Cancer Cancer Screening and Prevention

Turn to Tomatoes for Prostate Health

If you're concerned about your risk for prostate cancer, don't forget to ask for a tomato the next time you order a hamburger. Better yet, skip the burger and order the grilled vegetables with tofu. More and more research shows that antioxidants in vegetables, particularly tomatoes and broccoli, can lower prostate cancer risk, while foods from animals may increase risk.

While ongoing studies are still assessing the value of antioxidant supplements, food scientists say they are already comfortable advocating that men eat a more vegetable-based diet to lower their risk of prostate cancer, not to mention heart disease and colon cancer. Below, Dr. John Erdman, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, discusses how your diet, and your weight, can affect your prostate cancer risk.

Can nutrients in food lower risk of prostate cancer?
Both observational studies and clinical trials suggest that higher consumption of vitamin E and selenium reduces prostate cancer risk. Vitamin E is found in plant foods, including vegetables, vegetable oils and nuts, as well as egg yolks. Vitamin E is also in a lot of fortified breakfast cereals. Selenium is a metallic trace element that comes into plants from the soil, so it's in grains such as rice and wheat. You also get some selenium from animal foods, because the animals consume grain.

There is also quite a bit of observational evidence that tomato and broccoli consumption reduces risk of prostate cancer. In the tomato products, experts are focusing on nutrients called lycopene, which is responsible for the tomato’s red color. In broccoli, there are a number of sulfur compounds that are thought to detoxify carcinogens, substances capable of causing cancer.

How do these nutrients lower risk?
Selenium, vitamin E and lycopene are all part of the antioxidant protection system within the body. They are different compounds, so they each protect different aspects of the body from excess oxidation. Excess oxidation is harmful because it generates free radicals that can disrupt normal chemical reactions in the body. So if you oxidize DNA, you alter cell replication, which can cause normal cells to mutate into cancer cells. It is thought that many cancers are the result of an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants, and therefore, if you consume components of the food that enhance your antioxidant capacity, there is less chance for cancer development.

What about the nutrients in soy?
There is research that shows that soy food consumption is also related to lower prostate cancer risk. However, experts are unsure if isoflavones, a weak form of estrogen, in soy is actual the catalyst for the reduction. There is also no evidence that taking isoflavone supplements reduces the risk of prostate cancer, even though they are often sold for that purpose.

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