Calcium Supplements & Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death for men. Although it is one of most treatable forms of cancer if caught early, it can be deadly if found in the late stages of the disease. The most common forms of treatment are chemotherapy and surgical removal of the prostate. However, new research points to the increased use of calcium supplements to fight in the battle against prostate cancer.

How Calcium Fights Prostate Cancer

• Cancer cells are only able to thrive when oxygen is not present in the cells. Calcium works to fight prostate cancer, because it helps raise the ph of the fluids in your body so that oxygen is readily available in all your cells, thereby reducing the ability of the cancer cells to survive. Although most people commonly perceive calcium as a means to strengthen bones and teeth, it also has an important role in destroying cells, most often working to destroy old nerve pathways when new ones emerge. In this sense, calcium also works to fight prostate cancer by destroying harmful, cancerous cells while not affecting the good cells.

Dosage

• It is important to ingest the proper amount of calcium daily to aide your body in fighting prostate cancer. Men ages 19 to 50 should consume 1,000 mg per day, whereas men over 50 need 1,200 mg per day. Be sure to check with your doctor before starting this form of treatment and consult him for proper dosing advice for your particular case.

Warnings

• Although calcium in capsule form is proven to help fight prostate cancer, calcium from dairy products is not. In fact, a 2001 Physicians Health Study by Dr. JM Chan, Dr. MJ Stampfer, Dr. PH Gann, Dr. JM Gaziano, and Dr. EL Giovannucci, found evidence that consuming too many dairy products actually leads to an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. Therefore, to fight prostate cancer, you should only increase your intake of calcium supplements in pill form, not in the form of increased dairy products.