Washington DC: If you like to eat tomatoes, then here is another reason to have one more as a study has recently found that people, especially men, who consume tomatoes daily can reduce the development of skin cancer tumors in half.
In a mouse study, the researchers explained how nutritional interventions can alter the risk of skin cancer.
The findings suggested that male mice fed a 10 percent diet of tomato powder daily for 35 weeks, then exposed to ultraviolet light, experienced, on average, a 50 percent decrease in skin cancer tumors in Compared to mice that did not eat dehydrated tomato.
“The theory behind the relationship between tomatoes and cancer is that dietary carotenoids, the pigment compounds that give tomatoes their color, can protect the skin from damage by ultraviolet light,” said study co-author Jessica Cooperstone of Ohio State University in Columbus, USA
Cooperstone further noted that “previous human clinical trials suggest that eating tomato paste over time can cushion sunburn, perhaps thanks to carotenoids from plants that are deposited on the skin of humans after eating, and can Be able to protect against UV light damage. ”
Lycopene, the primary carotenoid in tomatoes, has proven to be the most effective antioxidant of these pigments.
However, when comparing lycopene administered from a whole food (tomato) or a synthesized supplement, tomatoes appear to be most effective in preventing redness after exposure to UV rays, suggesting that other compounds in tomatoes may also Be at stake
The team found that only male mice fed dehydrated red tomatoes had reductions in tumor growth.
Those fed mandarin tomatoes, which have been shown to be higher in bioavailable lycopene in previous research, had fewer tumors than the control group.
Cooperstone is currently investigating tomato compounds other than lycopene that can provide health benefits.
“Alternative methods for systemic protection, possibly through nutritional interventions to modulate the risk of skin-related diseases, could provide significant benefit,” Cooperstone said.
“Food is not drug, but it can, throughout the life of consumption, alter the development of certain diseases,” he said.
The study appears online in the journal Scientific Reports.
