Sexual health

What to Eat and What to Avoid for a Happy Prostate

Published: OCTOBER 14, 2024 | Updated: OCTOBER 14, 2024

Your prostate, the gland that makes and helps launch your semen, is an integral part of having a healthy life and an excellent sex life. Also known as the P-spot, massaging your prostate can result in intense, full-body, earth-shaking orgasms. 

The little bastard is also vulnerable to cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia thanks to inflammation and oxidative stress. Thankfully, there’s an easy and delightful way to keep your prostate happy and healthy: food.

Yep, there are plenty of delicious and easy-to-find foods that promote prostate health. Combining these prostate-friendly foods with prostate massages and a generally healthy lifestyle will not only help keep cancer at bay but can also allow for greater pleasure. 

The 10 Best Foods for Prostate Health

Let’s take a look at the best foods for prostate health and how diet can keep your bussy going strong!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one hell of a prostate-friendly food.

Packed with lycopene, which has been shown in studies to help reduce the risk of prostate cancer and slow tumor growth, tomatoes are as versatile as they are delicious. Cook them up with a healthy fat to increase the lycopene’s bioavailability. One great example is a pasta sauce with olive oil. 

Berries

Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants!

You’ve probably heard of “antioxidants” before, but it’s more than just a buzzword. Antioxidants help defend against cell decay and can help defend against certain cancers. 

Adding more berries like strawberries and blueberries to your diet is super easy, even if you don’t like snacking on fruit. Make a quick protein smoothie with a handful of strawberries, throw some blueberries into a pan with some water and sweetener to reduce down into a syrup or jam, or dip them in dark chocolate for an extra sexy antioxidant boost!

Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous veggies are prostate-friendly foods like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, or bok choy. All the ones that smell like a fresh butt when cooked. 

That booty stank comes from a compound called sulforaphane. While it doesn’t smell the best, sulforaphane has a strong association with lowered prostate cancer risks. Studies have shown that it can help prevent the growth of prostatic tumors.

Pro tip: When cooking your broccoli, bok choy, or cabbage, get a little more color on there than you may think. They aren’t burnt, they’re charred, bringing in smoky flavors and a satisfying texture.  

Fatty fish

Oily and fatty fish like salmon or sardines are packed to the gills (sorry not sorry) with omega-3 fatty acids, which carry an insane amount of health benefits.

Omega-3 fatty acids can improve heart health, help control serious conditions like lupus, and even help defend against cancer. While it’s always best to go with whole foods, not everyone is into fish. You can grab some omega-3 supplements anywhere these days if that sounds better to you, but hear me out. 

Find a store that sells quality sardines, get some good bread and rich butter, and then make a crazy addictive snack. I hate fish and yet, this classic combo from the Mediterranean blew my mind and just happens to be one of the best foods for prostate health.  

Green Tea

Seriously, is there anything Green tea isn’t good for?

First of all, don’t worry, we are not recommending some sort of Green tea-bag suppository. Please, don’t ever do that. 

Green tea is on every “superfood” list for good reason. It’s packed with antioxidants, but the kind that makes this one of the best foods for prostate health are the antioxidants known as catechins. Catechins have been shown to help prevent prostate cancer thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties.  

Pumpkin seeds

Who doesn’t love a handful of pumpkin seeds on a crisp autumn afternoon? Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of zinc, which is not only great for sleep, but also for prostate health. Zinc isn’t the only star of this prostate-friendly food, though. Pumpkin seeds also contain phytochemicals that can help treat benign prostatic hyperplasia.

I definitely recommend saving your pumpkin seeds from Jack O’ Lanterns and roasting them yourself. It’s super easy and you can flavor them however you want!

Nuts

Of course for a healthy nut, you have to include nuts. 

Walnuts are are a particularly prostate-friendly food, even kind of resembling one, with it’s high levels of zinc and selenium. Selenium is an essential mineral that has been shown to help prevent and slow the growth of prostate cancer cells.

Garlic

Like you need a reason to eat more garlic. Garlic, like other alliums, is rich in sulfur compounds. Like the veggies mentioned above, sulfur compounds can be a great defense against prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Turmeric

Another one of the best foods for prostate health, turmeric is rich in curcumin. Curcumin’s anti-inflamitory properties are already great for your whole body, but some research has shown that it can be an especially effective food for prostate health.

So far, things look promising but more research is needed. Still, turmeric in your food or tea is a great addition to your prostate-healthy diet.

Legumes

Beans, lentils, and peanuts are a cheap and healthy prostate-friendly foods you can buy in bulk and use in countless dishes. 

Legumes are one of the best foods for prostate health because of they are packed with fiber, zinc, protein, and other nutrients. These powerhouses help create a balanced diet for overall health while also helping keep your prostate happy.

There are plenty of delectable recipes out there that can help you make the most out of these foods!

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Your Prostate Health?

Foods to Avoid for a Healthy Prostate

Here are some foods to keep to a minimum if you want your prostate to stay in good health. We’re not saying to cut them out entirely, but keep your consumption moderate.

What’s the point of long and healthy life if you can’t enjoy it once in a while?

Red meat and processed meats

Oof. This one hurt. 

Yes, red meat and processed meats are loaded with saturated fats. As tasty as those fats are, they have been linked to increased risk of prostate cancer.

Dairy

Dairy has been shown in some research to increase prostate cancer risk, but more research needs to be done. That being said, cutting down on dairy certainly can't hurt your prostate.

Excessive alcohol consumption

Binge drinking can be linked not only to increased risk of getting prostate cancer, but also speeding up the rate of tumor growth. So, you know, drink responsibly.

Sugary drinks and processed foods

It should be obvious that sugar-filled drinks and processed foods are bad for you, but they can also be bad for your prostate, too. These foods contribute to increased inflammation, which can cause issues like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

The Bottom Line

Keeping your prostate healthy is not only key to living a long and happy life, but also a happy sex life. Thankfully, one of the best ways to do that is through food!

Gradually add or increase all or any of our 10 best foods for prostate health into your diet and get creative with cooking up astounding and prostate-friendly recipes.  

Justin Perlman

Justin Perlman has written about sex, dating, LGBTQIA+ issues, and Pop culture for Philadelphia Weekly, Women's Health Interactive, and Kinkly. He lives with his wife, two cats (Superintendent Chalmers & Dr. Whoopsy Daisy), and a puppy (Walton Doggins).

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