Since ancient times, many spiritual practices have included dietary fasting.  Today, there are a lot of people claiming that fasting also has a lot of health benefits. And, in fact, research shows that short fasts, lasting anywhere from 20 to 36 hours can in fact reduce some risks for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. I wondered about the benefits of fasting and began researching.  One finding in particular caught my interest and I’d like to share it and my thoughts. The National Institute on Aging conducted a study on mice for which, Mark Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Neurosciences fed mice nothing every other day. The mice could eat as much as they wanted on the days in between, and they did. They pigged out. They ended up eating very nearly double what normal mice eat in a day. But fasting every other day caused them to live longer and healthier lives. A lot longer and a lot healthier. Mattson said, "We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on the cells, and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress." He said maybe it's similar to what happens when you lift weights: You stress your muscles and they respond by growing stronger. Near the very end of the study, they injected all the mice (those fasting every other day, and those eating a normal diet) with a toxin that damages the cells in the same part of the brain Alzheimer's damages in humans (the hippocampus). Mattson and his team later looked at the brains of the mice and found that those that had been fasting every other day suffered less damage to their brain cells. I read another article that brought up some very good points. It seems likely that at least an occasional state of hunger would have been fairly common throughout our evolution. Our bodies might be adapted to it. Maybe it creates unnatural problems when the body doesn't ever go hungry. Maybe eating three square meals a day, every day, is unnatural. Going without food for several hours does not cause your metabolism to slow down nor does it wreak havoc with your blood sugar. Short fasts actually improve insulin sensitivity and this is pretty big deal. When your cells are sensitive to the effects of insulin, they do a much better job modulating your blood sugar levels after meals and this makes life a lot easier for your poor old pancreas. Loss of insulin sensitivity is a risk factor for both heart disease and diabetes. For the millions of years mammals have been evolving and right up to our invention of agriculture a short ten thousand years ago, mammals often went hungry many times in an individual's lifetime. Surely our bodies have evolved to handle this. Maybe that's why it is totally accepted by most people in the health profession that human beings gain about a pound a year. Maybe that is part of the body's adaptation to the inevitable lean times the eons have adapted us to. An occasional fast might very well be more natural and very good for us. The key here is SHORT FASTS and OCCASIONAL. You want to slow your metabolism down to where you’re not able to maintain a life of very little caloric intake and then end up gaining weight. 

Following lung cancer, Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer in men. Enlargement of the prostate is a precursor to prostate cancer.  Often, it begins at approximately age 60. Many men fail to report prostate symptoms until it is too late.  There are lifestyle changes that can help to prevent Prostate Cancer.  There are a number of supplements that are beneficial for maintaining prostate health.

Bacterial infection of the prostate may be acute or chronic. Nonbacterial prostatitis is actually more common.  Western medicinal practices like to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), as is enlarged prostate, otherwise called, with antibiotics. I would like to suggest natural remedies first. Saturation doses of vitamin C are at least as effective as antibiotics in any of these conditions. 

Vitamin C has the advantage of being cheaper and considerably safer than drugs. Saturation of vitamin C is indicated by diarrhea, so one takes just less than the amount that would produce loose bowels.  It will be a lot, measured in grams and not milligrams. The need for vitamin C will diminish as the infection subsides. A maintenance dose effectively helps to prevent a recurrence and vitamin C produces so many other wonderful benefits in the body.

Lycopene, the natural antioxidant pigment that makes tomatoes red, has been demonstrated to slow or even halt the growth of enlarged prostate, otherwise known as In a recent study, men got results when given a mere 15 mg of lycopene per day. Naturally, you should increase these red pigmented foods in your diet. 

Just as important as Vitamin C for the health of the prostate is Zinc. Zinc is as helpful with enlarged prostates as it is with inflamed ones, since zinc deficiency results in prostate enlargement. Supplemental doses, commonly between 50 and 100 mg daily, may help shrink a swollen prostate. Toxicity of zinc is very low.

Below is a list of symptoms you may feel that may indicate BPH.

• Pain or burning sensation when urinating (dysuria)
• Difficulty urinating, such as dribbling or hesitant urination
• Frequent urination, particularly at night (nocturia)
• Urgent need to urinate
• Pain in the abdomen, groin or lower back
• Pain in the area between the penis and rectum (perineum)
• Pain or discomfort of the penis or testicles
• Painful ejaculations