Prostate Problems and Hor monal Dysfunction 191
Why Prostate Problems Have Become Epidemic
According to a paper published in Grana Palynologica in 1960 by Erik
Ask-Upmark, M.D., of the University of Upsala in Sweden, an enlarged
prostate was at that time considered a new pathological condition.^3
Curiously, the processing of fl our, widespread by 1900, which removed
nutrients vital to the prostate such as zinc, magnesium, and vitamin E,
didn’t cause an epidemic of prostatitis or benign prostate hypertrophy
as it did coronary heart disease. That is because prostate enlargement
has a different cause.
When enlarged prostate glands were fi rst noted in 1960, insecticides
such as DDT and chemical food additives had been in widespread use
only for about ten years (the chemical industry didn’t go into high gear
until a few years after World War II had ended). By 1976, when 60 per-Tony took two capsules a day containing an herbal combination
of red clover, pygeum, saw palmetto, stinging nettles, and
goldenseal on my recommendation. I also recommended he take a
zinc supplement, since more zinc is utilized by the prostate than
any other organ and men with prostate enlargements usually have
a zinc defi ciency (there is eight times more zinc in the prostate
than in any other organ), as well as vitamin B 6 , which converts zinc
into a form that can be absorbed by the prostate cells. Although
nutritional supplements are less likely to shrink a prostate that has
become enlarged because of BPH than from infl ammation, Tony’s
prostate shrank after he had been taking supplements for two and
a half months. He now gets up only twice a night. I recommended
that Tony take raw, organic sunfl ower and pumpkin seeds and
green tea instead of the herbal formula (see suggestions at the end
of the chapter). His one remaining problem was to fi nd a way to
get back to sleep after he got up at night. The solution turned out
to be melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the
brain. Melatonin not only helped Tony get a better night’s sleep,
but it most likely also helped maintain the health of his prostate by
making it easier for the prostate to absorb zinc.