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Q: I have a family history of prostate cancer and other than regular check ups
can you prescribe to me a diet or supplements that might be beneficial toward
prevention. Also I read recently that there is some controversy about flax seed
oil and the possibility that it might actually enhance your chance for
prostate cancer. I believe I read it in the latest issue of Mens Health magazine. Do you know anything about this? Thanks for your help.

A: The research indicates that soy, with its ingredient genistein, is very helpful. Also, lycopene in tomatoes. But there are problems in serving them. To get the full value of soybeans, one should eat them raw. You can get them frozen in many supermarkets, and merely defrost. They are quite palatable. You can eat them cooked or roasted, which is okay, but then you would not get the benefit of their protease inhibitor which is another protector against cancer. You would still get the benefits of genistein in the beans. We have them in a salad with green leafy vegetables  like spinach (cooked) and raw broccoli, turnip greens, collards, etc., using a brand bottled pasta sauce (one without added salt.)

Which brings up the tomato. Lycopene in the tomato was shown in a massive study by Harvard Med. School to significantly reduce prostate cancer risk. It is a carotenoid, which can best be utilized by the body when cooked and served with some fat. With the pasta sauce you get both the cooked tomato and the fat.

Of course you could have the soy beans separately. Just be sure to use the pasta sauce in some way, either with the vegetables or with say, spaghetti. Or both.

On the negative side, research has also shown that milk fat (not in the pasta sauce) heavily increases the risk. This goes for cheeses and full-fat milk. You can use 1% fat milk instead.

We are not aware of any risk relationship to flax seed oil. It is possible since it is subject to oxidation. In any event, we cannot see any benefit against prostate cancer in flax. The fibre in the seed is healthful, but you will get good fibre in the soy beans. That is called inositol hexaphosphate. Sorry about the jargon. Brown rice also has it, as well as tocotrienol, a superior form of vitamin E.

So it's soy beans, pasta sauce and brown rice. And reducing significantly your intake of milk fat, especially cheese.  

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