Lycopene Pills No Substitute for Tomatoes
By Michelle Fabio
A study conducted by teams at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Ohio State University in Columbus used rats to test whether lycopene supplements could provide the same health benefits as tomatoes themselves—and the resounding answer was no.
In the study, 194 male rats were given a chemical that induces prostate cancer. Some rats were given whole tomato powder, some pure lycopene, and the others no supplements
At the end, rats fed the tomato powder were 26 percent less likely to die of prostate cancer than the rats given no supplements. The rats that got the lycopene, though, had only slightly higher survival rates than those given no tomato or lycopene products.
Dr. Steven Clinton of Ohio State University, a leader in the study concluded, “Our findings strongly suggest that risks of poor dietary habits cannot be reversed simply by taking a pill.”
All the more reason to eat a tomato!
