Could a Plant-Based Diet Benefit Men’s Health Below the Belt?

MIAMI — A plant-based or plant-forward diet may offer some protection against prostate cancer and other sexual health issues, according to a systematic review.

Twelve of the 23 studies that met the review’s inclusion criteria looked at prostate cancer, and data from large registry trials indicated a link between a plant-based diet and a decreased risk of incident prostate cancer, reported Nathan Feiertag, MD, a medical student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, at the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA) annual meeting.

“Medicine has moved to a more holistic approach overall, and with that, more researchers have started to look into [the question of] ‘Can we use these plant-based diets to help manage and prevent conditions like prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction [ED], and benign prostate hyperplasia [BPH]?’ Feiertag told MedPage Today. “There were relatively few studies that we were able to find for this literature review, but that’s the current state.”

As plant-based diets gain in popularity, more patients may be experimenting with them. Feiertag said that plant-based diets have shown health benefits for patients with diabetes and hypertension, but less is known about their benefits for prostate cancer, ED, and BPH.

Irwin Goldstein, MD, of the University of California San Diego, approached Feiertag after the presentation to invite him to submit the data to Sexual Medicine…