Prostate cancer: The British staple that can raise your risk of the deadliest male cancer.
Whether it’s waking up the morning after a night out or coming back after a morning run, there are few things people desire more than a bite of meat and carbohydrate alongside a caffeinated drink of some description. While this may act as a reward for the distance run or ease the pain from the damage done, it could also increase someone’s risk of cancer, particularly if they’re a man.
Cancer is a deadly umbrella of pernicious diseases which can affect anyone of any gender and in innumerable ways. From the skin to the kidneys, from the brain to the bowel, cancer can mutate from any cell. Furthermore, there are a number of risk factors which can impact someone’s risk of cancer. One of the most influential of these is lifestyle habits; meaning factors such as diet, activity, and acts such as smoking or drinking alcohol.
The Express newspaper are reporting that While these are factors which are well within the control of many, there are some which aren’t, such as gender. For example, there are some cancers which some cis-men can get which cis-women can’t due to their biological differences. Prostate cancer – the deadliest cancer in men – is an example of one of these cancers and Express.co.uk has been talking to Doctor Carrie Ruxton on how men can reduce their risk of developing this deadliest of cancers.
One of the foods Doctor Ruxton recommends to avoid are foods and substances which are found in a classic British staple: the bacon sandwich.
While a form of revival after exercise or a form of recovery after the exertions of the night before, bacon sandwiches are high in salt, fat, and processed meat; ingredients which have been linked to prostate cancer.
One study, published in February of this year concluded that “increased consumption” of “total meat” and “processed meat” might be associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer.
While this may sound unnerving and prompt the binning of said sandwich, Doctor Ruxton said it is only a case that these “might be linked with prostate cancer risk, although the evidence is weak so it could be due to the fat and salt levels in these products”.
Doctor Ruxton added: “Diets high in sugar, saturated fats, and salt – which are typically low in vitamins and minerals – have been linked with an increased risk of prostate cancer.”
Furthermore, the study in question was analysing the impact of high consumptions of processed meat rather than the occasional engorgement of a British favourite which, should a person require it after exercise, help return visceral fat to a healthy level.
However, prostate cancer risk isn’t just about avoiding the wrong foods, it is about choosing the correct foods, ones that will boost levels of minerals and vitamins in the body.
To this end, Doctor Ruxton recommended: “A diet including a high consumption of vegetables, fruits, beans and pulses, wholegrains and fish may help exert a protective effect against prostate cancer.”