Prostate Cancer And Tomatoes

What have tomatoes got to do with it?

According to a study that I read in British Journal of Urology International, men that have been diagnosed with prostate cancer who take supplemental lycopene and still get their testicles surgically removed are likely to experience less bone pain, less disease and stand more chances of living longer than those who have only had surgical removal of their testicles.

In this study, there were 54 men that were used. They all had advanced prostate cancer. Some of them had surgical removal of their testicles alone while the remaining set had surgical removal of their testicles plus taking of 4 mg of lycopene orally every single day.

The took an early measurements of their PSA, bone scans and urinary flow, then for every three months… up to 2 years after this- all to measure the results of their findings.

They discovered that just after six months of doing all these, PSA in both groups of 54 men had decreased significantly. But the PSA levels in the group of men that were receiving the 4 mg of oral lycopene daily were a staggering 65% lower than the group of men that didn’t receive the daily 4 mg of oral lycopene.

At the end of two years, it was discovered that the PSA levels in this first group of men that were taking the 4 mg daily lycopene fell into normal range, while those that didn’t receive lycopene still had PSA levels that was more than twice the upper limit of control.

Most importantly, the study discovered at the end that the group that received lycopene daily did not have any adverse side effects.

How does all this connect to tomatoes?

Well, lycopene is one of the groups of compounds that are called carotenoids.

Still doesn’t connect to tomatoes?

Don’t worry… I am getting closer.

Lycopene is found in very high amounts in tomatoes!

So, to get a high amount of lycopene, take a lot of tomatoes.

Apart from this study, several other studies have shown the importance of tomatoes in treating prostate cancer.