Lycopene, the antioxidant found in tomatoes, has long been credited with health benefits but has recently been found to reduce age-related enlargement of the prostate, which in turn relieves pressure on the bladder.

Image courtesy of Jonathan Billinger / Wikimedia Commons

Tomatoes have been previously noted as helping to combat cardiovascular disease, stroke and prostate cancer.  The recent findings were discovered by a team of researchers in Queensland, Australia and studied 57 men aged between 40 to 80 years old.  Researchers found that lycopene reduced the night-time visits to the toilet by just over a third and overall bladder function was substantially improved.  Ian Wilkinson, director of clinical trials at Cambridge University, said: “Ateronon could be more beneficial than natural lycopene because it is more easily absorbed by the body.  We are designing a trial to prove that.”

Ateronon is an artifical version of lycopene.  More studies are needed to assess how long lycopene is needed before it has an effect.