Readers of this column have seen several articles proving lycopene is useless for prostate health or any other conditions. Serum (plasma lycopene is meaningless) from tens of thousands of men in published studies was analyzed for lycopene levels and compared to their medical records. No relationship at all was found. Yet the scammers continue to sell millions of dollars worth of lycopene, and the media continues to tout it.

Now they're going after the women's market, telling them lycopene helps prevent breast cancer. Since 1 in 8 American women are going to get breast cancer, this is a great advertising ploy. Re-cently the media reported that a new study had proven the value of lycopene in preventing breast cancer. Actually reading this study (Cancer Causes and Controls v. 12) showed otherwise. This was done at the University of Umea in Sweden with the cooperation of several other clinics. They divided women into groups, and found one of the postmenopausal groups did have a very small correlation with somewhat higher lycopene levels and less breast cancer. However another post-menopausal group showed an erratic pattern where the highest rates of breast cancer were correl-ated with HIGHER levels of lycopene. That’s right- one group had more cancer with higher lycopene levels The premenopausal women showed no relation at all. Taken together with all the groups there was simply no relation at all with lower breast cancer rates for higher blood levels of lycopene! What do you expect from the news media anyway?

The only real source of lycopene in any common food is tomatoes. You can eat all the tomatoes and drink all the tomato juice you want, and you're not going to get higher blood serum levels of lycopene. You must eat COOKED tomatoes in OIL to get any effect. Eating strawberries, guava fruit, and other weak sources of lycopene is not going to do anything for you unless you want to cook them in oil, too. Tomatoes are a Nightshade family fruit (not a vegetable) and contain toxic alkaloids like solanine and tomatine. For centuries tomatoes were considered an ornamental plant not fit for human consumption. One hundred years ago in America very few people ate tomatoes, and they were not popular at all. It is only recently that they have become a popular food. Many people with arthritis and rheumatism have given up all Nightshade foods (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers) and gotten significant relief. The macrobiotic diet has always excluded these foods (except occasionally and in small amounts).

How can women prevent breast cancer? Very easily- stop stuffing all that fat in your face! Sat-urated animal fat causes breast cancer. That's how. Americans eat about 42% fat calories. This means limiting vegetable oils as well. Diet prevents and cures disease. Diet is everything. Rural women in Asia eating a traditional 10-15% fat calorie diet rarely get breast cancer. The Asian men rarely get prostate cancer. High estradiol and estrone cause breast cancer internally. Don't take birth control pills. Don't use the doctor’s hormone replacement "therapy". Test and balance your basic hormones. Test your three estrogens. Use transdermal progesterone cream. Take melatonin and pregenenolone if over 40. Test your DHEA and testosterone. Test your T3 and T4. Take the 20 supplements recommended in my book No More Horse Estrogen! including beta glucan, beta sitosterol, All Your Minerals®, flax oil, DIM, CoQ10, and others. Exercise. Lose weight by making better food choices. Limit any “sins” such as coffee and alcohol.

Lycopene is useless. This is another promotional fraud like maca root, chondroitin, saw palmetto, noni juice, acai, mangosteen, colloidal minerals, resveratrol, policosanol,and the rest of that junk.