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Can vegan diet and HIIT workouts move the needle?
Hello! I am so pleased that I found this group. What an incredible wealth of information it contains. Here's my story and I would appreciate any feedback on whether my plan of action sounds like a good one. My name is Steve, i'm 69 years old, and weigh 180 pounds and an 6'. In February I had a yearly check-up and my doc saw that my PSA was 3.9. He drew some blood and did a K4test, They came back with a PSA of 4.8 and a 8.3 which put me at 9.6%chance of aggessive prostate cancer. He suggested that I see a urologist and see what he thought. The urologist said to come back in September and get another PSA test. I asked if we could get an MRI and he thought that would be unnecessary. After the appointment, my doctor asked me how it went and he said that if the urologist won't order the MRI, than he would. The MRI came back with a gland size of 5.5 x 5 x 4.5 A PSA density of .136
There is a far left apex lesion measuring 0.8 x 0.8 DWI score 4 CCE negative T2 score 3 PI-RADS 4
impression:
The pI-RADS 4 sub centimeter lesion is in the far left apex peripheral zone. No visualized seminal involvement or definite extra-capsular disease.
I went back to the urologist and he thought it probably wasn't cancer but he would do a biopsy. Here is the important part of the results.
Part 6- Prostate left medial apex, core needle biopsy: Prostatic adenocarcinoma, Gleason 3+4=7 (grade group2) involving 40% 0f 1 of 3 cores. All other cores were ok.
We then did a Decipher test and it came back .46 which is .01 away from the high point of low risk. (.45)
I meet the urologist again and he told me just go home and live your life. You can do Active Surveillance and in September we will recheck PSA and in March he would do a follow up biopsy and another MRI. I asked about diet and exercise which I had been reading could help the situation but he did not think I could do anything that would change the outcome. I spent hours and hours reading everything I could and decided that i would up my exercise to HIIT workouts as well as really step up an already very active life and I would also transition to a vegan diet since everything I found showed that plant based diets could have an impact on PC. I began the diet on May 18th and i'm doing great on it, obviously missing meat, cheese and dairy but if it changes the picture I will be pleased. I lost 15 pounds and leveled out at 180.
I have 2 questions for this group - First, do you agree that active surveillance is the way to go with this small lesion and second do you think the diet and exercise program can have an effect on lowering PSA and possibly shrinking the tumor? I sure appreciate your time and insight!
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@jim18 Exactly. The word "processed" is heavily loaded. What we call "processed meats" have a lot of fat, salt, nitrates, etc. added, and have been demonstrated to have a negative impact on health (even a credible correlation with prostate cancer if consumed to excess). But a lot of food goes through *some* kind of processing that's either harmless or even beneficial, and as you mentioned, that includes many elements of the Mediterranean diet.
Personally, I enjoy unpasteurised cheeses and juices (which are legal here in Canada, as in the EU), but I also acknowledge that the extra processing of pasteurisation makes them a little safer. And the extra processing of fermentation made water safe in the old days (you were far more likely to get cholera, polio, or other water-borne diseases from pure well water than from fermented drinks like beer).
tl;dr It's complicated.
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2 Reactions@jim18
Thanks , I know all of that. I buy from checked sources, premium price and I buy locally produced in California (about 2 hour drive from me ). When I lived in Europe I also bought from small family operated places.
BUT, even if it was "refined", it can not even be compared to Canola "oil" in any shape or form. ; ) I have no intention of eating artificially produced oil, no reason actually - why ? Olive oil has so many health benefits and I personally LOVE the taste and smell. I even use it on my skin if I get any eczema or sunburn and all is healed in a jiffy.
@surftohealth88 I love olive oil too, but there are a few situations where I want a neutral-flavoured cooking oil (I wouldn't use olive oil in a cake, for example, though some people do 🙂).
Seed oils aren't new (consider sunflower-seed oil or sesame oil, for example, and even corn oil is *technically* a seed oil). Canola oil is just another variety.
@northoftheborder
They are not the same in any shape or form as "rape seeds" that was never used in human consumption till 1970, nor they all have same health benefits, nor they go through same industrial processes . I promise that I do not own cold press olive oil factory ; ) , I have no other reason of excluding Canola but more and more nutritionists are advising not to use it.
I use other oil when I do not wish to have olive aroma but there is no way that I will now start yet another debate about oils. All information about every oil is easily accessible on the internet and in multiple publications. Those are not "mine findings" nor "mine research papers" ; ) - everybody can eat whatever oil they wish according to their preference, budget, type of cuisine etc etc. I feel obligated to share what I know - people can take it or not, or completely ignore.
I certainly hope that somebody would warn me about something that might not be the healthiest choice - that is the place where I am coming from, always.
BUT, it might be time for me to move ahead and spend more time having fun. I know a LOT about nutrition and thought it would be helpful to share but obviously it has the opposite effect for some strange reason.
Wishing everybody wonderful weekend and even more wonderful summer. 😊🌺
@sulatnasteve Sounds like you have put together a nice cardio/strength exercise program. The key for best results, as with any exercise program, is consistency. Running is not the only way to structure a HIIT program, cycling works just as well. Be aware that exercising (particularly cycling for HIIT purposes) temporarily increases PSA levels and you should avoid cycling for at least 72 hours before getting a PSA test.
A nice set of detailed guidelines to consider before getting a PSA test has been assembled by a private Health Screening Clinic in the UK here: https://www.healthscreeningclinic.co.uk/blog/pre-test-advice-why-to-avoid-strenuous-cycling-before-your-psa-assessment
...and thanks for the invite if I go to Alaska! I've never visited there before, but I bet the salmon is the best there is!
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2 ReactionsYes- the salmon are amazing! I appreciate the link - last thing I want is to cause the psa to rise cause of what I did a day before! Thanks my friend.
Can Vegan and HIIT workouts move the needle? Not sure. I have been physically fit practically my entire adult life, don't smoke, drink, never been a big meat eater and have been an avid runner up to the point my lower back can't take it anymore so now its brisk walking. Still very active, etc, etc and yet, still recently diagnosed with 3+3 Gleason, GG1. I think overall things like this will certainly help your overall health and you will feel better, but honestly, just not sure at this point. Sleep quality, amount of stress, diet and exercise and general frame of mind and environmental conditions all go into it.....and if vegan and HIIT make you feel better about yourself whos to say it will not help keep it at bay. That said, I think most of what is attributed to keeping things in check is annecdotal
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2 Reactions@dan06 thanks for your reply. I would have to agree that if what you are doing is making you feel good and just possibly affecting the growth of your cancer, than to me it would be worth it. The hard part is I don’t know what the actual effectiveness of the diet is and eating vegan is challenging in many ways. I thought I would keep going till my next mri in March and then decide how things look. I”m trying to take this active surveillance as seriously as I can!
@sulatnasteve If you don't enjoy it, I don't think there's any need to go vegan. The Mediterranean diet also has proven health benefits, and includes some meat and fish.
Regardless, go easy on the red meats, and reserve processed meats for very rare, special occasions (like a church BBQ).
If you do stick with vegan, make sure you take a B12 supplement.
p.s. I'm lacto-ovo vegetarian myself, since 1997, but I know that it's no healthier than diets that include some meat/fish in moderation.
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2 ReactionsI think in your circumstance AS is the way to go.
There is thought that a plant based diet, exercise and stress reduction can have a positive impact on prostate cancer. A resource for you to check is Dr Geo Espinosa. Very responsive and he creates strong content on a plant based diet. You can find him -- https://drgeo.com/ He's affiliated with the Langone Center at NYU.