What You Didn't Know About Prostate Cancer and Diet

You may have already heard about tomatoes and their ability to lower prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and the risk of prostate cancer. You may even be familiar with the term “lycopene,” which is the prominent plant chemical found in tomatoes. Lycopene not only gives tomatoes their deep red color, but it also works synergistically with the vitamins, minerals, and other plant chemicals found in tomatoes to reduce prostate cancer risk. But this is old news. Let’s turn to the newest prostate cancer statistics and the most beneficial tomato products you can enjoy to maximize your absorption of cancer-fighting compounds.

First the facts

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with an estimated 186,320 new cases to be diagnosed in 2008. This equates to approximately 500 new cases every day with sixty-four percent of these cases found in men over the age 65. Prostate cancer will cause approximately 28,660 deaths in 2008, making it the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States .

And now the good news

The good news is that the five year relative survival rate of prostate cancer is close to 100% in patients who detect their cancer in the earliest stages. Thankfully more than ninety percent of men do. Talk to your doctor about ways that you can be proactive to keep your prostate healthy.

All of these statistics and more information can be found in the American Cancer Society (ACS) Facts and Figures, 2008. You can download the document from this link: HYPERLINK "http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp" \t "_blank" http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp

Cooked tomato products work best

Did you know that tomato-based pizza sauce is one of the highest ranking lycopene rich foods? Both pizza sauce and tomato paste have four to five times more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Believe it or not, it is well-documented that food processing and cooking significantly increases the amount of lycopene that is available for our bodies to use. In addition,tomato juice and canned tomatoes are also ideal sources of lycopene.

However, It’s important to note that lycopene, a member of the carotenoid family which consists of over 600 compounds found in yellow, orange, and red colored fruits, produces the best effect when consumed in the whole food. Simply taking lycopene supplements will not produce the same effect as eating whole tomatoes or products made from the whole tomato.

With that said, the lycopene content in a fruit or vegetable can vary greatly depending upon the growing conditions, degree of ripeness, storage time and temperature, and processing procedures. And walking through a produce aisle, one can’t ignore that there are numerous varieties, shapes, and sizes of tomatoes. Each one carries a unique nutrient profile of different naturally occurring plant chemicals. For example, a red tomato has approximately 10 times as much lycopene as a yellow tomato.

Winning Combinations

Paired with healthy sources of dietary fat, such as extra virgin olive oil or avocados, the amount of lycopene available for absorption increases. Current studies are also underway to investigate the combined effects of soy and tomatoes on prostate cancer risk. Stay tuned for more information.

Take Action

Include several tomato-based products in your diet each day - whether it is a glass of tomato juice, a slice of pizza with tomato sauce (and lycopene rich yellow and red peppers or your vegetable of choice), you will be doing yourself a favor deliciously ,nutritionally and in lowering your risk for developing prostate cancer.

While you’re at it, you may also want to try an avocado, tomato and vidalia onion salad. Simply cut bite size wedges of all the various kinds of tomatoes you can find , add thick slices of avocado, and long slices of onion. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, fresh black pepper and a dash of either red wine or apple cider vinegar. You can feel good about eating these foods while at the same time enjoying food that tastes great too.