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[yarbrony]

I was diagnosed with PCa April 2016. I decided on active surveillance and after looking at all the research, I decided on becoming a vegan and using a 100% whole food plant based diet to try and reverse my Stage 1, Gleason 6 PCa. After 2 years the results have been amazing. Anybody else using this approach and seeing their PSA numbers and cancer diminish?

[AlanMeyer Moderator]

Hello yarbrony,

Congratulations on your successful active surveillance. It sounds like whatever you're doing is working and should be continued.

Can you give us any info on your PSA history? Are you taking any supplements? Did you eat a lot of meat, fish, and milk products before the change to a vegan diet? Have you changed your exercise regimen?

Thanks.

Alan

[yarbrony in reply to AlanMeyer]

Before I went plant based I had been either a lacto-ovo vegetarian or a pescetarian since 1997. I was eating dairy, eggs and seafood (3 x a week) when the PCa was discovered. I was eating large amounts of eggs (I believe foolishly) and greek yogurt daily because I thought my body needed a lot of protein to supplement my hobby of weight lifting. When I was diagnosed my PSA was 8.2 and the TRUS biopsy found Gleason 6 in 1/14 samples and HGPINS, precancerous areas in 2 other sample.

One week after the diagnosis I gave up the dairy, eggs and fish because of the research I found in regards to treating nonaggressive PCa suggested there might be the possiblity of stopping the progression and maybe even reverse its course. It was through Dr. Michael Greger and his amazing website nutritionfacts.org that I learned about the relationship between certain cancers and diet. I'm not prone to believing in holistic healing, reiki therapy, or most alternative treatments for most diseases, but work of Dr. Dean Ornish and others seemed based on science, and not supernatural thinking. So I started to eat in such a way that one of my daily diet goals is to eliminate or diminish the amount of casein, methionine, IGF-1, choline (from animal sources) and simple carbohydrates entering my bloodstream. I started to bombard my body with cruciferous (and other vegetables), mushrooms, berries, onions (in all their forms), ground flax seeds, cooked tomatoes, minimally processed soy (milk and tofu), sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, whole grains like quinoa, brown rice and whole wheat pasta (I'm not gluten sensitive).

The results of my last biopsy, taken 6 weeks ago showed no sign of PCa or any precancerous areas. I was amazed! My doctors suspect that my high PSA is due to my enlarged prostate and not necessarily from the PCa anymore. I must add that 7 months prior, I had a 3T MRI that failed to show any PCa as well.

I really didn't change my gym workouts much after being diagnosed. At 63 years old I work out 5 to 6 days a week, 30 mins. cardio, 60 mins. strength training.

Hope this has been helpful.

[Jeff85705 in reply to yarbrony]

Since the latest results show no cancer, it could be that your still high PSA of 6 is caused by BPH (benign prostate enlargement). However, biopsies and MRIs are not perfect, so it is wise to be on active surveillance--because of the PSA. You have really tackled this situation in an amazing way! Congratulations! I am really impressed. So many older men fail to be tested for PSA, let alone do what you have done. Also, it sounds as if you have a great medical team that has your back! Great report! Thanks for sharing.

[yarbrony in reply to AlanMeyer]

When diagnosed my PSA was 8.2. It is now 6.0

[billy1950 in reply to yarbrony]

yarbrony...Are you attributing your low PSA solely to your diet? Are you also on active surveillance since your PSA number is possibly due to having a large prostate? Billy

[yarbrony in reply to billy1950]

Hey Billy. Yes, I'm on active surveillance, and will be for the rest of my life. I do believe that my WFPB diet has contributed to lowering my PSA and helping to reverse the PCa. I also believe that my still high PSA of 6 is probably due to my BPH, which I also treat with diet and exercise. It is known that the larger the prostate the more PSA in the bloodstream. There is something called PSA density and it is a measure of PSA in regards to the size of the prostate. The formula for finding prostate density is to divide the size of your prostate (use cm) by your PSA number. Normal PSA density when the size of the prostate is taken into account should should be 0.15 or less. My prostate is 40cm divided by 6 is 0.15, just on the side of normal for the size of my prostate. Of course there is always the chance that my last biopsy results reflect the biopsy needle not "getting" the cancer, but I also had precancerous areas which seemed to have gone away. I'm hopeful that that is not the case. Hope I answered your question.

[yarbrony in reply to yarbrony]

I'm sorry. To find your PSA density, divide your PSA number by the size of your prostate (6 divided by 40cm equals 0.15). Yarbrony apologizes about the confusion.

[Steveo3312]

Yes I am interested in the same

Info as Allan.

[Ben2]

Dx 12/2013 Gleason 8. Had radiation & 9 months Lupron 2014. Went vegan after years with lots of dairy. PSA has remained 0.1

[Annnon58]

I’m really pleased for you , well done . I hope you are taking B12 supplements as b12 can only be found in animal products and deficiency can eventualy make you very ill as b12 is needed for red blood cells . May be a good idea to get your b12 level checked before supplementing at your GP , I wish you continued good health , best wishes .

[yarbrony in reply to Annnon58]

I've been taking B12 since the first day I started this diet. I also take a multivitamin as well and I make a daily slurry of a 1/2 teaspoon of pure ground turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper, and 1/3 cup of water. The curcumin is an antiinflammatory whose effectiveness is increased by adding the black pepper which helps with its absorbsion.

[Annnon58]

Glad to here it , fantastic you are doing so well, .

[yarbrony]

I used to eat salmon before I went plant-based. Haven't had it in over 2 years. I get my omega 3 fats from the 3 tablespoons of raw flax seed I grind into my daily breakfast smoothie. You're lucky your doctors are supportive of your approach since many will advocate for either radiation or surgery over active surveillance, even with stage 1 and a low Gleason score. My doctors are happy about my reversal but remain skeptical that it was my diet that caused the regression even though I've given them the studies and info upon which i based my decision. Good luck!

[AlanMeyer Moderator]

I agree with everyone else that you've done an amazing job of taking care of yourself. I hesitate to offer any suggestions since you already know a lot more about nutrition and supplements than I do but, for whatever they're worth, here are a couple more ideas (which you may already know about.)

1. Organically grown cruciferous vegetables may have advantages over those grown with fungicides and pesticides.

Dr. Gerry Potter, one of the inventors of abiraterone acetate (aka Zytiga) claims that the cancer fighting properties of cruciferous vegetables come from compounds that the plants synthesize in their battles against fungi, bacteria, viruses, and insects. If they are not attacked by any of these plant pathogens, they synthesize very little of these chemicals. But without the chemical treatments, they have to battle their enemies on their own and produce up to 30 times more of the (admittedly bitter tasting) phytochemicals that are tough on cancer as well as on invaders. Potter doesn't claim that they can cure cancer, but says they can slow down its development. For info on it, Google for "salvestrols", the name Potter gave to them.

2. Have a look at the postings by Patrick O'Shea ("pjoshea13") in the Advanced Prostate Cancer group on HealthUnlocked.

Patrick knows more than anyone I know about nutrition and supplements. I believe he was a professional researcher in this area. His posting on Curcumin convinced me to try the "CurcuBrain" brand of curcumin for its high bioavailability - higher than the brands that only use pepperine to increase availability. You can find his postings by using Google, or see this posting for info on different ways to search HealthUnlocked for postings by people:

healthunlocked.com/advanced...

Alan

[yarbrony in reply to AlanMeyer]

Thanks Alan. I'll look Patrick up.