Jacob Schor

303 337-4884

Ketchup as a Treatment for Prostate Cancer

  Poor Ronald Reagan was given a peck of grief when, as President, he had the audacity to suggest that ketchup should be counted as a vegetable in school lunch programs. Time has a way of giving us perspective and in hindsight Reagan's ketchup suggestion was actually a good idea.

  Especially if you are a man of African descent. African American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer of any group in the world. They are more likely to get prostate cancer (210 cases per 100,000) than white men (159 cases per 100,000). And, they don¹t live as long once they get it. The five- year survival rate of 66 percent for African American men is much lower than the 81 percent survival rate for white men. African American men are twice as likely to die of prostate cancer than a white man (55 deaths from prostate cancer per 100,000 compared to only 25 deaths for white men).

  So what does this have to do with ketchup? Ketchup and other tomato products contain a chemical called lycopene, which may prevent prostate cancer. There has been a steady progression of research to suggest this. Epidemiological evidence, looking at habits and trends in large populations, suggests that there is a link. The more tomatoes a country consumes the lower the rate of prostrate cancer.

  A man's body actually concentrates lycopene in the prostate gland. Perhaps it provides some sort of protection. Lycopene acts as a powerful antioxidant protecting tissue from damage. Men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer have less lycopene in their blood and tissues than healthy men do. In fact the higher the blood levels of lycopene, the less chance of getting prostate cancer. Added to a test tube filled with prostate cancer cells, lycopene will stop them from growing.

  The strongest support for lycopene as a preventer of prostrate cancer comes from a study published in August, 2001. Men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer were given either 15 mg of lycopene twice a day or a placebo (a pill with no medicinal value) for a short three week period prior to having surgery in which their prostates were removed. Although the Gleason scores and PSA levels (tests that measure the degree of spread and aggressiveness of the cancer) were similar between the two groups at the beginning of the study; however, after three weeks there were noticeable improvements among those who took the lycopene.

  While this study doesn't establish lycopene as a cure for prostate cancer, its results are promising after only three weeks treatment. Shrinking tumor size, and a decrease in tumor aggressiveness are very strong hints that lycopene may be useful in real life.

  What is striking about the study was how little lycopene was given to have this effect. They used 15 mg twice a day. A 12 ounce glass of tomato juice contains 30 mg of lycopene.

  Ketchup, has 3 mg per Tablespoon. To get a 30 mg dose of Lycopene you need to eat slightly more than 1/2 a cup of ketchup a day. Ketchup still may not be your preferred source of tomatoes, but a half cup of spaghetti sauce has about the same amount of lycopene as a half cup of ketchup and it sounds like a smarter and more pleasant choice. The simple addition of a serving of spaghetti sauce or a glass of tomato juice each day may be all it takes to reduce a man's risk of prostate cancer from high to low.

Jacob Schor, N.D., a Park Hill neighbor. majored in Food Science and Product Development as an undergraduate at Cornell University , and received his doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine at National College in Portland , Oregon in 1991. He served as President of the Colorado Association of Naturopathic Physicians from 1992-1999 and maintains a private practice at the Denver Naturopathic Clinic.