Over 50's Guys - Our special needs
Fvaisey
Posts: 5,506 Member
I have been suffering from BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) for 8 years or so. After lots of reading and research I found that this can be attributed to the typical American (Western) diet as much as diabetes and obesity. There is a lot of literature out there about BPH and Prostate cancer, for American men it's stated that it's not a question of if you will suffer from them but when.
One of the sites I've been following started recommending a LCHF to relieve the symptoms of BPH and prevent prostate cancer. After reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living I decided to give it a try and I find that this has relieved to a great extent the symptoms I experience. I wonder if anyone else has seen some relief from these symptoms and if they'd care to share?
One of the sites I've been following started recommending a LCHF to relieve the symptoms of BPH and prevent prostate cancer. After reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living I decided to give it a try and I find that this has relieved to a great extent the symptoms I experience. I wonder if anyone else has seen some relief from these symptoms and if they'd care to share?
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Good luck!0
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I'm over 50, but my prostate seems to be behaving itself so far. Nice to know there's another reason to stay low carb.
Got a study I can read? At first glance, the studies I looked at found a correlation, but not a mechanism. So many people have high insulin and metabolic syndrome that correlation alone probably isn't very meaningful.
IGF-1 seems like a better suspect -- it makes sense for hyperplasia. If so, fasting might help too.0 -
The only study so far is my anecdotal evidence. I believe there are studies regarding BPH add a inflammatory response. And it seems to be well accepted that a low carb diet reduces the risk of cancer.
I work at a hospital and part of our protocol for brain tumors is a very low carb diet.
I'll see if I can find some studies.0 -
I know this is a men's thread, but BPH symptoms can also be remarkably reduced in some men by eliminating caffeine. I don't know why, but the Uro office I go to and many men I know go to have all been told this.0
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I'm afraid, you can find afraid what ever you can find is whatever you can find, lol!!!!0
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Mind, whatever YOU can find!!!¡¡¡¡¡0
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Rock on with ur bad self!!!!!0
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Self matters!0
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Oh my!!!0
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It does matter!!!!!!0
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If
T does!!!0 -
sljohnson1207 wrote: »I know this is a men's thread, but BPH symptoms can also be remarkably reduced in some men by eliminating caffeine. I don't know why, but the Uro office I go to and many men I know go to have all been told this.
I didn't realize it was considered gender specific (or necessarily prostate related). My urologist, and later Pelvic Floor physical therapist both recommended cutting out caffeine to me, describing it as a "bladder irritant" in some people. It wasn't for me, at least in small doses. Back when I was drinking 5-10 Dr Pepper's a day, who knows. But my cup of green tea now on low carb wasn't a part of the problem.
I was on a BPH med, but I didn't have it. I had a lot of vague pelvic floor symptoms, and was on an overactive bladder me and a BPH med, despite not being diagnosed with either. Weight loss on a low carb diet + Pelvic Floor PT eventually resolved almost all of my symptoms and got me off almost all of my meds (still taking 1/2 a dose of the overactive bladder med, I think I should try to drop it again soon actually and see what happens). But I'm also only 38, and prostate was ruled out early on as a problem for me, so I think my case was a bit different than the problems that come for many down the road.
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sljohnson1207 wrote: »I know this is a men's thread, but BPH symptoms can also be remarkably reduced in some men by eliminating caffeine. I don't know why, but the Uro office I go to and many men I know go to have all been told this.
I didn't realize it was considered gender specific (or necessarily prostate related). My urologist, and later Pelvic Floor physical therapist both recommended cutting out caffeine to me, describing it as a "bladder irritant" in some people. It wasn't for me, at least in small doses. Back when I was drinking 5-10 Dr Pepper's a day, who knows. But my cup of green tea now on low carb wasn't a part of the problem.
I was on a BPH med, but I didn't have it. I had a lot of vague pelvic floor symptoms, and was on an overactive bladder me and a BPH med, despite not being diagnosed with either. Weight loss on a low carb diet + Pelvic Floor PT eventually resolved almost all of my symptoms and got me off almost all of my meds (still taking 1/2 a dose of the overactive bladder med, I think I should try to drop it again soon actually and see what happens). But I'm also only 38, and prostate was ruled out early on as a problem for me, so I think my case was a bit different than the problems that come for many down the road.
It's not gender specific nor BPH specific. It's recommended because the symptoms of BPH are often manifested in the urinary tract.
I know about the men being told this because I have Interstitial Cystitis (shares a lot of the same symptoms as BPH and is often misdiagnosed as BPH when it occurs in men) and have been treated for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction for years because I tense up my pelvic floor in response to the pain in my bladder.
It's a men's thread, so I wanted to share specifically what's been shared with me about BPH in men and what the Urologists have told them. Caffeine, especially coffee, even though good for most people, is a serious bladder irritant for those of us with IC, and since most men seem to have lots of urinary symptoms with BPH, it sort of makes sense to cut it out to see if it helps with not living in front of urinal or having to get up so many times at night and sacrificing proper sleep.
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I guess I should consider cutting out caffeine for a bit and see if that causes further improvement. That will be tough as I just started doing primal coffee in the morning and it's The Bomb (and a fat bomb!)0
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Here I felt like a rebel peeking into the Men's thread, like peeking into the locker room, and I find a bunch of ladies not only peeked, they posted. lol. I don't have info about BPH, but I am interested since my SO is an over 50 male.0
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I guess I should consider cutting out caffeine for a bit and see if that causes further improvement. That will be tough as I just started doing primal coffee in the morning and it's The Bomb (and a fat bomb!)
You could actually try this using decaf coffee. If you use coconut oil in it, you'll still get most of the energy boost.0 -
sljohnson1207 wrote: »It's not gender specific nor BPH specific. It's recommended because the symptoms of BPH are often manifested in the urinary tract.
I know about the men being told this because I have Interstitial Cystitis (shares a lot of the same symptoms as BPH and is often misdiagnosed as BPH when it occurs in men) and have been treated for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction for years because I tense up my pelvic floor in response to the pain in my bladder.
Ahh, I gotcha
Interstitial Cystitis is one of those things that I heard a lot about as well while I was going through my issues, as far as "well some of your symptoms match IC, so you might try these things, but I don't think that's what you have", in the end it turns out I don't have IC. I did a lot of reading on it just in case though, all my sympathies to you for having to deal with it. I went through a number of rounds of biofeedback and "downtraining" to figure out a similar tensing up issue, too. But luckily I was doing that while I was having a reduction in symptoms. If I had constant/recurring issues I'm not sure how that would have worked out.0 -
sljohnson1207 wrote: »It's not gender specific nor BPH specific. It's recommended because the symptoms of BPH are often manifested in the urinary tract.
I know about the men being told this because I have Interstitial Cystitis (shares a lot of the same symptoms as BPH and is often misdiagnosed as BPH when it occurs in men) and have been treated for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction for years because I tense up my pelvic floor in response to the pain in my bladder.
Ahh, I gotcha
Interstitial Cystitis is one of those things that I heard a lot about as well while I was going through my issues, as far as "well some of your symptoms match IC, so you might try these things, but I don't think that's what you have", in the end it turns out I don't have IC. I did a lot of reading on it just in case though, all my sympathies to you for having to deal with it. I went through a number of rounds of biofeedback and "downtraining" to figure out a similar tensing up issue, too. But luckily I was doing that while I was having a reduction in symptoms. If I had constant/recurring issues I'm not sure how that would have worked out.
I am so glad you do not have IC, and am very glad that you seem to be doing much better after PT and treatment.
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We're all peeking.... Is it because we are used to taking care of men, and children and everyone around us ? It startled me at first to find this thread...so used to seeing the ladies thread. Or are we just nosy, and want to find out what the men are talking about ?0
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I think you ladies are all nosy! lol. But it definitely affects the women and I know ladies are typically less squeamish about discussing health issues than us guys. I've worked at a hospital (in Information Tech, not medical) for 36 years and the nurses have cured me of discomfort talking about health issues long ago.
I've also found that red meat and dairy affect my symptoms which makes LCHF not quite as much fun with no cheese, heavy cream, yogurt, etc...KnitOrMiss wrote: »You could actually try this using decaf coffee. If you use coconut oil in it, you'll still get most of the energy boost.
I will give that a try...
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Kitnthecat wrote: »We're all peeking.... Is it because we are used to taking care of men, and children and everyone around us ? It startled me at first to find this thread...so used to seeing the ladies thread. Or are we just nosy, and want to find out what the men are talking about ?
Me, I'm just annoyingly helpful. I want to give any possible help I can. Plus I have a 42 year old man in my life that refuses to change anything in his life for his own betterment, so if I can find things to subtly incorporate, I'm so THERE.0
This discussion has been closed.