A study suggests lycopene - a beneficial substance found in cooked tomatoes, tomato juice and paste - offers protection against prostate cancer whether ingested as lycopene-rich, red tomato paste or purified lycopene supplements.
Lycopene-free yellow tomato paste offered no protection. Prostate cancer cells were incubated in the blood taken from thirty volunteers who had been taking these three different items.
Specific prostate cancer-linked proteins were measured to judge protective effect. Best food sources of lycopene are processed tomatoes, watermelons and pink grapefruit.
Released April 14, the study will appear in a future issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.