The month of September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. The “Eat It to Beat It” challenge is a national effort to raise awareness about healthy nutrition by eating 30 healthy foods in 30 days. The campaign not just shows support for men affected by prostate cancer, it also promotes that by making healthy lifestyle changes Americans can reduce the risk for developing cancer in general, and may improve the outcome for those people living with cancer.
According to The Prostate Cancer Foundation, 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. If you are Black, that number increases by over 75%. Excluding skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the US. Only 1 in 451 men under age 50 will be diagnosed, but the rate shoots up as age progresses. Nearly 60% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65.
The public is invited to join the “Eat It to Beat It” challenge because 30% of cancer is preventable with lifestyle factors. Share the journey online through new recipes, photos, and by eating 30 foods selected from The Prostate Cancer Foundation’s Periodic Table of Healthy Foods.
Participants will be provided with a grocery list and an explanation as to why the 30 foods in particular were picked. For those that set up a social media page, there are suggested messages to share such as Sugar Free Fridays.
Anyone battling cancer, as well as those interested in living well and want to reduce the risk of developing cancer, will receive The Prostate Cancer Foundation’s latest wellness guide, “The Science of Living Well Beyond Cancer: Health, Nutrition, and Wellness Guide.” Eating well and exercising is important for everyone not just in the month of September but the years beyond.
