Male Prostate

purpose. Located just below the bladder, the prostate encircles the urethra, the tube that passes urine from the bladder to outside the body. The prostate produces semen and secretes it into the urethra, providing the liquid medium that sperm cells need for nourishment as well as to exit the body.

Prostate enlargement problems occur when the cells in the inner core of the gland, surrounding the urethra, grow to form fibrous nodules, eventually squeezing in on the urethra and blocking the flow of urine. The cells appar­ently grow in response to hormones, especially testosterone, and the growth seen in older men may be related to alterations in hormone balance associ­ated with aging, experts say.

Nutritional intervention for BPH includes a healthy low-fat, high-fiber diet, weight loss if necessary, vitaminmineral supplements, and, in some cases, essential fatty acids such as flax seed oil. Some doctors also consider the herb saw palmetto an essential part of treatment.

deficient in this nutrient.

You can get your Daily Value of zinc (15 milligrams) by filling your plate with shellfish and other seafood as well as with whole grains and lean meats. In fact, just one steamed oyster contains a whopping 12.7 milligrams of zinc.

Zinc Food Source

Note: Frequent inexplicable bruising, although rare, may be a sign of a clotting disorder or an immune problem, or a side effect of some medication. If you find yourself bruising easily and frequently, see your doctor.

Iron Mineral

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The problem is that many women don’t consume enough iron each day to make up for the 2.5 milligrams or so they lose each month during men­struation. Pregnant women need even more iron. Teens and women nearing menopause also often come up short.

Studies show that women ages 18 to 24 get about 10.7 milligrams a day, which is nowhere near the Daily Value of 18 milligrams.

An iron shortage leads to a reduction in hemoglobin, the iron-based pro­tein in red blood cells that lets these cells pick up

Iron Food Source

oxygen in the lungs and release it in tissues where oxygen is low. It’s simple enough; these cells simply can’t transport the oxygen you need. The cells even look pale under a microscope.

If you do have iron-deficiency anemia, your doctor will initially prescribe large amounts of iron—often 200 to 240 milligrams a day, usually in a form called ferrous sulfate. (Experts caution against taking this much iron with­out medical supervision.) Avoid using over-the-counter preparations such as enteritis-coated iron tablets or capsules containing slow-release granules, experts say. Both can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb the iron.

And make sure your doctor continues your treatment for a sufficient amount of time. Although your anemia will be corrected in 3 to 4 months, it takes an additional 6 to 12 months of therapy for your body’s iron stores to be replenished.

The large amount of iron used to correct anemia is not available through food, we still encourage women to eat more iron-containing foods. Even beef, a food often avoided since cholesterol became a bad word, is recommended to anemic women. It’s an unbeatable source of easily digested iron.