Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 23, 2026 4 hours, 52 minutes ago
Medical News: A new scientific study has revealed that what prostate cancer survivors eat, combined with how physically active they are, can significantly influence gut health and even cognitive function, offering fresh hope for improving quality of life after cancer treatment.
A new study shows that combining healthy diets with exercise can improve gut and brain health in prostate cancer survivors
Understanding the Study Background
Prostate cancer is one of the most survivable cancers, but many men continue to struggle with long-term effects of treatment. One commonly used therapy, androgen deprivation therapy, lowers testosterone levels to slow cancer growth but is also linked to memory problems, metabolic issues, and changes in gut bacteria. Researchers wanted to understand how diet and exercise together might influence the gut microbiome, the community of microorganisms living in the digestive system, which is known to affect immunity, inflammation, and brain health.
This
Medical News report is based on a detailed analysis of 79 prostate cancer survivors aged between 62 and 81, many of whom had advanced disease. The research team included scientists from Oregon Health & Science University, the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon State University, the Linus Pauling Institute, and affiliated departments of neurology, oncology, microbiology, statistics, and behavioral neuroscience.
What the Researchers Did
Participants completed detailed dietary questionnaires covering over 200 food and nutrient variables. Their diets were scored using three well-known eating patterns: the Mediterranean diet, the Healthy Eating Index, and the MIND diet. Stool samples were analyzed to assess gut bacteria diversity, while cognitive testing measured memory and thinking ability. Importantly, participants were also part of different exercise programs, including strength training, Tai Chi, or simple stretching.
Key Findings Explained Simply
One of the most striking findings was that diet alone was not enough to improve gut health. Men who followed a Mediterranean-style diet showed much healthier and more diverse gut bacteria only if they were also physically active, especially those doing strength training or Tai Chi. Those who were sedentary did not gain the same gut benefits from diet improvements alone.
The study also found that healthier diets influenced which types of bacteria were present in the gut, rather than how dominant each type became. This suggests that good diets help beneficial bacteria settle in the gut but do not necessarily make any single bacteria overgrow.
Another important discovery involved brain health. Out of nearly 300 dietary factors examined, only caffeine intake was strongly linked to better thinking and memory scores. Even moderate caffeine consumption, roughly equivalent to one cup of coffee a day, was associated with noticeable cognitive benefits. Surprisingly, this effect did not appear to work through the gut microbiome but rather through direct effec
ts on the brain.
Why These Findings Matter
The results suggest that lifestyle advice for prostate cancer survivors should be more personalized. Diet, exercise habits, genetic background, and hormone levels all interact to shape gut health. Simply telling survivors to eat better may not be enough unless physical activity is also encouraged.
Conclusions
This study highlights that combining a Mediterranean-style diet with regular physical activity can significantly improve gut microbiome diversity in prostate cancer survivors, something diet alone cannot achieve. It also shows that caffeine may offer direct cognitive benefits in this vulnerable group. Together, these findings strongly support integrated lifestyle strategies rather than isolated recommendations, paving the way for more precise and effective survivorship care.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Microorganisms.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/14/1/251
For the latest on prostate cancer care, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/cancer
Share
Tweet
Share
