A Plant-Based Diet Linked to Enhanced Quality of Life for Prostate Cancer Survivors

In a pioneering study, researchers have uncovered that prostate cancer survivors who adhere to a plant-based diet experience better quality of life in several domains. This work was presented at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and is detailed in a recent publication in "Cancer," a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

The study, led by Stacy Loeb, MD, MSc, PhD (Hon) and colleagues from prominent institutions such as Harvard School of Public Health and University of California, San Francisco, draws on data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Spanning three decades, the investigation involved 3,505 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer and utilized food-frequency questionnaires to calculate plant-based diet indices.

Researchers found that higher adherence to a healthful plant-based diet was routinely associated with better scores in quality-of-life areas such as sexual function, urinary control, and vitality, even after adjustments for demographics, medical history, and lifestyle factors.

Let's delve deeper into the details of their findings:

• Men who consumed more plant-based foods reported better sexual functionality compared to those with a lower intake of such foods.
• Improvements in urinary irritation, obstruction, and incontinence were also linked to a higher plant-based diet index.
• Analyses suggested that the consumption of healthful plant-based foods was significantly related to better bowel function.

It's noteworthy that such benefits were reported even years after initial diagnosis and treatment, indicating a durable positive impact of plant-based diets.

The authors were cautiously optimistic about their findings, considering that their research is observational and confined to a predominantly white, professional demographic. However, the results align with existing evidence that emphasizes the advantages of a plant-based diet, encompassing not only cancer-related outcomes but also general and cardiovascular health. Furthermore, such diets have a comparatively minor environmental impact.

The study advocates for prostate cancer survivors to incorporate a greater volume of plant-based foods into their diets as a potential strategy to improve functional outcomes and overall well-being.

For more information on this research and to access the data, visit the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health website or access the full text of the study in the journal "Cancer" at https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.35172.

This study was built with the assistance of Buoy Health.