Eating a 'rainbow diet' may prostate cancer risk, according to scientists

dailyrecord.co.uk:

In the UK, prostate cancer is the most common form of the disease found in men - and the second deadliest - accounting for 1,000 deaths in Scotland, and 12,000 country-wide.According to the Healthier Scotland NHS website, every one in 10 men are at risk from prostate cancer in Scotland, with around 3,400 diagnosed with the disease every year in the nation.

A number of factors are thought to raise the chances of being diagnosed with the disease including obesity, genetics and race, reports the Express.As with many other illness, diet is also a factor in increasing your risk of prostate cancer, as Prostate Cancer UK state foods high in calcium are linked to the disease.Red and processed meat have also been linked, as well as the consumption of alcohol.

Now, new research has found that certain foods could lower the risk of prostate cancer.According to two studies published in the journal Cancers, a new "rainbow" diet of different fruits and vegetables could be the key to lowering the risk of prostate cancer.Similar to the popular Mediterranean diet, scientists found that the micronutrient-rich diet can not only reduce the chances of the disease, but speed up the recovery for those already diagnosed with it.During the study, plasma samples from 116 Caucasian diagnosed with late onset of prostate cancer and 132 matched controls from the south Australian population were collected and analysed for their concentration of micronutrients.The research revealed that those with prostate cancer had low levels of selenium, lutein, lycopene and alpha-carotene - and instead had high levels of calcium, sulphur and iron.Increased damage to the persons DNA after radiation treatment was also associated with low lycopene and selenium in blood