top of page
Search

Eating Well on Hormone Therapy: A Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Nutrition Guide

  • 2 days ago
  • 5 min read

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month — a timely moment to talk about something that doesn't get nearly enough airtime in prostate cancer care: nutrition and food.


Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men, with around 72 men diagnosed every day. Many of those men will, at some point, start androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) — hormone therapy that lowers testosterone to slow the cancer's growth. It's an effective treatment, but it comes with side effects that ripple through the whole body: muscle loss, weight gain, weakened bones, and shifts in heart and metabolic health.


The encouraging news is that nutrition is one of the few levers patients can actually pull themselves. Here's what the evidence says.


prostate cancer

Protein becomes non-negotiable

Lower testosterone accelerates the loss of lean muscle mass — a process called sarcopenia. The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia recommends 1.0–1.5g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, spread across meals rather than loaded into dinner. For an 80kg man, that's roughly 80–120g a day.

Practical version: aim for a palm-sized portion of protein — eggs, fish, poultry, dairy, tofu, beans or lentils — at every meal, plus a protein-rich snack like Greek yoghurt or a handful of nuts in between.


Bones need backup

ADT thins bone density and raises fracture risk, so calcium and vitamin D both matter more during treatment than they otherwise would.

  • Calcium: Australian adults need about 1,000mg a day, rising to 1,300mg from age 70. That's roughly 2.5–4 standard dairy serves (a cup of milk, a tub of yoghurt, or two slices of cheese each count as one serve) — or the equivalent from canned fish with soft bones, calcium-set tofu, and leafy greens.

  • Vitamin D: Most Australians get theirs from safe sun exposure rather than food, but that's a genuine balancing act against skin cancer risk. Healthy Bones Australia recommends checking the UV Index and protecting your skin once it hits 3 or above — even on a short outdoor break. Ask your doctor about testing your level, since supplementation, if needed, should be dosed appropriately for you.


Weight gain during ADT looks different

Weight gain on hormone therapy tends to be fat, not muscle — and it often settles around the waist, which raises cardiovascular and blood sugar risk alongside the cosmetic change. This isn't a case for strict dieting; it's a case for consistency: vegetables at most meals, whole grains, water over sugary drinks, and fibre (aim for at least 30g dietary fibre a day).


Your heart is quietly part of this story too

ADT can shift cholesterol in an unfavourable direction. The Heart Foundation's guidance holds just as true here: swap saturated fats for olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds; eat oily fish two to three times a week; and keep sodium under 2,000mg a day (about 5g of salt) — mostly by cooking from scratch rather than relying on packaged food.


The questions everyone asks: soy, dairy, and eggs

These three come up in almost every consultation, and the honest answer for each is "it's more nuanced than the internet suggests":

  • Soy — whole soy foods like tofu, edamame and soy milk are generally considered safe for prostate cancer, and can be a useful lean protein source. Concentrated isoflavone supplements are less studied — worth a conversation with your care team before starting one.

  • Dairy — the research linking dairy to prostate cancer risk is mixed, and newer genetic studies haven't confirmed a causal link. No major guideline recommends avoiding it; favouring low-fat, unsweetened options is a reasonable middle ground.

  • Eggs — older cohort studies linked whole-egg and choline intake to more aggressive disease, but newer genetic research complicates that story, even as blood-marker studies keep the underlying mechanism an open question. Moderate whole-egg intake is a defensible choice; egg whites contain virtually no choline if you'd rather sidestep the question entirely.


Food and movement work as a team

None of this works in isolation. Resistance training two to three times a week, alongside 150–300 minutes of aerobic activity, is what actually helps rebuild the muscle that protein alone can only preserve. If you're not sure where to start, ExerciseGuide is a free, prostate-cancer-specific program built by Edith Cowan University with Movember and PCFA — a genuinely useful starting point.


The takeaway about prostate cancer nutrition

None of this needs to be perfect, and it definitely doesn't need to happen all at once. Pick one thing — protein at breakfast, a vitamin D check at your next GP visit, swapping one sugary drink for water — and build from there.


This Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, if you or someone you love is navigating hormone therapy, consider it a nudge to loop in a dietitian who understands oncology nutrition. It's a conversation worth having early, not after side effects have already taken hold.


Want more tips like this? Sign up for our newsletter for practical cancer nutrition guidance and early access to upcoming programs and webinars.


References

  • Keum, N., Lee, D.H., Marchand, N., Oh, H., Liu, H., Aune, D., Greenwood, D.C. and Giovannucci, E.L. (2015) 'Egg intake and cancers of the breast, ovary and prostate: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective observational studies', British Journal of Nutrition, 114(7), pp. 1099–1107.

  • Larsson, S.C., Mason, A.M., Kar, S., Vithayathil, M., Carter, P., Baron, J.A., Michaëlsson, K. and Burgess, S. (2020) 'Genetically proxied milk consumption and risk of colorectal, bladder, breast, and prostate cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study', BMC Medicine, 18, article 370.

  • Reichard, C.A., Naelitz, B.D., Wang, Z., Jia, X., Li, J., Stampfer, M.J., Klein, E.A., Hazen, S.L. and Sharifi, N. (2022) 'Gut microbiome-dependent metabolic pathways and risk of lethal prostate cancer: prospective analysis of a PLCO cancer screening trial cohort', Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 31(1), pp. 192–199.

  • Richman, E.L., Kenfield, S.A., Stampfer, M.J., Giovannucci, E.L. and Chan, J.M. (2011) 'Egg, red meat, and poultry intake and risk of lethal prostate cancer in the prostate-specific antigen-era: incidence and survival', Cancer Prevention Research, 4(12), pp. 2110–2121.

  • Richman, E.L., Kenfield, S.A., Stampfer, M.J., Giovannucci, E.L., Zeisel, S.H., Willett, W.C. and Chan, J.M. (2012) 'Choline intake and risk of lethal prostate cancer: incidence and survival', American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 96(4), pp. 855–863.

  • Xie, B. and He, H.D. (2012) 'No association between egg intake and prostate cancer risk: a meta-analysis', Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, 13(9), pp. 4677–4681.

  • Hayes, S.C., Newton, R.U., Spence, R.R. and Galvão, D.A. (2019) 'Exercise and Sports Science Australia position stand: Exercise medicine in cancer management', Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22(11), pp. 1175–1199.

  • Campbell, K.L., Winters-Stone, K.M., Wiskemann, J., May, A.M., Schwartz, A.L., Courneya, K.S. et al. (2019) 'Exercise guidelines for cancer survivors: consensus statement from International Multidisciplinary Roundtable', Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 51(11), pp. 2375–2390.


Guidelines, position statements & organisational sources

Comments

Commenting on this post isn't available anymore. Contact the site owner for more info.
bottom of page