100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
America's #1 Rated Catalog/Internet Brand
Based on Customer Satisfaction†
Investigative Analysis
The Latest On Lycopene: What Does the Research Really Say
December 2003
When the results of a recent study examining the prostate-protecting potential of lycopene and tomato products were published in the Nov. 5, 2003 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), the coverage in mainstream media was often contradictory and confusing. Some headlines, such as "Tomato pills ineffective, study finds" (MSNBC), for example, appear to say exactly the opposite of what was reported in the original JNCI article. So just what does the research really say? For that, it's best to look past the sensationalistic headlines of the popular news media and go straight to the JNCI, whose reporting and discussion of the research appears to be unbiased and fairly straightforward.
The study in question examined the effects of whole tomato powder and synthetic lycopene (versus a control diet) on prostate health in rats. The researchers found that a diet containing whole tomato powder had a significant protective effect on prostate health compared with a control diet, whereas a diet supplemented with pure synthetic lycopene showed only a slight effect, which was not statistically significant. So what does this tell us? Are lycopene supplements worthless, as some reports proclaimed?
On the surface, the data from this recent study seem to suggest that lycopene has no protective effect on prostate health in this model, but the reality is a bit more complicated than that. What the data show is that whole tomato powder exhibits a protective effect not found with lycopene alone. Does this mean that lycopene is worthless? Not quite. What the results of this study suggest, as pointed out by the authors of the JNCI article, is that "tomato products contain compounds in addition to lycopene that modify prostate [health risks]." This is not the same as saying that lycopene is worthless. At most, the data tell us that synthetic lycopene, by itself, has no significant protective effect on prostate health. These are important distinctions to make, as many scientists familiar with carotenoid research are quick to point out.
Research on other carotenoids such as beta-carotene has demonstrated that isolated, synthetic sources often do not exhibit the same protective health benefits as natural food sources. Although the reasons for this are still the subject of debate among nutrition researchers, a few feasible explanations have emerged. In food sources, carotenoids such as lycopene and beta-carotene are found with a number of other naturally occurring carotenoids that may produce a synergistic effect not achieved with any one isolated carotenoid. This reflects one of the basic complaints that many natural health practitioners have against synthetic supplements: they do not deliver the same synergistic nutritional benefits found in natural food sources. This doesn't mean that lycopene supplements have no value, but it does indicate that the type of lycopene supplements you use, and how you use them, may be important.
The JNCI study indicates that tomatoes deliver prostate protection beyond that obtained with synthetic lycopene alone. While this clearly makes a strong argument for including more tomato products in your diet, what it tells us about lycopene supplements is less clear. It would appear to make a strong case for natural-source lycopene supplements, such as Lyc-O-Mato® tomato extract, which contain lycopene along with a number of naturally occurring, synergistic carotenoids such as phytoene, phytofluene and beta-carotene. But does the JNCI study mean that synthetic lycopene is worthless? Not at all. What it does suggest is that if you take a synthetic lycopene supplement you may need to take it with a quality multivitamin or other good source of complementary carotenoids to achieve significant health benefits.
