Can Lycopene Reduce the Risk of Cancer?
Lycopene is a carotenoid, a type of compound produced by plants. Carotenoids act as antioxidants in the body. Antioxidants find and neutralize unstable molecules called free radicals, which can damage DNA in cells, leading to mutations that can cause chronic diseases like cancer.
Lycopene isn’t an essential nutrient — in fact, it’s not a nutrient at all — meaning we don’t need it to function or survive. But it offers many health benefits, including showing promise in lowering the risk of breast cancer.
Key takeaways:
Diets rich in carotenoids like lycopene are associated with a decreased risk of chronic disease, including certain cancers.
There haven’t been many studies on lycopene in people with breast cancer, but eating lycopene-rich foods is generally safe and recommended to everyone.
Some lab studies suggest that lycopene can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body.
The research on lycopene
It’s important to note that, like all research on nutrition, studies done on the health benefits of lycopene have been observational — and scientists can’t control or account for all of the other factors that contribute to a person’s overall health and personal risk of breast cancer, like whether they exercise, drink alcohol, or smoke.
Reducing cancer risk
Studies have found that people with more carotenoids in their blood were at a lower risk of breast cancer, especially aggressive subtypes.
Some other studies suggest lycopene consumption may reduce the risk of hormone-positive breast cancers and other cancers, including lung, stomach, and prostate cancer.
Lowering blood pressure
One study linked levels of lycopene in the blood to a lower risk of high blood pressure in adults who were overweight or obese.
Neurodegenerative disease
A large observational study showed that people with high levels of lycopene in their blood had a lower risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease, and a review of 20 years’ worth of research studies — some in people, some in labs — found that lycopene may help reduce the motor and cognitive effects of Parkinson’s disease.
Studies in cells and animals
Early stage research on lycopene has given scientists clues about how the compound may lower the risk of chronic disease.
A note about animal and cell studies
Studies in cells and animals are called preclinical studies because they’re done before any studies involving people. They are critical to developing new treatments for breast cancer. But just because a treatment works in a test tube or a mouse doesn't mean it will work in people. When a treatment enters a human body, it interacts with various systems, including the immune system. Experiments on cancer cells in a dish or a mouse can’t replicate those human conditions. This is why early results from preclinical studies can be promising and exciting, but don’t always lead to new treatments for people.
Some lab studies suggest that lycopene can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. Though some inflammation is essential, too much of it, combined with oxidative stress (an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants), is believed to play a role in several chronic diseases, including cancer.
Lycopene is just one of many plant compounds with antioxidant properties — the takeaway from the research in people is that there are many well-established health benefits to a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods.
Foods containing lycopene
Many people think of tomatoes as the most potent source of lycopene, but watermelon actually contains more than any other fruit or vegetable: 9-13 mg in every 2-cup serving. Though there’s no official recommended dosage of lycopene, studies have shown that up to 75 mg a day is safe.
Of course, tomatoes and tomato products do contain high amounts of lycopene. Interestingly, the amount of lycopene in any given tomato or tomato product depends on several factors, like the ripeness of the fruit and even the soil quality and temperature where it was grown. Typically, tomato products contain:
45.9 mg of lycopene per 100 grams of sun-dried tomatoes
23.8 mg per 100 grams of tomato sauce
21.7 mg per 100 grams of tomato puree
16.6 mg per 100 grams of ketchup
9 mg per 100 grams of tomato juice
5.6 mg per 100 grams of fresh tomatoes
Other red, pink, orange, and purple fruits and vegetables also contain lycopene, including:
watermelon
guava
rose hips
pink grapefruit
papaya
apricots
red peppers
red carrots
One thing to note: research has found that cooking tomatoes may improve lycopene’s bioavailability — the amount of an active ingredient that can be absorbed by our bodies. One reason for this is that heat breaks down fruits and vegetables’ cell walls, allowing compounds like lycopene to make their way into our bloodstream more easily.
To boost lycopene absorption even more, cook tomatoes in healthy fats, like olive oil. Research has shown that people who ate tomatoes cooked in extra virgin olive oil had more lycopene in their blood than the people who had plain cooked tomatoes.
Lycopene supplements
Almost all of the research done on lycopene’s benefits has been on lycopene from food, so we can’t draw conclusions on how effective lycopene supplements may be from those results.
Our bodies absorb nutrients and other compounds more readily from food than from supplements — and sometimes, dietary supplements have too much of an active ingredient for our bodies to absorb all at once.
Though there’s no recommended dose of lycopene (since it’s not essential), it’s relatively easy to get “enough” by incorporating tomatoes and other lycopene-rich fruits and veggies into your diet. But if treatment side effects are making it hard to eat enough — or at all — talk to your doctor about whether a lycopene supplement could be right for you.
Safety, risks, and side effects
Lycopene is generally safe and well tolerated. However, consuming more than 75 mg of lycopene daily may slow blood clotting and increase the risk of bleeding, especially if you’re on blood thinners or taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen. It may also lower blood pressure, so it’s not recommended for people on blood pressure medication (or who have low blood pressure and aren’t on medication).
Rarely, eating large amounts of lycopene-rich fruits may cause lycopenemia, which makes the skin a deep orange color.
Lycopene for people with breast cancer
Keep in mind that many of the studies done on lycopene have not been done on people with breast cancer. But whether you’ve been diagnosed or are simply trying to keep your risk low, lycopene is one of the many compounds found in plant foods that are a healthy addition to anyone’s diet.
