Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or have had treatment, a healthy lifestyle can have an incredible impact on your quality of life.
Keeping physically active, exercising, and eating well can have many benefits, such as improving side effects of treatment and even increasing the success of your treatment, in some cases.
We’ve looked at what helps (and what doesn’t) when it comes to prostate cancer and your health. Exercising and making healthy food choices are two great ways to help keep prostate cancer in check. Being active, combined with eating fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods can really make a difference.
Exercise is good for you,
even if you don’t feel up to it.
Keeping physically active might be the last thing on your mind when you’re exhausted from dealing with cancer and treatment. But there are excellent reasons to make it one of the first. Exercising during treatment has been shown to reduce, prevent and, in some cases, reverse the side effects of hormone therapy, radiation therapy (radiotherapy) and chemotherapy.
All pretty good reasons to get on the move, right? Add to the mix the fact that exercise can increase the effectiveness of treatments such as chemotherapy, and the case for physical activity is strong.
But there’s more. Men with prostate cancer who regularly exercise often benefit from better physical function, mental wellbeing and overall quality of life.
Still not sold? In addition to all the other benefits, physical activity has been shown to help reduce the chances of prostate cancer returning, getting worse, or claiming your life. Exercise may not cure everything, but it can help you live better, for longer.
Eating well and your diet
during prostate cancer
Eating well during and after prostate cancer treatment can
improve your overall health
boost your recovery
help minimise treatment side-effects
Remember, try to eat more vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Focus on getting more plants in your current diet and limit processed foods. You might also consider eating less meat, eggs and dairy. This is known as a whole-foods, plant-based diet.
A balanced approach to eating and drinking not only slashes the odds of other illnesses (think cardiovascular disease, other cancers, diabetes and more) but makes it easier to manage your weight.
And, here’s the clincher, maintaining a healthy weight has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer returning, for some men.
