> ShrinkingProstateCancer
> A new University of Illinois study shows that tomatoes and broccoli -
> two vegetables known for theircancer-fighting qualities - are better
> at shrinkingprostatetumors 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-cancerpathways," said University of
> Illinois food science and human nutrition professor John Erdman.

> In a study published in the January 15 issue ofCancerResearch, 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 withprostatecancercells. 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 effectivecancer-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 shrinkingprostatetumors. 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-growingprostatecancerwho 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 aboutprostatehealth 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 thecancer-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. "Mostprostatecanceris hormone-sensitive, and reducing testosterone levels
> may be another way that eating tomatoes reducesprostatecancer
> 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 thecancer-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 ofprostatecancer. 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 forprostatecancer," said Erdman.