While women have to deal with pregnancy and osteoporosis, men have their own health concerns.
Here are three of the common male problems along with nutrition tips to help to prevent them.

Heart Disease

One of the biggest killers in the Western world, coronary heart disease accounts for a third to one half of all male deaths. It is caused by clogging of arteries around the heart and hardening of their walls. Many factors, including smoking, poorly controlled diabetes, a lack of physical activity and hereditary factors appear to increase the risk of this condition. Being overweight and eating a lot of animal fats also seem to be related.

Replacing saturated animal fats with unsaturated vegetable oils, eating, whole grain foods, oily fish, garlic and five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day can all help to reduce the risk of heart disease. So can maintaining a healthy body weight. Some of these strategies help by reducing damage to artery walls, some by thinning the blood and others by lowering the cholesterol build-up on blood vessel walls.

Prostate Problems

Cancer of the prostate is one of the most common fatal male tumours in men over 55. About the size and shape of a chestnut, the prostate is wrapped around the urethra, which carries urine from the bladder. While not yet proven, increased intakes of foods such as tomato and soybean products, might be beneficial to health.
A six year study of 48,000 male health professionals conducted by Harvard Medical School found that men who ate tomato based foods more than twice a week had up to a 34 percent reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to those who ate none. This seems to be due to the high levels of lycopene, a red carotenoid related to beta-carotene, in tomatoes.

Another interesting research finding is that in Japan, there are 4 deaths per 100,000 men from prostate cancer compared to 17 per 100'000 in western countries. Some scientists speculate that this is due to their higher intake of soy foods. Researchers suggest that these foods, which contain plant oestrogens, reduce the activity of a hormone involved in the development of prostate cancer.

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases the risk of heart disease, angina and stroke. It is due partly to hereditary factors but is also affected by life style habits. Although both men and women can have this problem, it is certainly a serious health problem for men. Hypertension sufferers are advised to lose weight and reduce alcohol intake. Not adding salt to food during cooking, at the table and choosing reduced salt convenience foods may also be helpful.

Dealing with raised blood pressure is not just about cutting back on certain foods, but is also about eating more of others. It has been estimated that an increase of 2.3 - 3.1g of potassium a day could reduce deaths related to raised blood pressure by as much as 25 per cent. This quantity of potassium, , can be found in a banana a large glass of orange juice and single portions of many other fruits and vegetables.

References

• E. Giovannucci et al. Intake of carotenoids and retinol in relation to riskof prostate cancer. J Nat. Cancer Inst., 87, 1767 - 1776 (1995)
• Setchell KDR. Phytoestrogens: the biochemistry, physiology and implication for human health of soy isoflavones. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998:68 (suppl): 1333S-46S
• Department of Health, Report on Health and Social Subjects 41. Dietary Reference Values for Food Energy and Nutrients for the United Kingdom.

FOOD TODAY 09/2001