie & fruits can be added to all meals. However, I'd suggest eating your fruit servings as a separate part of your regular meal. The reason being is that you don't get the "full" benefits of fruits by eating them with your meals. Wait at least 30 minutes after or before meals to eat your fruit servings.

You can also eat fruits of all types. I regularly consume apples,grapes,bananas,watermelon,pears,peaches,& strawberries. Citrus fruits can be eaten as well but in limited quantities. Citrus fruits can irritate the prostate if eaten too much. Red fruits like apples,strawberries,& watermelon have lycopene which is an important nutrient for prostate health.

You can also eat veggies of various types. One that I'd suggest to eat "daily" is "broccoli". I eat broccoli every single day. I now eat both the frozen & fresh variety but I'd stick with the fresh for initial benefits. Broccoli falls into a class of vegetables called "cruciferous" vegetables. Link here:

Broccoli has antioxidants & other compounds to aid in better health. More information here:

You need to cut caffeine completely out of your diet for a good while. You may even need to keep it out of your diet in the future as well. I have very little caffeine today. Caffeine is bad for prostate problems. Spicy foods will also need to be cut out for a while. You can add some of these things in the future but you need to get that health back first.

I didn't realize how important a proper diet was in your health. We read about it & see it talked about but we never realize it until we suffer health problems. I know how important a healthy diet is now & I stick with a healthy diet today. It's probably one of the most important if not the most important aspects of gaining & keeping your health.

I now exercise daily via alternating with a physical workout one day for about 30 minutes & then do long distance running the other. This program along with proper diet is a major reason for my success in getting & maintaining my health.

You add the alternative treatments I have used/use then I feel these are the things needed in order to manage prostate problems. This total program may not help all men but I feel it will help most men. It takes determination,dedication,& discipline to follow this program. I'm not making any shortcuts or trying butter things here either.

If you want your health back & keep that health then you'd better get ready for that drive. It takes years for our prostate to get in bad health & sometimes it takes a long time to get it back. If you make that determination & drive yourself to get better then it can happen. It's not going to happen overnight for sure. I suffered off & on for 18 months but now for the past 6 months or so I can honestly say I have no symptoms for prostate problems.

I want to end this article by asking yourself a few questions. Do you want your life back? Do you want to have a symptom-free prostate? Do you have the determination to better health? Do you have the drive to a life-style change? Do you want to wake up & not worry about prostate problems? Well, if you can say "yes" to all of these questions then follow my program thus far & you can have that life you've wanted back. Thanks for viewing & if you have any questions or comments then please feel free to make a post.