By G. Merrill Andrus PhD

Mention prostate problems to any man over 60 (or 50, or 40?) and he will know what you are talking about. Prevention of prostate cancer becomes a major objective for men who are growing older, but cancer is only the end of the train of prostate difficulties. A precursor to prostate cancer, benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), the swelling of the prostate gland sufficiently to restrict urine flow and/or diminish the storage capacity of the nearby bladder, will gain the attention of every mature man sooner or later. Almost all men will search for ways to modify or even reverse prostate conditions. It turns out that dietary supplements are often superior to drugs, especially in preventing serious prostate problems and particularly when the first signs of prostate difficulty occur.

Cancer in any part of the body begins with a single cell and it may be a long time from the formation of the first cancerous cell until cancer is manifest. In the meantime, BPH can cause a lot of pain and suffering. Think of it this way: swelling of any part of the body can result from growth, i. e. multiplication of the cells, or by inflammation. To prevent BPH, we want to prevent inflammation and/or cell multiplication. The exact mechanism by which BPH becomes established might vary man to man, but these two general tendencies must be dealt with. The product Complete Prostate Nutrition has a unique combination of ingredients known to prevent and reverse inflammation and cell multiplication.

Cells in all parts of the body die and are replaced. Cell replication, especially abnormal multiplication of cells is hormone driven. Obviously, when normal growth is occurring all of us want extra cells to be produced. The female estrogen hormones are present in both men and women as are the male hormones such as testosterone. The presence of such hormones is good; their uncontrolled metabolism can cause serious problems. Controlling the metabolism of both estrogen and testosterone becomes an effective way to minimize the production of unwanted cells in both cancerous and pre-cancerous situations. The individual and synergistic effects of the ingredients incorporated in Complete Prostate Nutrition will be of interest to all men who consider what can be done to help them deal with the natural effects of aging manhood.

DIETARY INDOLES

Recently scientists in Israel¹ have reported that cultured human prostate cancer cells are killed by specific compounds found in juices of cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Testing both indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and 3-,3’-diindolyl methane (DIM), the two most readily available dietary indoles, these scientists showed that these compounds directly kill the cancer cells without harming normal cells. Prostate cancer and BPH is rare in nations or cultures where eating many servings of cruciferous vegetables each week is the custom. Hence, people who have such diets or who take dietary indoles as supplements have built-in protection that may avert cancers that never materialize. Killing a cancer cell when there is only one of them is a big advantage. However, there is an additional mechanism of prostate protection is available from dietary indoles.

Over the past 40 years I3C has been shown to be effective in a variety of roles in cancer prevention and cancer treatments. This compound, I3C, is relatively unstable in stomach acids where it is transformed to a number of related compounds, including DIM. Recent studies have shown that DIM is more effective on a weight basis than I3C and that many of the benefits previously ascribed to I3C may be due to DIM and related compounds. Because there are various immeasurable unknown nutritional values in the cruciferous vegetables, Complete Prostate Nutrition contains broccoli powder in addition to DIM.

It has been shown that some beneficial results from I3C and DIM come from their ability to modify the metabolism of sterol sex hormones, making them less likely to trigger unwanted growth, both benign and malignant. Modification of hormone metabolism can be monitored by a test for different hydroxyestrones in the urine of both men and women. Many studies have shown that the dietary indoles will induce the metabolism of estradiol to 2-hydoxyestrone in preference over 16α-hydroxyestrone. The 16α-hydroxyestrone is known to accelerate breast cancer and many other tumor growth conditions, while the 2-hydroxyestrone is known to inhibit such growth. A recent study by Muti and coworkers² has definitely shown that 16α-hydroxyestrone has an accelerating effect in the growth of prostate cancer. This finding shows that there are two mechanisms by which the dietary indoles contribute to prostate health.

This means that whatever the hormone balance might be for a given man, the hormonal causes and tendencies toward BPH and subsequent cancer are minimized by the inclusion of DIM. For these reasons, Complete Prostate Nutrition contains DIM. In fact, Complete Prostate Nutrition is unique among the prostate supplements in that it contains DIM.

ß-SITOSTEROL

A number of sterol compounds, chemically similar to testosterone, are found in saw palmetto berries. Such sterol compounds ß-sitosterol, campesterol, and stigmasterol, are also found in saw palmetto, pygeum africanum and stinging nettle. Another natural product traditionally used for prostate health is pumpkin seeds, which contain oily compounds of many kinds. All these natural products by themselves or in combinations have long been used effectively to reduce BPH. By including both the known active sterols and the herbal materials in which they are known to exist, any unknown trace materials found in the plant sources should also be included in a nutritional supplement. The extra sterols ensure that their benefits will be realized. An extensive review (Wilt TJ, MacDonald R, Ishani A. 1999, British Journal of Urology International, 83, 976-983) published in 1999 concluded that ß-sitosterol by itself improves urological symptoms such as flow, even though by itself it does not significantly reduce prostate size. Therefore a full complement of components in the herbal products are necessary to obtain a more complete benefit, since not all of the nutritional mechanisms are fully understood, the active ingredients as well as the whole herbal products should be part of a nutritional supplement and are present in Complete Prostate Nutrition.

VITAMIN E and LYCOPENE

Various studies have shown that these lipid-soluble antioxidants are effective in treating BHP and prostate cancer. Lycopene the chemical compound that gives to many foods their red color is the most abundant carotene in the body. It has the ability to take up free radicals and therefore to inhibit inflammation and cancer development in the prostate. While chemically different, vitamin E also is a strong lipid-soluble antioxidant. Researchers³ have found that adding vitamin E to prostate cancer cells inhibits the production of the androgen receptor which is needed for the prostate cancer to grow and develop. Thus, vitamin E plays a duel role in inhibiting the start of prostate cancer and then stopping its growth after it starts.

ZINC AND SELENIUM

The content of these two minerals in the prostate is much higher than in other parts of the male body. Using elderly dogs as models a group at Purdue University⁴ have shown that small amounts of selenium will reduce damage to prostate cells. Complete Prostate Nutrition contains the appropriate amount of selenium as well as the appropriate amount of zinc which has long been known to be an essential nutrient of good prostate health.

L-ARGININE, L-GLUTATHIONE AND N-ACETYL CYSTEINE

Proper functioning of male sexual organs including the prostate can be included in the body functions which (NO) assists. Specifically, (NO) helps relax the smooth muscles which control urine flow otherwise obstructed by an enlarged prostate.

One major way which the body utilizes to form (NO) at the right time in the right part of the body is the metabolism of the amino acid, L-arginine. Supplementing the diet with L-arginine provides the extra supply of this source of (NO) at the time and place in the body when it is required.

Once (NO) is formed from L-arginine in the body cells, the (NO) needs to be transported to those parts of the body, such as the smooth muscles, where it can perform the desired action, such as relaxing those smooth muscles. The carrier for (NO) in the body is L-glutathione.

L-Glutathione is a major, on-the-spot antioxidant in the body. When one takes vitamin C or vitamin E, it is so that the antioxidant action of L-glutathione can be repeated over and over. N-acetyl cysteine is a building block from which L-glutathione is made within the liver.

One can see that N-acetyl Cysteine enhances the amount of L-glutathione in the body. In case there is any problem in this transformation, it is well to supplement with some of the straight L-glutathione which will transport (NO) within the body to the places where it will be helpful. As we have said, one of those places is in the prostate where the effects of benign prostate hyperplasia are modified. The extra (NO) needed for men with prostate problems can come from L-arginine metabolism and (NO) transport as provided for in this supplementation.