Tomato can assist in a holistic cancer treatment. Tomato will not cure cancer alone but in combination with other herbs, juices and therapies, tomato will boost cancer treatment effectiveness.
Eating tomatoes regularly may reduce the risk of prostate and several other cancers. Published research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health have shown that eating tomatoes and tomato products may help men reduce the risk of prostate cancer. It is also found that tomatoes are useful for those who are already diagnosed with prostate cancer. Increased tomato consumption was found to be associated with a much less aggressive prostate cancer in men who were diagnosed with the disease.
Tomatoes may also reduce the risk for other types of cancers including lung, stomach, pancreatic, breast, cervical, colorectal, oral, and esophageal cancers.
Lycopene, Red Tomato Anti-Cancer Agent
Lycopene is an anti-oxidant that protects our body cells from oxidants that have been linked to cancer. Laboratory tests have shown that lycopene is twice as powerful as beta-carotene at neutralizing free radicals. It has long been known as an anti-carcinogen.
In a review published in the February 1999 issue of the Journal of National Cancer Institute, Edward Giovannucci M.D. (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA) analyzed and compared the published studies regarding intake of tomatoes and tomato-based products and blood lycopene level in relation to the risk of various cancers. Out of 72 studies identified, 57 reported that tomato intake or blood lycopene level reduced the risk of cancer. 35 of these results were statistically significant.
In another research, scientists found that a low dose of synthetic lycopene, which was found to be as good as natural lycopene, slowed the growth of human prostate tumours implanted in mice by over 50% by day 42 of the study, compared to mice which had not had the treatment. When the lycopene was combined with vitamin E, it reduced the growth of tumours by up to 73%.
According to a recent study, lycopene may also reduce or prevent the side effects of chemotherapy due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
There are other studies stating similar results on experiments regarding lycopene. Aside from these, lycopene has also been found to reduce risks on heart disease.
Tomatine, Green Tomato Anti-Cancer Agent
Tomatine is a mild alkaloid that is digestible in moderate sized quantities.
In 2000, Dr. Mendel Friedman and colleagues reported that when lab animals ingest tomatine, essentially all of it passes through the animal unabsorbed. The alkaloid apparently binds to cholesterol in the digestive system, and the combination is excreted — ridding the body of both alkaloid and cholesterol. The researchers found that both tomatine-rich green tomatoes and purified tomatine lowered the levels of undesirable LDL cholesterol in animals.
Dr. Friedman has also found that green tomato lowers the incidence of cancer in animals, and reported that purified tomatine inhibit the growth of various human cancer cells. Other studies have found that purified tomatine seem to stimulate the immune system in desirable ways.
Dr. Friedman also discovered that green tomato extracts were all active against all cancer cell lines but that the red tomato extracts showed low or variable activity.
Tomato, not Effective for Cancer?
In a review the FDA conducted regarding the cancer fighting potential of tomatoes in 2005, it was revealed that there was “very limited evidence” to support any association between tomato consumption and reduced risks of prostate, gastric, and pancreatic cancers. As for the believed cancer-fighting effects of lycopene, the FDA said there was “no credible evidence” to suggest that the chemical could reduce the risk of such cancers of the prostate, lung, colon, breast, ovaries or pancreas.
However, researchers did mention that when it comes to prostate cancer, tomatoes may yet offer some health benefits. Many doctors believe that tomato products, and lycopene, don’t affect all prostate cancers equally, but may instead help slow the growth only of aggressive and late-stage prostate tumours.
In a 2006 study, Ulrike Peters and colleagues used data from the PLCO trial to evaluate dietary intake of more than 25 tomato-based foods and found no overall association between lycopene intake and prostate cancer.
Tomato Historical Medical Usage
Based on the volume of consumption per person, tomato is the top source of Vitamin A and C in the western diet. It also contains a significant amount of dietary fiber, beta-carotene, iron, lycopene, magnesium, niacin, potassium, phosphorus, riboflavin and thiamine.
Tomato is low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Unlike most foods, cooking or processing of tomato is beneficial to health because it increases its lycopene content (e.g. tomato paste, catsup, tomato soup, tomato sauce).
The tomato is not acid forming. It contains a great deal of citric acid but is alkaline forming when it enters the bloodstream. It increases the alkalinity of the blood and helps remove toxins, especially uric acid, from the system. As a liver cleanser, tomatoes are wonderful, especially when used with green vegetable juices.
Tomato Health Benefits
- Tomato juice keeps the blood stream alkaline and thus maintains a high resistance to disease. It is very rich in iron and potash salts.
- Tomatoes are very good for dyspepsia, diarrhea and dysentery.
- Being a rich source of vitamin A, it is a dependable preventive against eye troubles.
- Tomato is a nervine tonic. It is very useful in all sorts of nervous disorders.
- As it is a rich source of vitamin C, it is very valuable in scurvy.
- Half-ripe tomatoes are very useful in hot summer months as it prevents sun-stroke or heat-stroke.
- Tomatoes are usually effective in heartburn, flatulence or indigestion.
Tomato Precaution
Lycopene is generally considered safe, non-toxic, and consumption is usually without side effects. Scientific evidence for lycopene use in pregnancy is not available; however, no adverse effects have been reported in association with the consumption of lycopene-containing foods during pregnancy.
In the study on tomatine, data shows that it also inhibited growth of normal liver cells and so a key consideration in the use of tomatine-rich tomatoes for cancer prevention must be to calculate when an effective and therapeutic dose becomes toxic. Though there is little research on the dosage for tomatine intake, it is best to stay on the safe side and not take high quantities of it.
Tomato Juice Recipe
- Wash and cut tomatoes (don’t peel).
- Put in large pan.
- Boil 5 to 10 minutes or until soft.
- Smash and strain.
- Put juice in large pan and boil for 5 minutes.
- Strain again and put in jars, seal.
- Put in hot water bath for 10 minutes.
Tomato Cancer Treatment Recommendation
Tomato juice can be used in convalescent diets in combination with other raw vegetable juices. It can be made from both lycopene-rich red tomatoes and tomatine-rich green tomatoes .
Tomato Products
Tomato Juice
http://bit.ly/gNsX89
Tomato Seeds
http://bit.ly/fB1gn1
Tomato Research and Research Review Links
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s evidence-based review for qualified health claims: tomatoes, lycopene, and cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17623802
Lycopene and chemotherapy toxicity.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20924974
Effect of lycopene on androgen receptor and prostate-specific antigen velocity.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20819671
Lycopene induces cell growth inhibition by altering mevalonate pathway and Ras signaling in cancer cell lines.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20699249
Chemoprevention of prostate cancer with lycopene in the TRAMP model.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20687227
Lycopene.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20394143
Effects of lycopene, synbiotic and their association on early biomarkers of rat colon carcinogenesis.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20026158
Tomatine-containing green tomato extracts inhibit growth of human breast, colon, liver, and stomach cancer cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19514731
Effect of beta-carotene-rich tomato lycopene beta-cyclase ( tlcy-b) on cell growth inhibition in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19105854
Biological activity of lycopene metabolites: implications for cancer prevention.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19019036
Changes in free amino acid, phenolic, chlorophyll, carotenoid, and glycoalkaloid contents in tomatoes during 11 stages of growth and inhibition of cervical and lung human cancer cells by green tomato extracts.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20560602
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