Low-fat diet for prostate cancer

Men with prostate cancer can adhere to low-fat diet if they receive good counselling and support. Researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, USA found that dietary fat plays a role in the progression of prostate cancer. However, some doctors have been skeptical about the feasibility of putting men with prostate cancer on a low-fat diet. To investigate this, the researches assigned 48 men with prostate cancer to a diet containing 15 per cent fat or less, with vitamin E and selenium supplements. On the other hand was a control group, which was assigned to a ,normal diet. All of the men received nutritional counselling at the start of the study, but the men on the low-fat diet and their spouses received more intensive support, with biweekly visits to a nutritionist for the first four months of the study, followed by monthly group sessions. After three months, men in the low-fat diet group had cut their calorie intake from fat by 8.6 per cent and lost an average of 2 kilograms, while men in the control group had increased their fat intake by 2.1 per cent and lost 0.8 kg. After a year the men on the low-fat diet had lost 2.8 kg and maintained a 9.8 per cent lower fat intake, while those on the normal diet had gained 0.5 kg and were eating 1.6 per cent less fat. A diagnosis of prostate cancer appears to be a strong motivation for lifestyle change, the researchers note. Larger studies are needed to assess the effect of a low-fat dietary intervention on quality of life, disease progression, and survival in men with prostate cancer.