Men: Listen Up!

Bite This: Second to skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men.

Hey hey!

Turns out that June is National Men’s Health month so to honor the men in my life prior to Father’s Day and National Men’s Health week, let’s talk about the prostate!! Well, maybe not so much the prostate, but certain nutrients which are beneficial for prostate health. Well, maybe not so much nutrients, but just one in particular. Mostly because I know a lot about one and not a lot about the others. And because I do not feel like writing too much about prostates. Also because there are not too many men who will read this blog post other than my dad. And then it is like talking to my dad about his prostate and that’s weird. Sum of this paragraph: For Men’s Health Month, I will be discussing a nutrient that is beneficial for your prostate health, dad, and this is weird.

So, yeah. Lycopene. Let’s discuss. Lycopene is an antioxidant that has a bright red pigment so is found in foods such as tomatoes and watermelon.  Also in pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, red bell pepper, goji, rosehip, and strawberries. The cooking/heating process can actually make this nutrient more bioavailable (read: easier to absorb), so that is why foods such as tomato sauce and tomato paste can be quite good for you if they are low in sugar and other chemicals and preservatives that you don’t need.

There was a small pilot study with 26 subjects who had early stage prostate cancer. They were randomly assigned to a control group (no lycopene supplementation) or 15 mg of lycopene supplementation twice daily. Patients receiving the lycopene supplement 3 weeks prior to their prostatectomy showed significantly reduced tumor volume and grade when tumors were analyzed postoperatively. The daily supplementation of lycopene also resulted in 18% reduction of PSA.  There you have it – why would you NOT eat this amazing nutrient?!

Besides prostate health, lycopene may be beneficial for atherosclerosis (think heart health) and possibly prevent other cancers. Plus, the foods that contain lycopene, also contain many other important nutrients that are beneficial for your overall health.

Other tips to improve prostate health: eat lots of fruits/veggies, eat lean meats and fatty fish (eliminate high saturated fat meats), exercise, and eat nuts/seeds.

Sound bite: For the sake of your prostate, eat some damn tomatoes! J

 

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