Lycopene
A tomato's good epidemiology, bottled; the capsule's own trials are smaller and mostly null.
C-
Evidence grade
C-
Worth it
$8-15/month
Typical cost
DoseTrials used 10 to 30 mg/day; the blood-pressure signal appeared at 25 mg and above. Lycopene is fat-soluble and absorbs far better from cooked tomato products with oil (a serving of tomato sauce can deliver 15 to 20 mg in a highly absorbable form) than from a dry capsule taken fasting, one of the cleaner cases where the food outperforms the supplement on delivery.
BasisLycopene is a respectable dietary molecule with an inflated supplement file.
Lycopene is the red carotenoid of tomatoes and watermelon, sold as a supplement for prostate health and heart health. We grade Lycopene C- on evidence and C- for worth-it at about $8-15 per month.
What it does
Lycopene is the red carotenoid of tomatoes and watermelon, sold as a supplement for prostate health and heart health. It follows the beta-carotene pattern in this library (graded D on its harm record): a food-associated molecule whose isolated-supplement evidence must be graded on its own file, and this record does so.
What the research says
High-dose lycopene lowered systolic pressure modestly in meta-analysis, driven by hypertensive subgroups
Evidence: emerging. Ried and Fakler (2011) pooled trials at 25 mg/day and above: systolic pressure fell about 5 mmHg in participants with elevated baseline pressure, with no clear effect in people with normal pressure. A real surrogate signal, from small short trials.
The prostate claim that built its fame has not survived supplement trials
Evidence: moderate. The reputation comes from cohort studies of tomato-rich diets (Giovannucci's analyses). Supplements tested directly: a tiny pre-prostatectomy trial (Kucuk 2001, n=26) hinted at pathology benefits; larger and later work did not confirm a preventive or PSA effect, regulators including EFSA declined the claims, and the Cochrane review found evidence insufficient for prostate cancer prevention. Eating tomatoes and taking lycopene remain different exposures with different files.
Lycopene is a respectable dietary molecule with an inflated supplement file. The food epidemiology is genuinely interesting, the supplement trials are small and mostly null where it matters (prostate), and one surrogate (blood pressure at high doses in hypertensive people) shows a modest pooled effect. C- for a capsule living on a vegetable's reputation, with one real secondary finding.
Is it worth it?
Evidence (C-) sits below the leaderboard floor, so the worth-it grade is capped at C+ however inexpensive it is; the derived value lands at C-. About $11 a month at studied doses. Derived from the October 2026 worth-it model.
Typical cost
$8-15/month
Common form, not a brand recommendation
Dosage context established
Trials used 10 to 30 mg/day; the blood-pressure signal appeared at 25 mg and above. Lycopene is fat-soluble and absorbs far better from cooked tomato products with oil (a serving of tomato sauce can deliver 15 to 20 mg in a highly absorbable form) than from a dry capsule taken fasting, one of the cleaner cases where the food outperforms the supplement on delivery.
Worth-it leaderboard
Lycopene sits outside the worth-it top 20.
Lycopene sits outside the current top 20 on the gated leaderboard. The leaders below clear an evidence floor of B- before price counts at all, so cheap alone never earns a rank.
- 1AWorth itCreatine evidence A-~$5-10/mo
- 2AWorth itCaffeine evidence B+~$5-10/mo
- 3AWorth itVitamin D evidence B~$5-8/mo
See the full worth-it leaderboard →
When the evidence moves a grade, this ranking moves with it. Thursday is where you hear it first.
Safety notes
Very well tolerated; high intakes can tint skin orange (lycopenodermia), harmless and reversible. No significant interactions are documented. The main risk is substitution: treating a capsule as prostate screening or as a blood-pressure plan. Neither is supported.
Longevity Lab Report
Lycopene news. Graded when it happens.
The grade on this page stays free. The email carries the news on lycopene: expert moves, dose changes, and what is working, in plain English every Thursday.
Changelog
Last updated 2026-10-23
- 2026-10-23|Graded from the blood-pressure meta-analysis and the prostate literature from cohort origin through supplement trials and regulatory reviews. The record's spine is the gap between the food's epidemiology and the capsule's trial record.
- 2026-10-23|Not listed under heart: the graded finding is a surrogate pressure effect in a subgroup, and per this library's assignment discipline that does not carry the tag on its own.
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This grade for Lycopene rests on the record above. When a new result changes that record, the grade changes with it, and the Thursday email is where the change lands first: the week's longevity and biohacking news, in plain English, linked back to the reasoning on this page.
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