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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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@dmccarthy104 Thanks! I’ll check him out. I appreciate your response. It’s not an easy diet but if it helps than I’m happy!
Although this April 2026 UCSF Prostate Cancer Conference video is entitled “Diet and Exercise”, it indicates that the data is much stronger, as it relates to reducing PCa mortality and all cause mortality, for those who consistently engage in more than 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise.
The most interesting finding is that this holds true whether one is dealing with low risk or stage 4 prostate cancer.
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5 Reactions@climateguy Dr. Newton gave a presentation at a Prostate Cancer Research Institute symposium in 2025. It's a very detailed lecture showing his research findings and that of others. It includes information on aerobic and weight lifting/resistance training, the latter being most beneficial in terms of producing myokines that seem to reduce cancer progression. He shows some data indicating that exercise (and more specifically the right type of exercise) is as good as most prescription therapies for cancer. His conclusion: exercise should be frontline treatment for cancer. Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch
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1 Reaction@stragale yes! I have seen this video before and that’s one of the reasons I chose the course I did. I think it’s excellent! Thanks for your response. I appreciate it! And hopefully all the effort will pay off. I’ll know in a few months.
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1 Reaction@stragale
Thanks for this link! It was helpful and informative, and it has motivated me to get back to the gym.
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1 Reaction@stragale
Thanks for the video!
I had watched it before, but I just watched again.
Dr. Newton starts with the 2011 study that showed PCa men who practiced 150 minutes of vigorous exercise demonstrated a 61% risk reduction in PCa specific death, with the more vigorous the exercise the better the survival rate.
The remainder of the presentation is primarily targeted at PCa men who are dealing with the rapid loss of lean muscle mass and bone density that is inherent with ADT....an extremely important study for men undergoing ADT.
Newton's work shows resistance training (vs aerobic exercise) is better at counteracting the rapid loss in lean muscle mass and bone density that inherently comes when undergoing ADT.
This Newton presentation does not address men on active surveillance, but he mentions it, in a generalized sense, during the Q&A.
Also during Q&A, Dr. Moyad discusses the best aerobic exercise RCT study (ERASE), conducted with men on AS.
Moyad's conclusion: "...this (the ERASE results) would be breaking news if it were a new drug...."
Unfortunately, the ERASE study is hardly ever mentioned in an urologist's office...folks can decide for themselves why that might be...
Moyad's slide is attached...you can hear his comments at 50:13 - 51:13
Hi-good discussion. I use NutritionFacts.org, a non-profit organization that specializes in nutrition- here's what their chatbot answered:
The best available evidence points to a whole food, plant-based diet centered around fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (chickpeas, lentils, beans, tofu). In a landmark randomized controlled trial, Dr. Dean Ornish and colleagues appeared to slow, stop, and even reverse the progression of early-stage prostate cancer with just such a diet — no chemo, no surgery, no radiation. After one year, the subjects' bloodstreams were nearly eight times better at suppressing the growth of cancer cells, and biopsies showed a downregulation of critical cancer genes.
So what should we eat more of? Tomatoes, broccoli-family vegetables, soy foods, and flax seeds have all been associated with decreased prostate cancer risk. And what should we cut back on? Meat, dairy, eggs, poultry, and refined carbohydrates have all been linked to increased risk. In fact, men with more aggressive cancer who regularly ate chicken and turkey had up to four times the risk of prostate cancer progression — even worse than red meat! Eggs showed a significant twofold increased risk of progression as well.
The good news is, regardless of whether we elect chemo, surgery, or radiation, we can always improve our diets. A prostate-healthy diet is a breast-healthy diet is a heart-healthy diet is a body-healthy diet.
Learn more here: see nutritionfacts.org site and search for these videos-
Reversing Early-Stage Prostate Cancer Progression with a Plant-Based Diet and Lifestyle Program
Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer with Diet: Part 2
Too Much Soy May Neutralize Benefits
Prostate vs. Plants
Carnitine, Choline, Cancer, & Cholesterol: The TMAO Connection
Treating Advanced Prostate Cancer with Diet: Part 1
How Not To Die
How Not To Age
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2 Reactions@drcopp
I went looking at the website NutritionFacts.org And I can’t find any reference to chicken that says it’s four times worse than red meat. The only comment I found was roasted chicken being a problem, Not baked for example.
Was that the same site that discussed “ men with more aggressive cancer who regularly ate chicken and turkey had up to four times the risk of prostate cancer progression”?
I have pretty aggressive cancer. I eat chicken and turkey a lot, Not read meat though, very seldom. I’ve been undetectable for the last 33 months after 16 years of prostate cancer and four reoccurrences. I would definitely like to find where you found that information. I saw them talking about broiled chicken. Maybe they’re also thinking about fried chicken, but I eat baked chicken and turkey.. Is it the way it’s prepared that’s the problem.
I would definitely like to know more information about this.
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1 ReactionHi Jeff:
Here's the video that talks about the harm that fried and grilled cooking methods does to hydrolyze the cholesterol in the foods. Starts at the 1-minute mark of this one: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-ultra-processed-foods-could-cause-disease-industrial-contaminants/ Cancer producing byproducts-AGE's advanced glycation products...bad boys.
Here's the new Chatbot for that site, where you can ask any question:
https://nutritionfacts.org/beta-test/