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lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

Aloha,
"... blood samples & dietary questions from over 28,000 PLCO men ... found no reduction in prostate cancer risk for men who had the highest levels of lycopene in their blood ..."
Quote taken from the NCI Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, & Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial News (letter).

Re: lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

First tomatoes were the magic bullet. Now, another study suggests no value with regard to the selenium, prostate cancer risk. Seems a very narrowly focused outlook on nutrition. Of course that is what studies try to accomplish. You can't study everything at once.

The truth is that vegetables have many many components in each of them. No doubt, to the extent that veggies can alter one's path to health, you should not focus on one type, nor one ingredient.
Tomatoes are wonderful, not only in their own right, but in their ability to be used in wonderful sauces which are very healthy compared to other sauces.
Often it is as much about what you are replacing as it is to what you are eating.

All in all, if you eat lots more veggies of all types, and those replace other foods, often meats, dairy and fats, then your potential for a healthier outcome may be increased. No guarantees.
Obviously it would have been far more beneficial to have been on such a diet since age 6, but who knew.
Hawaii is a good example of how diet can affect outcomes if used over a lifetime.
Japanese men born in Japan but who have grown up in the USA seem to acquire the American tendency towards higher rates of prostate cancer. Those with the same genetics who remain in Japan continue to keep much lower rates of prostate cancer.
Some of the older more traditional Japanese who have not changed all their ways since coming to Hawaii, are more likely in the middle. Their children raised all their lives in modern Hawaii would be similar to other children raised in Hawaii.

So it would seem long term dietary differences do increase or decrease the odds of having one's life impacted by prostate cancer.
What changes made post diagnosis can do is open to question.
If you were advising young men in Hawaii on diet, I'd certainly suggest a diet higher in veggies, and much lower in meats, Spam, fats, dairy and the like.
Not only for prostate cancer prevention, but far more importantly for cardiovascular health as well as for diabetes which affects native Hawaiians much more than Caucasians. I know so many sad cases in Hawaii where men, under age 50, are being impacted by diabetes and yet dietary advice is going unheeded.

Re: Re: lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

Chester, have a look at this CURE DU JOURE

As a matter of interest, for what it's worth, I think the Japanese PCa incidence rate change on coming to the USA is a myth. I understand from men who have a greater knowledge of Japanese culture more than I do that Prostate Cancer is not a subject for open discussion in Japan (as it was not in my youth) and that many PCa cases are diagnosed, in Japan, as stomach or other cancers. Of course when the men are in the USA they are diagnosed correctly.

Another factor is that the USA has one of the highest incidences of PCa in the world - you are more likely to be diagnosed in the US than anywhere else because of the intense focus on finding even the most insignificant tumour and treating it.

All the best

Terry in Australia

Re: Re: Re: lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

Well, Terry, I understand what you present in your CURE DU JOURE. I'm slow to adopt the "latest" super food or supplement. About the time I slowly become willing to try and pay for it, its only a short time later it's shown less than super. I also NEVER think of a food or supplement as a magic bullet to kill prostate cancer.

Vitamin C, Soy, Selenium, Vitamin E, lycopene,

I agree with you on all of these as failed "bullets", but I still eat some tofu and drink soy milk instead of regular milk. I actually prefer it. I take in loads of lycopene but do so for the pasta sauce rather than to get the lycopene, and as a byproduct, get all the vitamin C I would need.

pomegranate juice, Vit D3 (pill form), NSAID's (not Celebrex), cruciferous vegetables, curcumin,

On this group I am neither convinced of their ability to prevent prostate cancer nor have I completely eliminated them for consideration due to some study showing them worthless.
The evidence behind Pomegranate juice is very weak. At this point most of it is from the POM company.
Vit D3 is mostly from the sun for me, although from time to time in the winter I'll take a pill.
Curcumin is also questionable, but seems to be getting some interesting research. I don't reject the concept but there is lots of research to be done.
As you indicated, medical reporting in the Indian population is questionable, especially with limited testing.

OK...now, cruciferous vegetables... I can't imagine living without them. I love them regardless of their specific "magic bullet" value.

I think what bothers me about most of the dietary discussions regarding prostate cancer is that items are discussed almost as a medicine or as a curative.
Good diets are something one eats all their life and as cures for diagnosed cancers are most likely fairly minimally effective tools. But for some, minimal science is enough reason to alter a lifestyle, to take a chance.

However, give me the choice to eat better from birth and I'd gladly accept that option just from the current science we have available.
Which brings us to the Asian lifestyle question.
I do understand under-reporting and under-testing but I think, that aside, there is a higher incidence of prostate cancer in those people if the same genetics are moved to a western diet.
People with various genetic traits do in fact react differently to various diets. Diabetes is a good example. There are some populations who when put on western diets are at huge risks compared to their counter parts still eating in the traditional ways.

You know, diet may or may not make any difference in a given individual, but since more men with prostate cancer are going to succumb to heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, then why not eat properly for those reasons? If it also helps the prostate cancer, that's an added bonus.
No food eaten on occasion is a poison, nor is any food consumed, even in huge quantities, a magic bullet.

One other point. Just because specific items are shown to be of limited value, it does not follow that eating well is worthless. One only need observe waistlines in Australia or America to see a potential value in eating properly.

Chester, in California

Re: lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

Joe 67,

My diet has been slipping recently and I've been worried about it, but maybe I shouldn't be. This seems to be a common thing, what was thought to be a magic bullet turns out not to be. So what are we to do?

Of course I know my old diet, the one I ate all my life, isn't a good thing either. But maybe post diet changes don't do as much good as they thought. So maybe I'll have some red meat and dairy but keep it in moderation.

I had a life changing event in the past two months so my diet went out the window for a while, but I'm trying to get it back under control again.

So does this mean no tomato paste from the can now?

The Stranger

Re: Re: lycopene as an anti-oxidant found in tomatoes

ONLY IF ON PIZZA ... with beer ....

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