(Ivanhoe Newswire) – New research suggests preventing prostate cancer may
not only be linked to what you eat, but the form of your food.
In a recent study reported in the journal of the American Association for Cancer
Research, scientists studied different tomato products. “Processing of many
edible plants through heating, grinding, mixing or drying dramatically increases
their nutrition value, including their cancer prevention potential. It appears
that the greatest protective effect from tomatoes comes by rehydrating tomato
powder into tomato paste,” Valeri V. Mossine, Ph.D., research assistant
professor of biochemistry at the University of Missouri, was quoted as saying.
Research shows FruHis, an organic carbohydrate present in dehydrated tomato
products, exerts a strong protective effect against prostate cancer. Rats fed
rehydrated tomato paste with added FruHis had the longest survival rate of
cancer at 51 weeks, whereas those in the control group survived 40 weeks. On
post-mortem exam, prostate tumors were found in 10 percent of rats fed the
combination of tomato paste and FruHis, and in 60 percent of control group rats.
Previous research has revealed the cancer-preventing power of lycopene, a
carotenoid present in tomatoes and tomato products. This study revealed that
lycopene, combined with FruHis, stopped cancerous cell growth more than 98
percent of the time.
“FruHis may represent a novel type of potential dietary antioxidant,” Dr.
Mossine said. “Experiments like these suggest that a combination of FruHis and
lycopene should be investigated as a potential therapeutic anti-tumor agent, not
just a prevention strategy.”
SOURCE: Cancer Research, 2008;68
