Tomato Lycopene May Prevent Osteoporosis

BEER SHEVA, Israel—LycoRed Ltd. released results of a USDA-funded study investigating the role of carotenoids, and particularly, tomato lycopene benefits in preventing osteoporosis. In the January 2009 online edition of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, researchers from Tufts University, Hebrew SeniorLife and Boston University followed subjects that had participated in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study more than 15 years ago. The subjects, 370 men and 576 women, completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1988 to 1989 and were followed for hip fracture until 2005 and for non-vertebral fracture until 2003. Subjects with higher lycopene intake had lower risk of both hip fracture and non-vertebral fracture, leading the researchers to believe that lycopene may be protective against fractures in this population of elderly Caucasian men and women.

The author of the research claimed: “We found protective associations of total carotenoid and lycopene intake with hip fracture and non-vertebral osteoporotic fracture over 17 years of follow-up. We found those consuming greater than 4.4 servings/week of lycopene had significantly fewer fractures.”

This latest publication comes on the heels of an earlier work published in Osteoporosis International. Referring to the 2007 study, in which principal researcher L.G. Rao, Ph.D., director, Calcium Research Laboratory, St. Michael’s Hospital, Canada, reported, “Results of our study suggest in postmenopausal women, dietary lycopene reduces oxidative stress and may be beneficial in reducing the risk of osteoporosis.” These two studies, taken together, highlight yet another potential lycopene benefit that may be obtained by a diet rich in carotenoids from tomato products, including tomato extract.

“Osteoporosis is a major public health concern in an aging population and research pointing to dietary measures like natural lycopene that can be taken to keep bones strong, is very good news,” said Zohar Nir, Ph.D., vice president of new product development and scientific affairs for LycoRed. “Lyc-O-Mato®, a tomato extract in supplement form, provides the lycopene and other tomato carotenoids found by researchers to have protective benefits for bones.”

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