Tomatoes + Broccoli = Healthier Prostate
A new study just out in Cancer Research journal found that tomato and broccoli consumption (10% of the diet) helped to significantly reduce prostate cancer tumor size in rats (34% and 42%, respectively). Interestingly, reduction in tumor size was even greater (52%) in rats consuming both tomatoes and broccoli.
On the other hand, rats given supplements of lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes and associated with the prevention of prostate cancer, only saw reductions in tumor growth of 7 to 18 percent, depending on the dose. Not bad, but the foods themselves proved superior.
Broccoli and other vegetables, such as cabbage and cauliflower, are high in glucosinolates (e.g., sulforaphane, indole-3-carbinol) that are also associated with cancer prevention.
A few comments:
1. This study was an animal study and the results may not directly correspond to results in humans. However, as discussed in the links above, there is significant evidence that phytochemicals found in vegetables such as tomatoes and broccoli may have anti-cancer effects.
2. The study authors note that you’d likely have to eat a fairly large amount of tomatoes or broccoli daily to get the effects in this study (1.4 cups of raw broccoli and 2.5 cups of fresh tomato, or 1 cup of tomato sauce, or half a cup of tomato paste). That’s quite a bit (watch the salt on that tomato paste), but it’s doable.
3. I wouldn’t eat broccoli every day. As part of the cabbage family, it’s a goitrogen, and may inhibit thyroid function if eaten too frequently in large quantities. A few times a week should be no problem.
4. Lycopene seems to be better absorbed through food than supplements.
5. Lycopene and other carotenoids are best absorbed with meals
containing fat (e.g., olive oil).
6. An easy, inexpensive way to incorporate tomatoes into your diet on a regular basis is to use Low-Sodium V8 juice. It has only 140 mg sodium and 17 mg lycopene per 8 oz. serving. Of course, it would be best to drink it with a meal containing fat or mix a little added healthy fat (e.g., olive oil) in with it to promote best absorption of the lycopene and other beneficial phytochemicals.
In short, regular consumption of tomatoes and/or broccoli (don’t always have to be together) can be a good part of a cancer prevention/treatment diet.
You can read more about things you can do to help maintain a healthy prostate here.
