Movember Wrap-Up: An Ounce of Prevention

Movember has come and gone, and with it, a flurry of facial-hair growing activity. As promised, I am posting photos of the evolution of Anthony’s mustache. Congratulations to Anthony and his team, The Wade Boggs All-Stars for raising $7,817 and awareness about the dangers of bad facial hair, I mean, men’s health, in the month of November!

In my last Movember post , I talked about some of the risk factors for developing prostate cancer. In this post I will talk about some things you can do to help prevent it. Having watched a friend, a renowned medical researcher go through the frustration of wading through conflicting research and professional opinions, it appears that there currently is no one clear path to preventing prostate cancer. However, you can do your best to be healthy overall, and avoid certain things that are thought to contribute to the development of prostate cancer. I’ve compiled the following information from the Mayo Clinic, LiveStrong, Movember and President’s Cancer Panel websites.

1. Eat the Right Things. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, which should be the main part of your diet. For protein, include lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, legumes, eggs, and nuts. The fat you eat should be from plant sources, rather than animals. And avoid processed foods with trans-fats, sodium, enriched flour, and refined sugars. It is also a good idea to limit the amount of dairy products and red meat you consume. For more details, see LiveStrong’s list of foods to avoid.
2. Watch What You Drink. Green tea is full of anti-oxidants and has been found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. And alcohol has been linked to all types of cancer, so it is best to limit yourself to no more than one or two drinks per day, if at all. . A standard drink is one 12-ounce bottle of beer or wine cooler, one 5-ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.
3. Breathe. First of all, don’t smoke. It’s undeniably related to cancer, not just of the lungs. Also, remember to breathe. Stress and the accompanying biochemicals it creates in your body have been found to contribute to all types of chronic illness. So learn some techniques, like meditation and visualization, for controlling your stress.
4. Move It! Men who exercise regularly have a reduced risk of prostate cancer, along with other chronic illnesses. If you don’t currently exercise, start out slow and work your way up to the optimal 30 minutes minimum per day.
5. Avoid Those Chemicals. Do your best to limit your exposure to Cadmium, Dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), bisphenol A (BPA), all of which are suspected of causing cancer in general, and prostate cancer in particular. BPAs and other chemicals are capable of mimicking human hormones and are suspected of causing prostate and testicular cancer. In a recent study, BPA was found to cause biochemical changes in prostate tumor cells in a laboratory setting. Avoid chemical pesticides, too. An NIH Agricultural Health study found that farmers, men who worked as pesticide applicators, and men who manufacture pesticides have a significantly higher risk for prostate cancer. The Environmental Working Group has information on other environmental toxins that are suspected of contributing to cancer.

Now, to get back to the fun stuff. To wrap up their month of serious facial-hair growing and awareness raising, Mo participants all over the world hosted Mo Galas last week to celebrate their success.  Here are some photos from the Washington, DC festivities. And, as promised, here are the photos of my Mo friend, Anthony, in the second half of his mustache-growing-for-charity adventure.

Anthony: Movember, Day 15.

Here is Anthony on Movember, Day 15. He mustache seems to say, “Hey, can I interest you in a used car?”

Anthony: Movember, Day 30

And here is Super Mario, I mean Anthony, on Movember, Day 30! Congratulations, Anthony! Now, can I interest you in some all-natural, vegan, toxin-free men’s grooming products?

[tweetmeme source=”herbanlifestyle” service=”tinyurl.com”]

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We Are the Champions, My Friends

Today, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics released a new report, Market Shift, which documents how they worked with cosmetics industry leaders over the past 7 years to raise awareness about personal care product safety. Through the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, companies voluntarily pledge to avoid chemicals banned in other countries, avoid harmful ingredients whenever possible and fully disclose their product ingredients. According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, increasing consumer demand for products made without hazardous chemicals has made natural and safe cosmetics the fastest-growing segment of the $50 billion cosmetics industry. This is great news for consumers looking for healthy options, and great news for companies that work hard to provide the safest, purest products for them.

I am proud to announce that Herban Lifestyle is one of the 432 companies that have achieved “Champion” or “Innovator” status by meeting the goals of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics’ Compact for Safe Cosmetics! In fact, Herban Lifestyle achieved Champion status, which means that we:

• Comply with the European Union’s Cosmetics Directive, widely considered the global gold standard of cosmetics safety regulation,

• Disclose all ingredients, including ingredients in “fragrance,” which in the United States can be claimed as “confidential business information,” even when it contains hormone disruptors, carcinogens and other harmful chemicals,

• Publish and regularly update product information in EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database,

• Comply with any additional ingredient prohibitions and restrictions under the Compact and substitute ingredients of concern with safer alternatives, and

• Participate in the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

If you go to the Campaign’s Skin Deep Database, you will see that Herban Lifestyle products contain the safest ingredients available.

Market Shift shows how the Champions and Innovators (who range from small mom-and-pop businesses to some of the largest businesses in the natural products sector) are working toward higher standards of safety for personal care products, and are doing so successfully. As Mia Davis, organizing director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said, “Their ability and willingness to work toward the Compact requirements shows not only that it is possible to make products that far exceed current safety standards in the United States, but also that making safe personal care products can be part of a successful business model.”

[Note: I have seen similar posts to this one on other sites that have attracted comments emphatically stating that there is no need for safer cosmetics because the FDA already assures that cosmetics are safe. It is true that the FDA has standards around cleanliness of facilities and non-contaminated products, which is very important. But safety in this context means that a product doesn’t have the potential to put you and your family at higher risk for cancer, diabetes and a host of other chronic diseases that are not as immediately apparent as a rash, but certainly have more dire long-term effects. For more details, please see the President’s Cancer Panel Report, which was released in April 2010. Also, today’s news on the FDA and contaminated cosmetics products indicates there is still some work to be done in this area, too.]

Movember: Risky business

image copyright movember

We are now on week two of Movember, a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health in general (Mo, by the way, is Australian slang for mustache). Last week I provided some statistics on the incidence of prostate cancer in the United States, and this week, I thought I would list some risk factors for the disease. And again, to balance out the seriousness of this topic, I will follow the cold hard facts with some mustache-related photos for your enjoyment.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Prostate Cancer Foundation have put together lists of prostate cancer risk factors based on current research. They are:

Age. Although it is very rare in men younger than 50 years, rates of prostate cancer increase exponentially over age 50. The rates are 1 in 10,000 men under age 40, 1 in 38 for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 15 for ages 60 to 69.

Race. At all ages, incidence of prostate cancer in African Americans exceeds those of all other races. African American men are 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men, and they are nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease. [Note: I would guess this is largely due to dietary and environmental factors, including health care disparity and greater exposure to environmental toxins]

Family History. About 15% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer have a first-degree male relative (e.g., brother, father) with prostate cancer, compared with approximately 8% of all men.

Obesity. Obese men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more likely to have advanced disease that is more difficult to treat.

Where you live. Men who live in cities north of 40 degrees latitude have the highest risk for dying from prostate cancer of all men in the United States. It is thought that this might be related to reduced vitamin D levels due to low exposure to sunlight during three months of the year.

Dietary Fat. Prostate cancer rates varies from country to country by as much as 20-fold, and studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between a country’s prostate cancer mortality rate and average total calories from fat consumed by the country’s population. For example, studies of immigrants from Japan have shown that native-born Japanese men have the lowest risk of clinical prostate cancer, first generation Japanese-Americans have an intermediate risk, and subsequent generations have a risk comparable to the U.S. population. There are several possible reasons for this association, which you can find out more about on NCI’s website.

Dairy and Calcium Intake. In a meta-analysis of ten research studies (eight from the United States and two from Europe), it was found that men with the highest intake of dairy products and calcium were more likely to develop prostate cancer than men with the lowest intake. [Note: I would be curious to see if this applies to vegan men who get most of their calcium through green, leafy vegetables]

Hormones. There is evidence suggesting that the degree of cumulative exposure of the prostate to androgens is related to an increased risk of prostate cancer (see NCI’s website for technical details).

In addition to NCI’s list, the groundbreaking President’s Cancer Panel Report 2010 discusses some other environmental factors that contribute to risk of developing prostate cancer. For example, some chemicals thought to contribute to prostate cancer are inorganic arsenic in drinking water, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). BPA, which has been in the news a lot over the past couple of years, is also strongly indicated in contributing to the incidence of prostate cancer. The Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction also concluded in 2008 that there is “…some concern for effects on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and children at current human exposures to bisphenol A.” Several chemicals capable of mimicking the body’s hormones are suspected of causing prostate and testicular cancer, and BPA was found to cause biochemical changes in prostate tumor cells (in the laboratory) that could interfere with prostate cancer treatment.*

The NIH Agricultural Health study found that although overall cancer rates among farmers and pesticide applicators are not higher than other men and women in the study states (IA and NC), there are increased risks for specific cancers. For example, farmers and pesticide applicators have a significantly higher prostate cancer risk (female pesticide applicators have significantly higher incidence of ovarian cancer). Those who manufacture pesticides are also at a significantly higher risk for prostate cancer.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation, one of the benefactors of Movember’s fundraising efforts, also has a list of risk myths on their website.

Anthony: Movember, Day 8

As promised, I have posted an updated photo of Anthony Moriello, the face of Movember for my blog. He has gone from a clean-shaven man to an aspiring Erroll Flynn. You can support Anthony and his Movember team, the Wade Bogg All-Stars, by going to their Movember team page and making a donation. The funds raised by Movember go to some great organizations that promote true cancer prevention research, as well as screening, treatment and survivorship initiatives.

Erroll Flynn rocked the subtlest of mustaches

*Wetherill, Y. B., Hess-Wilson, J. K., Comstock, C. E. S., Shah, S. A., Buncher, C. R., Sallans, L, Limbach, P. A., Schwemberger, S., Babcock, G. F. & Knudsen, K. E. (2006). Bisphenol A facilitates bypass of androgen ablation therapy in prostate cancer. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 5, 3181-3190.