Pass the pizza, it’s good for the prostate

By Paul Recer

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Go ahead and slather those eggs with ketchup: You’re fighting prostate cancer.

A diet rich in tomato sauce, ketchup and other tomato-based products containing a powerful antioxidant can cut the risk of prostate cancer by about a third, a new study says.

Researchers analyzed the food choices and prostate cancer histories of more than 47,000 men and found that those who ate at least two meals a week containing tomato products lowered their risk of prostate cancer by 24 to 36 percent.

Dr. Edward Giovannucci of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health, the first author of the study, said it supports earlier research involving foods, particularly tomato products, that were high in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.

A report on the study appears today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Dietary questionnaires in the study included such food items as tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice, pizza, watermelon and pink grapefruit, along with salsa, ketchup and other tomato-based condiments.

When the data was adjusted for the effects of other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that tomatoes, particularly those that had been cooked, were beneficial against prostate cancer.

"Spaghetti sauce was the most popular" and also seemed to give the most protection, said Giovannucci. He said that cooking raw tomatoes, as is done to make spaghetti sauce, may break down cell walls of the fruit and allow the body to absorb more of the lycopene.

Giovannucci said that lycopene is thought to protect against cancer by absorbing oxygen-free radicals, which are chemicals created during metabolism that can damage the genetic structure of cells.

Giovannucci emphasized that tomato-based products should be only a small part of a well-rounded diet that includes other fruits and vegetables and avoids an excess of fats.