In the fight against cancer people have amazing tool – it`s a food we eat. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, from 30% to 50% of cases of oncology can be prevented in case if we pay attention to the prophylaxis. Some substances contained in food may help with this.

Tomato is a vegetable of great scientific interest for the savants. That is because of the high content of lycopene – a substance that stains tomatoes (and other vegetables) in red. In a recent study posted to the Cancer Prevention Research journal, Wang’s Nutrition and Cancer Biology laboratory studied the cancer-preventive (cancer-preventing) effects of tomatoes. Scientists infected newborn mice with a liver carcinogen and began to feed them with meal that contains a lot of fat. The diet was like a “western”. They also gave tomato powder to the rodents. A comparable amount for a human is two to three tomatoes per day or one portion of tomato sauce to the pasta.

What did the study find?

It was demonstrated for the first time that lycopene-rich tomato powder effectively reduces the risk of liver obesity, inflammation, and liver cancer, which is promoted by a high-fat diet. Tomatoes increased the variety of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal microflora and, on the contrary, reduced the growth of some bacteria associated with the inflammatory process, said the lead author of the study.

It`s interesting that tomato powder was more effective than lycopene alone. This may be due to the potentially beneficial effects of other whole tomato nutrients, such as vitamins C and E, folic acid, minerals, phenolic compounds and dietary fiber.

What do we know about lycopene?

The richest source of lycopene is tomatoes. Other products – guava, watermelon, grapefruit, papaya and sweet red pepper – also contain lycopene, but at a much lower concentration compared to tomatoes.

Cooking tomatoes with addition of a little olive oil will help improve the absorption of lycopene.

Eating tomatoes and tomato products, such as tomato sauce or juice, is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, and certain cancers, including cancer of the prostate, lung, breast, and colon. Lots of laboratory studies have shown that lycopene is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agent.