23 replies to this topic

[LiliVG]

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/n...ugh-research-on

This study is primarily focused on the role of lycopene in prostate cancer, but I can see how it's directly applicable to acne because:

"Lycopene interfered with local androgen activation by down-regulating 5-alpha-reductase, the key enzyme for the transformation of testosterone to its most active form dehydrotestosterone (DHT). As a consequence, the expression of androgen-regulated target genes were also reduced. In addition, lycopene decreased the expression of two prostatic cytokines, IGF-I and IL-6, both regarded as risk factors for prostate cancer."

It interferes with both androgens and IGF-1, two key factors in acne. I wonder if lycopene would have an effect on male pattern baldness given its interference with the production of DHT.

Anyone have any lycopene supplements around they want to try taking and see if it helps?

[Tasha90]

For those who do not want to supplement, lycopene is most readily available in freshly cooked tomatoes in olive oil http://www.cababstractsplus.org/google/abs...cNo=20053095659

[LiliVG]

"The Tomato Acne Diet" lol

[rakbs]

I wouldn't supplement lycopene, just be sure to eat tomato products. It's also found in other carotene-rich vegetables to a lesser extent.

I doubt it would have much effect on DHT, but every little bit helps I suppose.

[Mandy Ann]

Would it be any help if I eat tomato soup daily? Because I do eat it pretty much daily.

[shavingwoes]

Not sure what it is about tomatoes (I've heard it's their acidity?) but they break me and a few other people I know out. It's unfortunate because lycopene is such a great antioxidant but it is found elsewhere as well I believe.

[AltaPGT]

Funny you mention it. In the book The Clear Skin Diet, the author raves about lycopene and said that drinking tomato juice daily greatly helped his acne. I've never tried it though.

[alternativista]

Would it be any help if I eat tomato soup daily? Because I do eat it pretty much daily.

It depends on the soup.

But we are supposed to eat some kind of cooked tomato every day to protect from the sun anyway. And a benefit to that would be we wouldn't need to worry about a little sun exposure and could get some vitamin D.

[ryudoadema]

Not sure what it is about tomatoes (I've heard it's their acidity?) but they break me and a few other people I know out. It's unfortunate because lycopene is such a great antioxidant but it is found elsewhere as well I believe.

If you find they break you out, it's probably due to the alkaloids that some people are sensitive to. If your not clear yet, try excluding nightshades(the foods that carry toxic alkaloids) and see if that helps. Other nightshades are potatoes, eggplant and some spices. Google it...

[calla lily]

This is good news. I have a tomato tree in my backyard. I always knew tomatoes were good, but now I know they're acne-friendly, too.

[databased]

Anyone have any lycopene supplements around they want to try taking and see if it helps?

Lycopene supplements never did much for me, but I'm revisiting this as I try to study the tuber the acne-free Trobriand Islanders eat that Westerners dubbed "yam". I can't find a good biochemical assay of that yet, but it seems hard to rule out that it might be a reasonably intense source of lycopene. lycopene supplements are typically sold in 10mg doses, and if my math and the possibly non-authoritative nutrient database I consulted are correct, I can get about 10 times that much lycopene from a 200-calorie serving of canned tomato sauce. So that leaves the possibility that even popping multiple lycopene supplements a day doesn't get me anywhere close to what the TI's are eating (though not vegetarians, they do have a friggin' Yam Festival, so they're jammin' down yams about every day).

Some of the theoretical anti-acne pathways lycopene offers are the same as melatonin. In particular, it seems able to elevate superoxide dismutase levels (though, if anyone knows how, I haven't found their research yet). One interesting possibility is that for "tomato" to impact acne, you have to get both a large enough dose of lycopene digested, and have enough circulating zinc to combine to create zinc superoxide dismutase, to prevent P. acnes from causing the inflammatory stage of acne. Since people living in dim indoor light all day may have carb malabsorption that keeps them from absorbing zinc well, the relevant experiment would be large amounts of lycopene (e.g., big daily servings of canned tomato sauce) combined with megadose zinc. My night to cook, so I'm off to look at canned tomato sauces.

[databased]

200 calories of tomato sauce turns out to be a lot. I think I can do 100 calories per day.

[kiwi_kazoo]

200 calories of tomato sauce turns out to be a lot. I think I can do 100 calories per day.

what about tomato paste? looking at labels on paste and sauce in my cupboard, paste has 48mg lycopene per 100g compared to 15.5mg per 100g for the sauce. granted the paste does have more calories and sodium per 100g. plus if you are eating it straight out of the can, you would have to gag down that thick paste.

[Chocobot]

All canned stuff is loaded with sodium.

[databased]

what about tomato paste?

Looked at that, but it became a matter of what I can actually cook with. With paste, I'll be watering it down with something, so it seems to me it's just a labor-saving device to go with the plain tomato sauce. Olive oil, brown a piece of chicken, little wine, dump in the can of tomato sauce, throw in any veggies laying around, add a small amount of mashed potatoes to soak up excess tomato -- it's amazing I really can get down an entire 2 cups of tomato sauce all by myself. If it really did have an affect on acne, I could probably do this 3 times a week with no problem.

All canned stuff is loaded with sodium.

I'm loaded with sodium too, so it all works out perfect!

[kiwi_kazoo]

what about tomato paste?

Looked at that, but it became a matter of what I can actually cook with. With paste, I'll be watering it down with something, so it seems to me it's just a labor-saving device to go with the plain tomato sauce. Olive oil, brown a piece of chicken, little wine, dump in the can of tomato sauce, throw in any veggies laying around, add a small amount of mashed potatoes to soak up excess tomato -- it's amazing I really can get down an entire 2 cups of tomato sauce all by myself. If it really did have an affect on acne, I could probably do this 3 times a week with no problem.

yum! what time is dinner served?

[Brandy]

Try low sodium V8.

http://www.v8juice.com/faq.aspx#juiceLycopene

[alternativista]

Bumping for someone who asked me about it. For those who can't eat tomatoes:

Lycopene is a red carotene and is found in many other red and orange foods. And not all need to be cooked to be more bio-available like in tomatoes. Watermelon and papaya for example.

Per wikipedia, it's not in strawberries or cherries and so I would assume not other stone fruit or berries. Since it's hard to find a breakdown of the carotene content of foods, I would go with anything high in other beta carotene as a good bet, especially if it's reddish.

Fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene include gac, tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, red bell pepper, seabuckthorn, wolfberry (goji, a berry relative of tomato), and rosehip. Also, red carrots if you can find them. I wonder about the ruby sweet potatoes.

Gac is a southeast Asian fruit that contains like 70 times the lycopene and other carotenes than the next best sources. So if your frequent Asian markets, you might want to look for them. They have a short season peaking in December-January, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gac

[Agent Acne]

Anyone have any lycopene supplements around they want to try taking and see if it helps?

Lycopene supplements never did much for me, but I'm revisiting this as I try to study the tuber the acne-free Trobriand Islanders eat that Westerners dubbed "yam". I can't find a good biochemical assay of that yet, but it seems hard to rule out that it might be a reasonably intense source of lycopene. lycopene supplements are typically sold in 10mg doses, and if my math and the possibly non-authoritative nutrient database I consulted are correct, I can get about 10 times that much lycopene from a 200-calorie serving of canned tomato sauce. So that leaves the possibility that even popping multiple lycopene supplements a day doesn't get me anywhere close to what the TI's are eating (though not vegetarians, they do have a friggin' Yam Festival, so they're jammin' down yams about every day).

Some of the theoretical anti-acne pathways lycopene offers are the same as melatonin. In particular, it seems able to elevate superoxide dismutase levels (though, if anyone knows how, I haven't found their research yet). One interesting possibility is that for "tomato" to impact acne, you have to get both a large enough dose of lycopene digested, and have enough circulating zinc to combine to create zinc superoxide dismutase, to prevent P. acnes from causing the inflammatory stage of acne. Since people living in dim indoor light all day may have carb malabsorption that keeps them from absorbing zinc well, the relevant experiment would be large amounts of lycopene (e.g., big daily servings of canned tomato sauce) combined with megadose zinc. My night to cook, so I'm off to look at canned tomato sauces.

I love canned Tomato soup myself and could eat 2 cups easily. Now I usually mixed 1/2 cup of tomato puree with salmon or chicken. Cook it until it's warm and pour into my bowl. Then I throw fresh cilantro and spinach and douse the soup with garlic & herb spices, black pepper, and red pepper spices. Then, mix in some coconut oil and presto!

[alternativista]

I love canned Tomato soup myself and could eat 2 cups easily. Now I usually mixed 1/2 cup of tomato puree with salmon or chicken. Cook it until it's warm and pour into my bowl. Then I throw fresh cilantro and spinach and douse the soup with garlic & herb spices, black pepper, and red pepper spices. Then, mix in some coconut oil and presto!

I half fill a large mug with a good jarred tomato pasta sauce and some chopped greens, then add boiling water to thin into a soup. Sometimes I add some canned fish.