From the data of 20 studies, men who ate a diet rich in tomato had a 20 % reduced risk of prostate cancer. Somehow, the process of heating and cooking this fruit, yes by definition tomato is a fruit and not vegetable, increase the effectiveness of its phytochemicals. Raw tomatoes are only half effective than the cooked ones.

How it works?

Cancer research has shown that tomatoes reduced inflammation which is one of the 4 basic processes that prostate cancer use to take control of you. Sure tomatoes alone can’t be a cure, but by addition of other functional foods you increase your chance by the mouthful.

Can a supplement of lycopene work?

Nope. A phase II study on advanced prostate cancer concluded no benefit. The results were published in the Journal of Urology by a team from Witten/Herdecke University in Germany. I am not surprised from the results since lycopene is just one of the phytochemicals of the tomato. A lot of supplements fail to provide the same benefit of the functional food from which it has been extracted. Anyway, supplements are good only if you miss a nutrient. And the only nutrient we miss is vitamin D, but that’s another story.

Bottom line

Eat tomato, cook them and use a little extra virgin olive oil. You can go hardcore and take 2 spoonfuls of tomato paste everyday like a medicine but I prefer to make a salsa with them.

Reference

Lycopene for advanced hormone refractory prostate cancer: a prospective, open phase II pilot study.Schwenke C, Ubrig B, Thürmann P, Eggersmann C, Roth S. J Urol. 2009 Mar;181(3):1098-103.