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Men’s Health

Men’s Health

By Dr. Patrick Lovegrove Medically Reviewed by Lindsay Langley, BSN, RN, CHT
Posted Sunday, August 15th, 2021
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health tips for men

Most often, men do not take care of themselves, and when it comes to prostate, sperm, and infertility. This article will share some health tips for men.

Studies have found that lycopene has a carotenoid compound that contributes to red and pink pigments. These pigments usually are in tomatoes, watermelon, guava, pink grapefruit, papaya, and other plant foods.

Unlike beta-carotene, lycopene has no pro-vitamin A activity. But that doesn’t mean it provides nothing beyond a feast for the eyes. This phytonutrient has some impressive benefits concerning men’s health, particularly for the prostate and sperm quality.

Lycopene may be one of the few nutrients that benefit from some degree of food processing. Cooking and concentrating tomatoes, turning them into ketchup, tomato paste, or sauce may concentrate the lycopene. Cooking makes it more bioavailable by disrupting plant cell membranes, which allows the compound to be more easily released.

Lycopene is lipid-soluble and is, therefore, better absorbed when consumed with a fat source based on one study. Having avocado along with tomato salsa may result in a quadrupling of lycopene absorption. (So don’t skimp on the guacamole! Perhaps Italian and Greek culinary traditions have had it right all along in using olive oil or feta cheese with tomatoes.)

Cardiovascular health is another central area of concern for men. The role of LDL-cholesterol in cardiovascular disease is a matter of ongoing controversy. But lycopene may have a role to play for patients in whom reducing LDL may be desirable—high-dose lycopene supplementation positively affects plasma LDL cholesterol in a small cohort of healthy men.

Believed in the mechanism to suppress HMGCoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in endogenous cholesterol synthesis. Another hypothesized mechanism is its positive effect on LDL receptors, which would, in turn, support the cellular uptake of cholesterol. 

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About the author

Dr. Patrick Lovegrove