For Any Man Over The Age of 40

Don't wait until symptoms develop- take action now to help protect against prostate problems that could haunt you later.

By Dr.Samuel N. Grief, MD, FCFP

If you don't know what your prostate is or what it does, you're certainly not alone: most men don't. But you really should. More than 30 million men suffer from prostate conditions that negatively affect their quality of life. There isn't a better time to discuss this serious issue than Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Men of any age are susceptible to prostate conditions, but men age 40 and older are much more likely to experience them. Men should be taking extra precautions to take care of their prostate as early as age 40, before they experience symptoms.

The prostate is a small gland, about the size of a walnut, that surrounds the urethra, a tube that passes urine from the bladder to the penis. The prostate gland grows quite a lot during puberty, and then doesn't change much until about the age of 40. At this time, it slowly begins growing again and, in many men, doesn't stop. Half of all men aren't bothered by their growing prostate, but the others will develop any one of three prostate diseases because of inflammation: enlarged prostate, prostate cancer or prostatitis. Some men may suffer from more than one of these conditions.

The medical term for an elarged prostate is benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH). A non-cancerous disorder, an enlarged prostate is the most common prostate health problem among men. Half of men between the ages of 50 and 60 will develop it, and by the age of 80, about 90 percent will have experienced BPH symptoms.

BPH may result in a range of uncomfortable symptoms such as frequent urination, incomplete emptying of the bladder, a weak urine sream or difficulty starting urination.

As the prostate slowly continues to enlarge, symptoms may gradually worsen, interfering with sleep, physical comfort and routine activities. In rare cases, an untreated enlarged prostate may lead to an inability to urinate, incontinence, bladder stones, kidney infections, and damage to the bladder, kidneys, and urethra.

Treatment for BPH often involves prescription medicine, surgery, or both.


Supplements can shrink the prostate enough to lessen or even rid a man of the most bothersome symptoms. However, if a man's BPH symptoms continue or worsen, it is strongly encouraged that he consults a healthcare provider for further evaluation.

Each year over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 30,000 will die of it. There are several factors that could put you at risk of developing prostate cancer:

* Age. As men age, the risk increases. Those at the earliest risk are those who are 40 or over with a family history of prostate cancer and African American ancestry. For other men, the risk is greatest for those who are 50 and above. Most prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over 65, but it is becoming more common in men 55-65.

* Family history. Your risk of developing prostate cancer is doubled if your father, brother, or close male blood relative has or had the disease.

* Race. African Americans have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world, at least twice as high as Caucasian men.

* Diet. Eating a diet that's low in fiber and high in fat and red meat has been shown to increase cancer risk.

Even though one in six men (17%) will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, only one in 33 (3%) will die of it. This is partly because early treatment of prostate cancer is often effective and partly because other illnesses often overtake prostate cancer as the ultimate cause of death. So, some men have prostate cancer and never even know it - they live long healthy lives without knowing the diagnosis, and eventually die of something having nothing to do with prostate cancer.

Your healthcare provider can help you assess your risk for prostate disease and determine whether it is appropriate to undergo a blood test screening (prostate specific antigen or PSA) for prostate cancer.

Ideally, you will help protect yourself from prostate disease by:

* Leading an active lifestyle

* Consuming foods rich with healthful vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

* Complementing your daily sustenance with a high-quality prostate specific supplement.

Prostate disease need not be the end of a healthy life. Talk to your healthcare provider about what you can do to feel better today and healthier tomorrow.

Eat Your Veggies!

Kids don't have that strong a relationship to vegetables. Kids will go through the motions, pushing broccoli spears and lima beans around their plate a few times, but few veggies actually reach the inside of a kid's mouth.

And yet, we want our kids to eat vegetables on a regular basis. The best way to do this is to serve fresh veggies daily, and make sure WE eat all the vegetables on our plates!

Why bother? It turns out that vegetables - all kinds of vegetables - contain super-powerful ingredients that help keep us healthy and help us ward off a wide range of serious illnesses.1,2 These magical substances - phytochemicals - give fruits and vegetables their big nutritional kick!

"Phyto" is Greek for "plant". Brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrients and the most phytochemicals.

Well-known phytochemicals include lycopene, found in tomatoes; isoflavones, found in soy; and flavonoids, found in fruits such as blueberries and cranberries.3 Phytochemicals have wide-ranging effects - some are antioxidants, others stimulate enzyme activity, and others have hormonal action. All phytochemicals act to enhance health and well-being and human performance.

Antioxidants provide significant protection for your body's cells against the destructive oxidation potential of free radicals. Free radicals are produced by normal metabolic activities, and they are neutralized by antioxidants which we obtain in a well-balanced diet.

But if we're not consuming our daily requirement of fruits and vegetables, our reserves of antioxidants are decreased, and free radicals can destroy cells and create disease. For example, certain types of cancer are linked to free radical damage.

Bottom line - broccoli spears are much more than flowery green things your Mom used to make you eat. Broccoli is a superfood, rich in antioxidants and rich in cancer-fighting ability.

Carrots - another superfood- are rich in beta-carotene, an important antioxidant. Your body converts a portion of beta-carotene into Vitamin A, which helps strengthen the immune system and protects the digestive tract.

Tomatoes round out the list of the top three super-veggies. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene - a potent antioxidant. Lycopenes give tomatoes their rich, red color. These phytochemicals have proven health benefits in the areas of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Eating vegetables daily provides so much benefit for people of all ages. Five to nine portions of fruits and vegetables are recommended in a balanced nutritional program.



Great tasting greens food made with organic ingredients

PaleoGreens™ is the great tasting lemon/lime flavored Designs for Health greens food made with organic ingredients, and with the principles of wholesome Paleolithic nutrition in mind. It contains cleansing, regenerative and alkalinizing grass juices, algae, enzymes, prebiotics, and is combined with high ORAC value vegetables, fruits and berries. Unlike other greens products, we never add fillers or bulking agents (such as whole grasses, apple fiber or pectin, rice bran, or flax), which can greatly dilute nutritional potency and are a potential source of genetically modified material. Because the cellulose fiber in whole grass is indigestible, it prevents the grass’s valuable phytonutrients from being released in the digestive system. For this reason, we use only grass juices. In every spoonful of PaleoGreens,™ you receive densely packed nutrition that intensely nourishes and strengthens every system in your body, resulting in sustained energy, enhanced recovery, mental clarity and overall well-being.
PaleoGreens™ is special not only because of its extraordinary formula, but also because we meticulously cultivate and protect all the precious constituents contained in it. We work closely with our certified organic growers to ensure the optimal development of enzymes and beneficial phytonutrients in PaleoGreens™ ingredients. These ingredients are harvested at their peak of potency and immediately concentrated and dried by utilizing proprietary cool-temperature processes that preserve their energetic and nutritional integrity. Studies have shown that these unique technologies offer unprecedented protection of the enzymes and other valuable phytonutrient constituents. Our PET packaging further protects PaleoGreens™ from damaging light, oxygen and moisture after bottling. We are certain you will find PaleoGreens™ to be the highest quality and best tasting greens product you’ve ever experienced.

Why are PaleoGreens™ unique and superior to other greens products?

* Organic ingredients, which means PaleoGreens™ is free of pesticides, insecticides, heavy metals
* Paleo profile: no grain/legumes fibers or components, least allergenic
* No alfalfa, a common ingredient in all other leading brands (which has been shown to cause autoimmune disease)
* Special gentle processing that retains potency
* Proven ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity) value
* Great taste, with no added sugar; organic lemon/lime flavor


*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

1Hayes JD, et al: The cancer chemopreventive actions of phytochemicals derived from glucosinolates. Eur J Nutr 47(Suppl 2):73-88, 2008
2Nair S, et al: Natural dietary anti-cancer chemopreventive compounds: redox-mediated differential signaling mechanisms in cytoprotection of normal cells versus cytotoxicity in tumor cells. Acta Pharmacol Sin 28(4):459-472, 2007
3Vinson JA, et al: Cranberries and cranberry products: Powerful in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo sources of antioxidants. J Agric Food Chem June 2008 (in press)