Worried about prostate cancer? Tomato-broccoli combo shown to be
effective

Shrinking Prostate Cancer
A new University of Illinois study shows that tomatoes and broccoli -
two vegetables known for their cancer-fighting qualities - are better
at shrinking prostate tumors when both are part of the daily diet than
when they're eaten alone.

"When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive
effect. We think it's because different bioactive compounds in each
food work on different anti-cancer pathways," said University of
Illinois food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman.

In a study published in the January 15 issue of Cancer Research, Erdman
and doctoral candidate Kirstie Canene-Adams fed a diet containing 10
percent tomato powder and 10 percent broccoli powder to laboratory rats
that had been implanted with prostate cancer cells. The powders were
made from whole foods so the effects of eating the entire vegetable
could be compared with consuming individual parts of them as a
nutritional supplement.

Other rats in the study received either tomato or broccoli powder
alone; or a supplemental dose of lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes
thought to be the effective cancer-preventive agent in tomatoes; or
finasteride, a drug prescribed for men with enlarged prostates. Another
group of rats was castrated.

After 22 weeks, the tumors were weighed. The tomato/broccoli combo
outperformed all other diets in shrinking prostate tumors. Biopsies of
tumors were evaluated at The Ohio State University, confirming that
tumor cells in the tomato/broccoli-fed rats were not proliferating as
rapidly. The only treatment that approached the tomato/broccoli diet's
level of effectiveness was castration, said Erdman.

"As nutritionists, it was very exciting to compare this drastic surgery
to diet and see that tumor reduction was similar. 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," said Canene-Adams.

How much tomato and broccoli should a 55-year-old man concerned about
prostate health eat in order to receive these benefits? The scientists
did some conversions.

"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 Ѕ
cup of tomato paste. I think it's very doable for a man to eat a cup
and a half of broccoli per day or put broccoli on a pizza with Ѕ cup
of tomato paste," said Canene-Adams.

Erdman said the study showed that eating whole foods is better than
consuming their components. "It's better to eat tomatoes than to take a
lycopene supplement," he said. "And cooked tomatoes may be better than
raw tomatoes. Chopping and heating make the cancer-fighting
constituents of tomatoes and broccoli more bioavailable."

"When tomatoes are cooked, for example, the water is removed and the
healthful parts become more concentrated. That doesn't mean you should
stay away from fresh produce. The lesson here, I think, is to eat a
variety of fruits and vegetables prepared in a variety of ways,"
Canene-Adams added.

Another recent Erdman study shows that rats fed the tomato carotenoids
phytofluene, lycopene, or a diet containing 10 percent tomato powder
for four days had significantly reduced testosterone levels. "Most
prostate cancer is hormone-sensitive, and reducing testosterone levels
may be another way that eating tomatoes reduces prostate cancer
growth," Erdman said.

Erdman said the tomato/broccoli study was a natural to be carried out
at Illinois because of the pioneering work his colleague Elizabeth
Jeffery has done on the cancer-fighting agents found in broccoli and
other cruciferous vegetables. Jeffery has discovered sulfur compounds
in broccoli that enhance certain enzymes in the human body, which then
act to degrade carcinogens.

"For ten years, I've been learning how the phytochemicals in tomatoes
affect the progression of prostate cancer. 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," said Erdman.