Cut Coffee Use When You’re Taking Certain Medications And Supplements
Certain medications and herbal supplements negatively interact with caffeine. The following are some examples.
Some antibiotics.
Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and norfloxacin (Noroxin) — types of antibacterial medications — can interfere with the breakdown of caffeine. This may increase the length of time caffeine remains in your body and amplify its unwanted effects.
Theophylline (Theo-24, Uniphyl, others).
This medication — which opens up bronchial airways by relaxing the surrounding muscles (a bronchodilator) — tends to have some caffeine-like effects. Taking this drug along with caffeinated foods and beverages may increase the concentration of theophylline in your blood. This can cause ill effects, such as nausea, vomiting and heart palpitations. If you take theophylline, your doctor may advise that you avoid caffeine.
Ephedra (ma-huang).
This herbal dietary supplement increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, seizures and death. Combined with caffeine, it becomes especially risky. The Food and Drug Administration has banned ephedra in the marketplace because of health concerns. This ban applies to dietary supplements but not herbal teas, which may still contain the herb.
Potential Risks of the Macrobiotic Diet
Cases of infants with symptoms of malnutrition (including deficiency of vitamins B12 and D) have been reported in the medical literature.The possibility of such types of nutritional deficiency has been documented in systematic surveys of groups of infants and families who followed a macrobiotic lifestyle.
These studies of nutritional status—primarily in infants or in growing children—have formed the basis for most warnings against use of macrobiotic diets to treat cancer.Assuming that any appropriate treatment minimizes nutritional deficiency,many physicians believe that imposition of the dietary restrictions is potentially dangerous for patients who are already losing alarming amounts of weight. In contrast, these nutritional restrictions have been proposed to help slow progression of cancer by starving the rapidly reproducing cells responsible for the disease.
Dr Sattilaro was a 49-year-old physician when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which had already metastasized to several bones. His prognosis was very poor—he had multiple metastases—so he decided to treat himself with the macrobiotic diet. After a year of adhering to the diet, results of Dr Sattilaro’s follow-up examination showed complete resolution of the bone metastases. He continued the diet and remained cancer-free at followup three years later.
Healthy Diet To Avoid Health Problem
By improving your diet your overall health will benefit and you will reduce your risk of developing health problems such as heart disease and diabetes and may protect against other cancers.
How can I make changes to my diet?
Finding reliable information on healthy eating can be an overwhelming and confusing task. This fact sheet suggests ways of making changes to your diet, which may reduce your risk of prostate cancer and improve your overall health. You may find it easier to stick to your new diet if you introduce small changes gradually and set yourself goals.
You must feel happy with your new diet. Eating meals with family and friends is an important part of every day life and changes to your diet should not reduce the pleasure of these social events.
Try to cut down on unhealthy foods but do not totally exclude whole groups of food from your diet. All food groups play a part in making sure you have a balanced diet. Cutting out one food group completely can make it difficult to get the right balance of nutrients that you need. In general, a diet that is good for your heart is also good for your prostate. Ask your doctor to refer you to a Registered Dietitian if you are making big changes to your diet or if you have any other medical conditions that could be affected by your diet.
What is a healthy diet?
The picture below shows the five main food groups and the proportions that you should aim to include in your diet.
For a healthy diet:
• Base your meals on starchy foods like potatoes, rice and pasta. Try wholegrain options such as wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta and wholegrain breakfast cereals. These are high in fibre and also help you to feel full for longer.
• Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.
• Include some protein, like fish, skinless chicken and pulses.
• Eat a low-fat diet.
• Cut down on sugar. The healthy daily limit is 70 grams or 17 teaspoons. This includes sugar hidden in soft drinks and processed foods such as cakes and biscuits.
• Cut down on salt. Eat less than one and a quarter teaspoons each day and look out for hidden salt in processed foods. Try using herbs and spices to add flavour when cooking.
• Drink six to eight glasses of water each day. Avoid sugary or fizzy drinks.
You should be able to get all the nutrients you need by eating a balanced diet rather than taking supplements. Supplements may not contain all the beneficial nutrients that are found naturally in food and we do not fully understand the possible harm of taking supplements. Your doctor may recommend supplements in particular cases. For example they may advise you to take calcium supplements if you are on hormone therapy and you are not getting enough calcium from your diet.
Diet And Prostate Cancer
There are several factors that can increase your risk of getting prostate cancer. These include increasing age, an African Caribbean background, a family history of prostate cancer and diet. You cannot alter most of these risk factors; however one thing you can control is your diet. By improving your diet, you can take control over your own health and actively do something to improve it. This will also have other health benefits such as reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Research is emerging which suggests that some foods not only help to prevent prostate cancer, but may also slow down the growth of prostate cancer in men who already have the disease or reduce the chance of prostate cancer returning after treatment.
The Western diet
Westerners have higher rates of prostate cancer than people living in Far Eastern countries such as China and Japan. However, prostate cancer rates have increased in men who have migrated from Japan to the USA. Researchers think that this may be due to the Western diet. This view is supported by the fact that cancer rates have been increasing in Eastern countries since more people have begun to eat more Western foods. Over the last 50 years, the British diet has included less fruit and vegetables and more saturated fats and meat products. This change may increase the risk of men developing prostate cancer over many years.
Prevention of prostate cancer
The exact link between diet and prostate cancer is unclear. One of the reasons for this is because our diet is made up of so many different foods. Scientists have not yet identified all of the nutrients that are involved in protecting the body from cancer and those which may cause the disease.
Several studies have shown that eating certain foods may reduce your risk of developing prostate cancer, reduce the likelihood of prostate cancer coming back after treatment, or help slow down progression of the disease. More research is needed to support these findings before we can say for sure whether certain foods can benefit men worried about, or diagnosed with, prostate cancer. We also do not know whether changing your diet later on in life can prevent prostate cancer.
What to Order Healthy When You’re Eating Out
Here are some hints on how to order from menus. Ask if you can get nutrition facts for menu items.
Steakhouse
• Trim the fat from broiled meat and order without sauces or gravy.
• A filet, flank, or London broil steak is the leanest cut.
Salad Bar
• Be careful about potato and pasta salads, bacon bits, marinated vegetables, olives, fruits in heavy syrup, and seeds or nuts.
• One ladle of creamy salad dressing can be about 300 calories.
• Select dark, leafy greens, raw vegetables and fruits, lean ham or turkey and cottage cheese.
• Use fat-free dressing or low-fat dressing in small amounts.
Chinese/Oriental
• Many menu items can be made to order. Request no oil (ask for broth or stock instead) or ask for only a small amount of oil.
• Choose items with large portions of vegetables.
• Avoid wontons, egg rolls, sweet and sour choices, fried rice, fried dumplings, sesame noodles, egg foo young, and tempura.
Italian
• Pasta with red sauce (marinara, red clam, or marsala) is a great choice unless the sauce has high fat meat such as sausage.
• Avoid cream sauces such as Alfredo or butter sauce as well as parmigiana, beef lasagna,cheese sauce or filling, pesto, carbonara, sausage dishes and garlic bread.
Pizza
• Vegetable pizzas can have half the calories of the “works” type.
• Ask for extra vegetables to replace the meat on pizza.
• You can request ½ of the cheese as well.
Mexican
• Chicken fajitas, tortillas and Spanish rice without sour cream and guacamole are often OK choices.
• Go easy on chips and rich/fried items on the menu such as chili rellanos, nachos, chorizo,chimichangas, flautas, and taco bowl salads.
Fast Foods
• Choose BBQ or broiled and grilled chicken sandwiches as well as a rregular hamburger or roast beef sandwich instead of jumbo burgers and fried sandwiches.
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