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A report published the January 15, 2007 issue of the journal Cancer
Research concluded that a diet enhanced with tomato and broccoli powder
was better than one containing either nutrient alone at shrinking prostate
tumors in rats.
Food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman and colleagues at the
University of Illinois and Ohio State University conducted the current research
on rats with implanted prostate cancer tumors. The animals were divided to
receive diets containing 10 percent broccoli powder, 10 percent tomato powder,
or both. Other rats received lycopene (the red pigment in tomatoes and other red
fruits) or finasteride (a drug used to treat prostate enlargement), or were
surgically castrated.
After 22 weeks of treatment, rats who received the combination of broccoli
and tomato powder experienced greater shrinkage of their tumors as determined by
tumor weight than animals in any other group. Biopsies confirmed the reduction
in proliferation in this group compared to the others, with the exception of the
castrated rats whose tumor shrinkage approached that of the broccoli-tomato
group.
"As nutritionists, it was very exciting to compare this drastic surgery to
diet and see that tumor reduction was similar," stated research team member and
report coauthor Kirstie Canene-Adams. "Older men with slow-growing prostate
cancer who have chosen watchful waiting over chemotherapy and radiation should
seriously consider altering their diets to include more tomatoes and
broccoli."
"When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect, Dr
Erdman explained. "We think it's because different bioactive compounds in each
food work on different anticancer pathways."
"To get these effects, men should consume daily 1.4 cups of raw broccoli and
2.5 cups of fresh tomato, or 1 cup of tomato sauce, or ½ cup of tomato paste,"
Canene-Adams suggested.
Other research conducted at the University of Illinois by Dr Erdman's
colleague Elizabeth Jeffrey discovered that sulfur compounds in broccoli enhance
enzymes in the body that degrade cancer-causing substances. "For ten years, I've
been learning how the phytochemicals in tomatoes affect the progression of
prostate cancer," Dr Erdman stated. "Meanwhile Dr Jeffery has been investigating
the ways in which the healthful effects of broccoli are produced. Teaming up to
see how these vegetables worked together just made sense and certainly
contributes to our knowledge about dietary treatments for prostate cancer." |
