Seeing red: lycopene is essential to male health.(wellness: supplements and functional foods)

Ever wonder where nature's red comes from? In the case of tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit and guava, it can be attributed to an antioxidant called lycopeue. A member of the carotenoid family, lycopene suffuses fruits with color and offers several healthful properties, particularly for men. Research indicates that lycopene supplements and lycopene-rich foods such as tomato sauce may support fertility, promote prostate and heart health, and even stymie cancer.

Fertility

Only in the past few decades has fertility come to be regarded as a problem for couples rather than a female-only concern. In fact, estimates indicate that 35-50 percent of the time, male infertility is a factor in conception difficulties, which occur in 1 out of 10 American couples.

Sperm health is obviously a key factor in male fertility, and lycopene, as an antioxidant, may help maintain semen quality. Armand Zini, MD, associate professor of surgery at McGill University in Montreal, addressed this issue during the 2004 meeting of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). He reported that oxidative damage is linked to male infertility, as is a low semen lycopene level.

Zini's research isn't the first to demonstrate this correlation. A 1996 study appearing in the Archives of Andrology revealed a connection between dietary antioxidants and male fertility and showed reduced seminal lycopene levels in infertile subjects.

The good news is that lycopene supplementation may improve seminal lycopene levels, thereby improving sperm health. Zini suggested this possibility at the ADA meeting, and so did Indian researchers who published their findings in 2002 in International Urology and Nephrology. The Indian study indicated that after 3 months of lycopene supplementation, participants exhibited significant improvements in sperm concentration, motility and morphology.

Prostate Health