Month 0 begins with the results of my prostate biopsy, which was positive for prostate cancer, self-contained, Gleason 3-4, with a 1.4 cm index tumor.

It was now that I found myself at a decision point, the same decision point so many like me have also faced… Do I take the easy path, changing nothing while waiting for the inevitable surgery? Or, do I take my life into my own hands, make the necessary lifestyle changes, lower my PSA and avoid surgery?

I chose the latter, and started with the basics: Water, Food, and Air. While not a heavy drinker, I stopped drinking alcohol completely. And under the care of my urologist, I had been taking testosterone supplements, 0.4ml once a week since 2018. I stopped them also. In late 2017, I tested low for testosterone, in the upper 100s, twice. The supplements brought me up into the normal range and life was grand: more pep, more active in every way, even the limp in my right leg disappeared. Then with my PC diagnosis I stopped and I haven’t had any testosterone supplements through 2024. Strangely, my testosterone level dropped down to the lower range of normal, but did not dip below 300. It was my understanding that it would return to below the level when I started, but not only did this not happen, but my new baseline was more than 50% higher than when I started.

The first thing I needed was a reliable source of information to begin my research. I already knew about Google Scholar, which has been an invaluable tool in my research as a protein enzyme scientist. Rather than regular Google searches, Google Scholar Search scans for University Research Papers, the ones the Professors write as a result of the research they conduct, as well as for PhD student’s Thesis publications. It’s cutting-edge knowledge from credible sources, often too close to the edge of man’s knowledge to be used in everyday medicine.

According to my Primary Care Physician, emerging cutting edge medical knowledge primarily lacks two things: 1) toxicity analysis, and 2) drug interaction testing. Despite these risks, when standard practice medicine told me it was time to remove my prostate, I learned many things which made the surgery choice undesirable to me, so I turned to Google Scholar for answers to try to prevent surgery or radiation. And I deal with toxicity and drug interactions by starting slowly anything new I do and listening to my body for problems before gradually and systematically increasing dosages.

Water

For years, I have read and heard that most drinking water is loaded with impurities, and any liquids stored in plastics became a complete no-no for me. PFAs and other new chemicals discovered in water almost on a weekly basis lead me to my first purchase, a water distiller and some glass pitchers. I drink and cook only with distilled water created in a glass and metal distiller and stored in glass pitchers. I eventually ended up with six of the Glass Pitchers, and the distiller was one of the more expensive ones around $300, but it’s holding up well and works well. This decision was not the result of any specific information about distilled water and its effect on prostate cancer, but I did it anyway. It feels clean. Microplastics are still largely being studied, but we do know they’re not good for anyone.

This Megahome Distiller has worked flawlessly for the last seven months, and I make a gallon or two a day, as needed. I store a completed gallon in two of the six half gallon glass pitchers, so I try to have between three and four gallons available for use at any time. I used the distiller pitcher handle for a while, but as soon as I took the distiller with me on a vacation, I removed the handle. Without the handle, the glass container fits inside the distiller itself, and then the entire distiller fits in a small luggage carry-on. When I returned from the trip, I just left the handle off.  The run time is about 5 to 6 hours, but after 4 to 5, I unplug it and let it cool. This gets most of the water out, but leaves way less debris in the container. I use a small sponge with the plastic scraper side on it to clean out whatever comes off after a light scrubbing. I then rinse a couple of times, and refill it for the next batch. I clean it completely with citric acid every 10 or so gallons, much less often than when I let it run to completion and did not scrub. At 50 gallons a month, I’ve made 350 gallons of very clean water in the last seven months, which tastes great and has way less potentially-cancer-causing microplastics and other garbage in it.  

I have since learned that some chemicals are not removed by distillation alone. This is because the vaporizing point of some undesirable substances is below the boiling point of water and therefore do end up in distilled water. A more complete water cleansing solution requires that I pass the water through a reverse osmosis (RO) process first, then distill it. I haven’t gone there yet, but if my December 29, 2024 MRI does not show a tumor reduction, I am certainly going to revisit it. One RO machine that has been researched by a family member is the Bluevua RO100ROPOT Reverse Osmosis System Countertop, and I will get this one if I do follow through.

I bought two different water meters (A or B ) to measure Total Dissolved Solids (TDS):

This way, I can measure some performance aspects of my distiller. My tap water measured 120, and the distilled water measured 0 or 1. Interestingly enough, I took some of my distilled water and put it into an empty plastic water bottle, the kind you get at the store 24 or 48 at a time. The next morning, that water read 60. So I don’t store any liquid or moist food items in anything plastic. These impurities cause DNA mutations, and that is what cancer is:  your normal cells with too many DNA mutations that are subtle enough that your immune system cannot tell they are rogue cells.

Food

After telling my kids about my biopsy results, one comes back with this recommendation for a book: How Not To Die by Michael Greger.

It has general information about what to do if you have cancer, and a specific chapter on each of the more popular cancers. In the prostate cancer chapter, it talks about Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGH1), which helps all cells including cancer cells to grow. It suggests that unless you are an infant or an adolescent, you don’t want this stuff in your body. All animal products have IGH1, so I became vegan after reading this. No meat of any kind, no eggs, and no milk or milk products. I am instead eating nuts, beans, and tofu for proteins. According to my research, nuts and beans have to be combined, and tofu is a complete protein that is enough by itself.

I have some stainless steel cookware without an nickel that I bought a while back (mine are now currently unavailable, but here is a set from the same maker which are also nickel free.), and I purchased a stainless steel wok (awesome vegetable soup inside)

and a glass wok top. The 15 inch Wok has a welded handle. The top is 15 inches.

These are beautifully impressive as they are functional.

Broccoli is the super vegetable and tomatoes have lycopene. Luckily, I’ve always liked broccoli and tomato sauce. This became my eating staple for the first two months. I make my own sauce from Roma tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme, and basil. I eat the broccoli tops raw, dipping them into the tomato sauce. If I want to cook the broccoli, I read in this research that I must cut it up and smash it around some, then wait 45 minutes for a chemical reaction to take place so that the nutrients remain in the broccoli.

In addition to broccoli and tomatoes, I found a study where one group of participants drank pomegranate juice for a period of time, and another group of participants (the control group) did nothing. They found that the ones who drank the juice had their PSA doubling times extend significantly, meaning they slowed their PSA growth significantly. So I decided to start drinking it. For me, it had to be in glass bottles and to be as unrefined as possible. Here is what I chose: Pomegranaze, a pomegranate juice in a glass bottle not from concentrate. 

I drink 4 to 6 ounces a day because it’s expensive at $9 a bottle. POM POM products come in plastic so that is a non-starter for me. Plus, POM POM looks to be too well-filtered, removing a lot of the “good stuff”.

Air

The next buy was a filter change for my air filter. The fewer the impurities the better. Here is the unit I bought it for. Some family members who visit from time to time have allergies, and so I bought a second one for when they visit. The air smells so clean.

Closing Thoughts

In summary:

• Use Google Scholar
• Avoid microplastics
• Filter your water
• Filter your air
• Go vegan
• Drink pomegranate juice

Have a look at the other months for a month to month account of what I have been doing. It’s more of the same of what you see here, itemizing what I learn and what I buy and consume to get healthy, dramatically lower my PSA, and moving backwards to Active Surveillance, avoiding surgery or radiation.