EATING a “western diet” of red and processed meat together with high-fat dairy food increases the risk of dying following a prostate cancer diagnosis, new research suggests.

The study shows it leads to a significantly higher risk of both prostate cancer-related death and overall mortality.

A much healthier option is a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains and healthy oils, experts say.

The study by scientists at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston and published today, sheds new light on how diet may help millions of men survive the disease.

Researchers examined health and diet data from 926 men diagnosed with prostate cancer over a 14-year period, grouping them into either the western diet or a more “prudent” dietary pattern.

Analysis suggested men who ate mostly a western diet had a two-and-a-half times higher risk of prostate cancer-related death – and a 67 per cent increased risk of death from any cause – than those in the lowest quartile of the western diet.

Men who ate mostly a “prudent” diet had a 36 per cent lower risk of death from all causes, the data determined.

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The study suggests having a diet rich in vegetables, fruit fish and healthy oils, not junkfood

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Our results suggest a hearthealthy diet may benefit these men by specifically reducing their chances of dying of prostate cancer

Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor

“There is currently very little evidence to counsel men living with prostate cancer on how they can modify their lifestyle to improve survival,” said Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology.

“Our results suggest a hearthealthy diet may benefit these men by specifically reducing their chances of dying of prostate cancer.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with more than 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year.

The disease usually develops slowly with sufferers unaware they have it for many years.

The chances of developing prostate cancer increase as you get older with most cases developing in men aged 50 or older.

Lead author Meng Yang added: “These results are encouraging and add to the scant literature in this area.” The study is published in the journal Can