Lifestyle changes for enlarged prostate sufferers are numerous.

These changes also might require a basic and fundamental lifestyle change which is to alter one’s mindful conduct of daily life.  Reducing stress is one of the recommended lifestyle changes, for example.  Anyone who has tried to reduce stress in their life has found this to be a supreme challenge.  This is a significant challenge mostly because it requires a complete retooling of how one perceives the world and one’s place in it. Not too big a deal- NOT!  This take a lot of work and a complete surrender to the “one day at a time” approach that is common to many 12 step recovery programs.  Recovering from BPH require this kind of remake of one’s lifestyle.  The point is that using natural remedies and changing lifestyle habits and lifestyle priorities is not an easy nor an automatic source of relief from BPH symptoms and their progression.  This article will focus on some of the priorities for making effective lifestyle changes.

Using Natural Remedies

The medical establishment in the United States is heavily regulated.  The US government relies on the Food and Drug Administration to certify medications and commercially available pharmaceutical products.  Certification of medications and pharmaceuticals by the FDA places certain emphasis for doctors on what they can legitimately recommend to their patients for the treatment of BPH symptoms.  Europe is not subjected to the same kind of regulation as the US health industry.  There is concern for the safe usage by BPH patients of natural remedies such as saw palmetto and pygeum africanum.  Research trials, though short term, have indicated saw palmetto has brought some relief to BPH patients suffering from incessant night time urination symptoms.  As many as 25 per cent of trial participants reported relief.  European studies have not gone unnoticed in the US where natural herbal remedies that use saw palmetto in their capsules are commercially available.  Though their use is not formally prescribed by US medical doctors, there is interest in the mainstream medical community to learn more about the longer term impact of these kinds of remedies can have on BPH patient progress.

Lifestyle Changes

Perhaps one of the most important lifestyle changes for healthy males is one that should be undertaken before trouble strikes.  The routine annual physical conducted before going back to elementary school or participating in high school sports should be continued through adult life, from the 20s, throughout the 30s and onto middle age.  However, the invincibility and feelings of immortality during the 20s and 30s, before the onset of mid-life “issues” such as parenting and job security set in, tend to make males less likely to go for their annual physicals where doctors can begin tracking medical histories and pre-cursors to underlying complexes that may suggest onset of BPH.

Another lifestyle change is diet and exercise patterns

Most men before the age of 50 continue to eat as we did when we were 18.  A lot of food whenever we were hungry is the norm.  And what kind of food had less to do with it than the quantity of any available food- just fill me up!  This sets up circulatory situations based on cholesterol levels (bad mostly).  Blood oxygen levels due to lack of weight control can bring on sleep apnea.  Blood oxygen can affect the vital organs and how these function, not the least is the endocrine system that produces the hormones linked to the BPH complex.

How we exercise is important too

Does the exercise regimen include deep relaxation techniques or just intense cardio and weight bearing exercise?  Stress is a huge factor in male health.  So changing how we exercise and develop our abilities to relax will pay dividends as we enter mid-life.  In addition to how we exercise our bodies, how we exercise our minds to process our emotions and deal rationally with issues in life that concern us, are another key for us as men aging well or only partly so.

Alcohol consumption is a recreational sport for many of us as we live in disregard of emotional issues.  We tend not to want to slow down and look at these.  And the response mechanism we choose is recreational drinking.  The casual drinking can be an irritant to key systems of the body, especially the urinary tract that is hypersensitive to the changes in our prostate glands.  How difficult will it be for a male aged 50 to regulate if not eliminate weekend six packs if it has been part of his psyche for coping with stress and a vehicle for relaxing after 30 years?

If we are used to waking up with caffeine in our cups, how difficult will it be to give it up after 30 years of using it?

It is one thing to give readers a list of lifestyle changes and say “Try this if you want relief.”  It is more honest to present these options in the context of “change” as it will truly present itself after 30 years of habit forming behavior.  Get the help you need today to offset the challenges BPH might present to you tomorrow.  Your health depends on it.