You may have heard about lycopenes before.  These are compounds found mainly in brightly colored vegetables and especially in tomatoes.  There have been studies in the past suggesting that men who ate several servings of tomato products a week had a lower risk of prostate problems than those who didn’t. 

Now there’s a study from Germany showing even stronger proof of the benefit of adding lycopene to your diet.

Benign prostate hyperplasia is a condition in which the cells of the prostate are starting to become a little abnormal.  They aren’t cancerous yet, but it’s considered a precancerous condition.  Men who have it are at and increased risk of cancer in the future.

In the study, forty men who had this condition (proven by biopsy of their prostate) were divided into two groups.  One received 15 mg of lycopene daily in a capsule for six months.  The other group received a look-alike placebo.

After only six months, the results were astounding.

As you probably know rising PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels can reflect developing prostate cancer.  In the group receiving the lycopene, PSA levels decreased.  There was no change in the placebo group.

The researchers measured size of the prostate in all the men by both digital rectal exam and trans-anal ultrasound (women who complain about mammograms might want to consider how the prostate is examined).  Prostate enlargement by both measures progressed in the placebo group.  Prostate size stabilized in the lycopene group.

Very importantly, the symptoms of prostate disease, as measured by the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire, improved more in the lycopene group than in the control.

All in all, these are very impressive findings, especially since they were achieved using an extremely safe dietary supplement.

This study was done in men who already had a dangerous situation developing in their prostate.  Why wait ‘till you have that problem?  I recommend getting lycopene in your diet now.

You can take a supplement like the studied used, but why not get it from food?  One cup of tomato juice, or a tomato-based vegetable juice (like V-8) has over 20 grams of lycopene – more than the 15 used in the study.

Here’s what I suggest.  Keep low-salt or no-salt tomato juice in your fridge.  If you want it do be even better, use an organic brand.  Most mornings have a cup of it with a teaspoon of horseradish (horse radish is high in cancer-fighting compounds known as glycosinolates) and a dash of Morton’s potassium chloride salt replacement.

Or take the pill.  Either way, add this prostate-protecting nutrient to your diet.

Lycopene Inhibits Disease Progression in Patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia1,2
Silke Schwarz3,4,

J. Nutr. 138:49-53, January 2008
 

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