A Tomato a Day

[Guest guest]

Dear Reader, For Pete's sake, it's time to just come out and say it: Men, a high intake of lycopene provides significant prostate health protection. Period. Take that to the bank. -------------------------------------------- Just say it! -------------------------------------------- A NutraIngredients-USA report about a new lycopene study notes that, despite a very promising conclusion about the prostate-protective effect of lycopene, researchers say: "More research is needed before the link can be supported." More research? Absolutely – bring the research! But it's time to recognize the fact that the link IS supported by numerous studies, and although the results of these studies have been somewhat mixed, I believe this has more to do with the different study designs than the effects of lycopene. So I'm going to tell you what most researchers refuse to come right out and say: If you get some lycopene into your daily diet every day, you'll…

Improve your body's defenses against inflammation and oxidative damage to DNA Reduce LDL cholesterol oxidation Reduce skin cell damage Reduce your risk of several cancers, including breast cancer, intestinal cancer, and prostate cancer

Will every single man who eats a tomato a day (or a watermelon, or a pink grapefruit, or a guava – the other primary lycopene-rich fruits) avoid prostate cancer? No. But research shows that a generous intake of lycopene will absolutely reduce their risk. -------------------------------------------- Vegetable guardin' -------------------------------------------- Now…about that new lycopene study… A large team of European researchers (led by Cancer Research UK) mounted what they call, "the largest prospective study to date of plasma carotenoids, retinol, tocopherols, and prostate cancer risk." (Lycopene was one of the seven carotenoids.) STUDY PROFILE

Researchers assessed data collected from more than 137,000 men who participated for six years in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study Dietary data for 966 men with prostate cancer was compared to data for more than 1,000 cancer-free control subjects who were matched for age, date of EPIC recruitment, and study center (subjects were recruited from many centers in eight different countries) None of the carotenoids, retinol, or tocopherols was associated with a reduced risk of developing prostate cancer Subjects who had the highest intake of all the carotenoids combined had a 65 percent reduction in the risk of advanced prostate cancer compared to subjects with the lowest intake of carotenoids Lycopene was the only nutrient in the study that was alone linked to a significant reduction in the risk of advanced prostate cancer – subjects with the highest lycopene intake reduced their risk by 60 percent compared to subjects with the lowest intake

Men, there are exceptions to everything, but most of you just can't go wrong by increasing your lycopene and carotenoids intake. In other words, eat your vegetables. As I've noted in previous e-Alerts, studies have shown that lycopene is more easily absorbed by the body when tomatoes are cooked – especially when they're cooked with fats or when they're eaten with fats, such as cheese, nuts, or meat. To Your Good Health,

(www.hsibaltimore.com)