What do I need to know about prostate health?

I know that prostate cancer is very common for older men and I'd like to know more about it, so that I can look after the man in my life (as I don't entirely trust him to look after himself!)

First - are there habits, exercises or foods that can improve the risks of having a problem?

Second -  what are perfectly normal signs of aging in men that are nothing to worry about and what symptoms could be more of a concern?

If anyone has experiences they would like to share that would be great, if you don't want to do it publicly please pm me and I can share anonymously to hopefully help others that might be worried.

The prostate and the bladder nestle together and are closely involved. As men age, the prostate usually grows and pushes on the bladder.

I'm 56. I pee more frequently and less volume than I did 20 years ago. Doc says it's expected and probably just the above. I guess some men don't start experiencing that until they're 70, but I'm not like a freak, just on the early side. I'm pretty comfortable just peeing on a tree or whatever, so the only impact this has on me is making me wake to urinate at night more than I used to. I also drink more water than most people, so that doesn't help.

I don't know anything about the worse stuff -- prostate cancer and whatever else.

anecdote: When I was 20, my GP told me I'd have to started getting a prostate exam (finger in the ass for manual inspection) when I turn 25. Then at 25 they told me the standard of care had changed and now they start that at 30. At 30 they said 40. At 40, 50. Now they say they only do that if it's indicated by symptoms or blood work or whatever. So I spent my life sort of dreading (or at least not looking forward to) the advent of the prostate exam and it never materialized. If I'd been five years older, I guess I'd have had a bunch of fingers up my butt that weren't really needed.

Things typically advised for men, to support prostate health include (but are not limited to, according to the doctors of my parental units and hubby):
Avoid carbonated drinks.
Ejaculation at least a couple times per week.
Empty the bladder completely, each time of urination.
Don't smoke.
Drink plenty of clear fluids.
Limit alcohol.

And have your PSA tested (blood test). This is the biggest indicator that you have a problem.
I have a blood test done each year, and I pay extra to have PSA tested. It is a good piece of mind

A common complexity is that frequent urination can also be a sign of diabetes.

I try to keep up with the general recommendations on prostate cancer, as my father died young of it (after chemical exposure) and a good friend of mine has been dealing with symptoms on and off for years.

The recommendations about blood levels and manual testing seem to change every year (not unlike breast cancer screenings). My husband finally got his first "finger" exam at age 50-ish and got blood testing maybe from age 40, but the doctor said that he shouldn't bother with blood testing or the manual test again for another few years in the absence of symptoms like frequent urination, feeling the need to empty the bladder but can't, etc.
As mentioned above, some of that comes with age, but the big concern seems to be if anything changes rapidly- sudden unusual peeing habits, blood in urine, etc. And anything that is problematic should be investigated, if only because life is too short to suffer in silence (and there may be solutions).

The big risk factors seem to be the same as everything else- lack of exercise, poor diet, lack of fiber, smoking, drinking. The only thing we do specifically for prostate is pumpkin seeds (zinc plus phytosterols): my husband eats oatmeal for breakfast every day and adds ground seeds to bump up his protein intake-- instead of just flax and chia for Omega acids we've added pumpkin too. I figure it can't hurt.

Like anything else, I think the big part is communication--- we have a rule in my house that nobody just ignores symptoms, we have an obligation to each other to not sweep stuff under the rug. We've had a few family members hide illness from their spouses to 'not worry' them and I've made it clear that is not going to fly here. If something is wrong, for the love of pete don't just ignore it. Does that mean we have awkward conversations sometimes? Oh yes indeed! But it gets easier the more you do it.