(117) Should Men Eat More Plants? A Systematic Review of the Literature on the Effect of Plant-Based Diets on Men’s Health in Urology

Abstract

Abstract Introduction There is considerable evidence describing the benefits of a plant-based diet and cardiovascular and metabolic disease. Emerging studies have evaluated the association between plant-based diets and urologic conditions affecting men’s health. Objective We performed a systematic review of the literature on the potential role plant-based diets may play in the following men’s health topics: prostate cancer (PCa), erectile dysfunction (ED), and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses system (PRISMA) criteria were followed to search PubMed and Medline databases for the following search terms: “Diet [Mesh]” OR “Diet Therapy [Mesh]” AND “Prostatic Hyperplasia [Mesh]” OR “Prostatic Neoplasm [Mesh]” OR “Erectile Dysfunction [Mesh]”. Articles in English published from 1989 to 2022 using human participants were analyzed. Data were summarized and bias assessment of the literature performed. Results Initial literature search yielded 345 articles. We excluded 121 articles based on title and abstracts not being pertinent to the study. The remaining 224 articles were screened for relevance resulting in 23 articles that met inclusion criteria. Ultimately, 12 PCa articles, 4 BPH articles, 5 ED articles, and 2 articles related to both BPH and ED were reviewed. Conclusions Several studies support the protective nature of plant-based diets in PCa, ED, and BPH patients. The use of plant-based diets for PCa had the greatest amount of literature supporting positive benefits, with reasonable data from large registry trials supporting the protective effects of a plant-based diet on incident prostate cancer. Strength of association between plant-based diets and condition were variable, and no studies reported a non-association or harmful effects of plant-based diets. Most trials are limited to observational and cohort studies which rely on patient-reported evaluations of diet, limiting the generalizability of most findings. Currently, there is a lack of evidence to guide urologists and men definitively toward plant-based diets for prevention and/or treatment of PCa, ED, or BPH, and thus further studies may be helpful to evaluate this relationship, particularly in the setting of a rising public consumer interest in these diets. Disclosure No