Lycopene and Prostate Cancer

Lycopene and Prostate Cancer in Foods and Prostate Cancer Survival - How Foods Fight Cancer

Part of the value of plant-based diets comes from the protective compounds
they contain. As we saw, carotenoids are a specific class of
antioxidants that includes lycopene, lutein, α-carotene and β-carotene. This
class of antioxidants is primarily found in vegetables and fruits. Lycopene
is considered one of the most potent antioxidants in the carotenoid family
and has been linked with reduced prostate cancer risk.9,10 The highest concentrations
of lycopene are in cooked tomato products, such as pasta sauce.

Smaller but significant amounts are also found in raw tomatoes, grapefruit,
watermelon, and guava. A 2004 meta-analysis evaluating lycopene and
prostate cancer risk concluded that high tomato and lycopene intake may
reduce prostate cancer risk by 10–20 percent.11 Diet intervention studies in
newly diagnosed patients with localized prostate adenocarcinoma have
found that consuming as little as 30 milligrams a day of lycopene in whole
food or supplement form may reduce serum PSA levels.12

The Bottom Line

While more research will be of great value, evidence already suggests that
men with prostate cancer—and their families—should be encouraged to
adopt a low-fat vegan diet. By boosting vegetables, fruits, beans, and
whole grains, and avoiding dairy products, meats, eggs, and fried foods,
men are able to take advantage of protective nutrients and avoid cancerpromoting
factors.

Recommended Recipes

Braised Kale 
Mushroom Gravy 
No-Meat Loaf 
Tomato, Cucumber, and Basil Salad 

Foods and Prostate Cancer Survival - How Foods Fight Cancer

Foods and Prostate Cancer Survival - How Foods Fight Cancer

A man in Hong Kong is eight times more likely to survive
prostate cancer compared to his Swedish counterpart.

Many research studies have shown how foods affect the risk of developing
prostate cancer. Vegetables and fruits reduce the risk, while
dairy products and fatty foods appear to increase it.

But what about after prostate cancer has been diagnosed? Will a
change in eating habits help beat the disease? More research is needed, but
evidence already available suggests that, whatever other treatments a man
may undergo, changes in his diet might well save his life.

The first clues that diet could make a big difference in survival
emerged from international comparisons in the 1970s. A man in Hong
Kong, where diets are rich in rice and vegetables, is half as likely to have
cancerous cells in his prostate compared to a man in Sweden, where
diets are high in dairy products and meat. But if cancer happens to
strike, a man in Hong Kong is eight times more likely to survive it compared
to his Swedish counterpart.1 In other words, it appears that the
same sort of dietary habits that reduce the risk of cancer also slow its
progress if it occurs.

Why would dietary changes help? One explanation relates to insulinlike
growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a substance in the bloodstream that is a
powerful stimulus for cancer cell growth. Men following plant-based diets
have lower IGF-1 levels than other men, while dairy products tend to drive
IGF-1 levels up. Men following low-fat, high-fiber diets also have slightly
lower testosterone and estrogen levels and higher levels of a protein called
sex hormone-binding globulin, which binds and temporarily inactivates
testosterone and estrogen. The net effect is a drop in the biochemical factors
that stimulate cancer growth.

Milk-drinking men have a higher risk of prostate cancer

Prostate Cancer - How Foods Fight Cancer

Large studies have shown that milk-drinking men have a higher risk of
prostate cancer. However, milk’s ability to boost IGF-1 is not the only
mechanism by which this occurs. Milk is also high in fat and has no fiber
at all. As a result, it may increase the body’s production of testosterone,
which is linked to prostate cancer risk.

In addition, milk appears to interfere with the activation of vitamin
D in the body. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that helps your body
absorb calcium from the digestive tract. It also protects the prostate
against cancer. Vitamin D is normally produced by sunlight’s action on
the skin. Although it can also come from the diet, edible forms of the vitamin
are inactive precursors. In order to function as full-fledged vitamin D,
the substance must pass first to the liver and then to the kidneys for slight
changes to its molecular structure. This is where dairy products become a
problem. As the load of calcium from ingested dairy products floods into
the bloodstream, it apparently signals the body that, since there is plenty
of calcium in the system already, the body does not need to activate vitamin
D to try to absorb any more. That is, the body reduces its vitamin D
activation so that it does not absorb too much calcium, since calcium
overdoses can be toxic.

The result: High-calcium foods can cause a substantial drop in the
amount of activated vitamin D in the blood. And since vitamin D is essential
for maintaining a healthy prostate, less vitamin D in the blood may
mean that the risk of prostate cancer climbs. Researchers have found that
less vitamin D in the blood is indeed associated with higher cancer risk.

Milk often contains added vitamin D, but it is in the inactive precursor
form, and dairy consumption suppresses vitamin D activation in the body.1
At least twenty research reports in diverse populations, including the
Harvard studies mentioned above, have linked milk drinking to prostate
cancer. In addition, two recent meta-analyses that evaluated the combined
results of twelve prospective studies and eleven case-control studies found
a consistent positive association with both dairy intake and calcium intake
on prostate cancer risk.7,8