A tomato-based supplement shows promise in the control of symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The confirmation comes from a study coordinated by the Center for Hemato-Oncological Research (Crea) of Asst Spedali Civili of Brescia, published in the Journal of functional food, which investigated the effects in HIV positive patients with higher risk of disease progression, given their chronic inflammatory state.
A diet rich in a beta carotenoid, lycopene, whose main dietary source is the ripe tomato, has an important health activity on the prostate, one of the elective body districts where lycopene is concentrated. The same evidence points out that the molecule performs this activity optimally if certain conditions related to the low bioavailability of the trans forms of lycopene present in the fruit, the need for the diet to include fats, particularly olive oil, and an adequate amount regularly consumed are met. So a diet rich in lycopene in the cis form, the most absorbable, for its activities
antioxidant / anti-inflammatory, can help to control the urinary symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is frequently associated with chronic inflammation of the gland.
It is increasingly evident that the healthy activity of tomato is not only due to its lycopene content. To this contributes in fact the set of other nutrients present in the whole fruit, from skins to seeds, which contain fiber and pectins, to which are added those that are formed when the tomato is cooked properly. Experimental work carried out both in vitro and in vivo show, in fact, that the micronutrients of tomato have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, attributable to the reduction of the production of a cytokine, interleukin-6, or IL-6, and the induction of apoptosis, as well as antiangiogenic, transactivating nuclear receptors and modulating the activity of androgen receptors.
The formulation of whole ripe tomato is enriched in cis-licopene and other micronutrients of the fruit such as, for example, caffeic acid, Fru-His products and ketoso-amines, which contribute to increase its biological properties due to the presence in the preparation of a calibrated amount of olive vegetation water, which is a source of polyphenols.
Previously, a prospective double-blind randomized study with placebo had shown that this dietary supplement was able to significantly reduce urinary symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, it was verified the effectiveness and safety in a study with the same characteristics, but carried out in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia infected with HIV who, for their chronic inflammatory state, have a higher risk of disease progression.
The study showed that the daily consumption for 12 weeks of 5 gr of the dietary supplement, containing 23 mg of total forms of lycopene, is associated with a significant improvement in the quality of life of patients and all symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia – analyzed by responses to the International Prostate Symptom Score, the only questionnaire validated by the WHO available in Italian – of the ratio of free and total prostate antigen, associated with a decrease in systolic blood pressure and a tendency to decrease levels of Il-6. No side effects were reported in the enrolled patients.
Under urological control, which allows a modulation of administration, the use of the dietary supplement allows to easily reach the amount of tomato that according to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research is necessary to obtain effects on prostate disease, that is at least 10 servings per week.
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