Tweet
Copy 'n Paste - this is from a newsletter I receive.
What every man should know about De Niro, tomatoes and their
prostate...
Robert De Niro is one of my favorite actors. He also stars in two
of my favorite films — Heat and Ronin (which, with due respect to
Bullitt and The French Connection, has the best car chase in
cinema history).
So, it came as a shock to me when I heard that De Niro had been
diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The causes of prostate cancer are not well understood. It's very
difficult to explain why one man gets prostate cancer and another
doesn't. Other than skin cancer, it's the most common type of
cancer in men in the United States.
Of all the men who are diagnosed with cancer each year, more than
one-fourth have prostate cancer. In the United States, prostate
cancer is found mainly in men over age 55. The average age of
patients at the time of diagnosis is 70.
The prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut. It's located
just below the bladder. The first sign of prostate cancer is
usually problems passing water — usually an increased frequency
or difficulty maintaining a full stream.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that there's an exciting body of evidence to
show that several components of the humble tomato act together to
help fight prostate cancer. It had been thought just one
chemical, lycopene (pronounced lie-co-peen) was responsible. But
researchers at the Universities of Illinois and Ohio State found
lycopene's effect is boosted by other chemicals in the fruit.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, suggests lycopene-only dietary supplements have a
limited effect.
"It has been unclear whether lycopene itself is protective," says
researcher Professor John Erdman. "This study suggests that
lycopene is one factor involved in reducing the risk of prostate
cancer. But it also suggests that taking lycopene as a dietary
supplement is not as effective as eating whole tomatoes."
Lycopene, the substance that makes tomatoes red, is effective at
mopping up particles called free radicals, which can damage the
body's tissues.
Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron. Although
they've been implicated in many diseases, free radicals are a
normal part of your body chemistry, and can help to keep you
healthy. White blood cells, for example, use free radicals to
"attack" viruses and bacteria.
Optimal health, however, requires a balance between free radical
generation and antioxidant protection. One of the functions of an
antioxidant is to "quench" these free radicals before they create
too much damage.
Slice an apple in half, and watch it turn brown. That's an
example of free radical damage. Dip the apple in lemon juice, and
the rate at which it turns brown is slowed. That's because the
vitamin C in the lemon juice slows the rate of oxidative damage.
The researchers exposed laboratory rats to a chemical that causes
prostate cancer, and then fed them on diets containing whole
tomato powder, pure lycopene or no lycopene at all.
Rats fed tomato powder had a lower risk of dying from their
cancer than rats who ate no lycopene. But the rats fed lycopene
had a risk similar to control rats.
By the end of the study, prostate cancer had killed 8 out of 10
of the control group, 7 out of 10 of the lycopene-fed rats and 6
out of 10 of the rats fed tomato powder.
The researchers also found that restricting the amount of food
given to the rats cut their risk of developing prostate cancer,
regardless of which diet they were on.
Research by a separate group confirms the beneficial effect of
whole tomatoes. Phyllis Bowen, associate professor of human
nutrition, together with colleagues from the University of
Illinois at Chicago, studied a group of 32 prostate cancer
patients who consumed one tomato sauce-based pasta dish daily for
three weeks.
Free radical damage and prostate specific antigen levels, or PSA
(an enzyme that some consider an important marker for the
diagnosis of prostate cancer), were measured before and after the
pasta regimen. Previous studies suggest that human prostate
tissue is particularly vulnerable to free radical damage. This
can lead to the formation of malignant tumors.
A high level of lycopene was present in the prostate tissues
after the study. Free radical damage was reduced by 28%, while
prostate specific antigen levels dropped by 17.5%.
You might see lycopene referred to as a phytochemical. The term
"phyto" (pronounced fight-o) comes from the Greek word meaning
plant. You'll see the terms "phytochemical" and "phytonutrient"
used interchangeably. They both mean essentially the same thing.
Of all the phytonutrients, we probably know the most about
carotenoids (pronounced ka-rot-en-oids). They make tomatoes red,
carrots orange and corn yellow. The work of Dr Rui Hai Liu,
assistant professor of food science at Cornell University, shows
that heating certain foods increases the availability of some
phytonutrients.
This contrasts with the conventional wisdom suggesting that
cooking vegetables reduces their nutritional value. Cooking
tomatoes actually triggers a rise in total antioxidant activity,
mainly due to an increase in lycopene.
Tomatoes, of course, are not a "magic bullet", and don't
represent a simple solution to what is clearly a complex problem.
But a diet that includes cooked tomatoes does appear to be an
important nutritional "weapon" in the fight against prostate
cancer.
What every man should know about De Niro, tomatoes and their
prostate...
Robert De Niro is one of my favorite actors. He also stars in two
of my favorite films — Heat and Ronin (which, with due respect to
Bullitt and The French Connection, has the best car chase in
cinema history).
So, it came as a shock to me when I heard that De Niro had been
diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The causes of prostate cancer are not well understood. It's very
difficult to explain why one man gets prostate cancer and another
doesn't. Other than skin cancer, it's the most common type of
cancer in men in the United States.
Of all the men who are diagnosed with cancer each year, more than
one-fourth have prostate cancer. In the United States, prostate
cancer is found mainly in men over age 55. The average age of
patients at the time of diagnosis is 70.
The prostate is a gland about the size of a walnut. It's located
just below the bladder. The first sign of prostate cancer is
usually problems passing water — usually an increased frequency
or difficulty maintaining a full stream.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that there's an exciting body of evidence to
show that several components of the humble tomato act together to
help fight prostate cancer. It had been thought just one
chemical, lycopene (pronounced lie-co-peen) was responsible. But
researchers at the Universities of Illinois and Ohio State found
lycopene's effect is boosted by other chemicals in the fruit.
The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, suggests lycopene-only dietary supplements have a
limited effect.
"It has been unclear whether lycopene itself is protective," says
researcher Professor John Erdman. "This study suggests that
lycopene is one factor involved in reducing the risk of prostate
cancer. But it also suggests that taking lycopene as a dietary
supplement is not as effective as eating whole tomatoes."
Lycopene, the substance that makes tomatoes red, is effective at
mopping up particles called free radicals, which can damage the
body's tissues.
Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron. Although
they've been implicated in many diseases, free radicals are a
normal part of your body chemistry, and can help to keep you
healthy. White blood cells, for example, use free radicals to
"attack" viruses and bacteria.
Optimal health, however, requires a balance between free radical
generation and antioxidant protection. One of the functions of an
antioxidant is to "quench" these free radicals before they create
too much damage.
Slice an apple in half, and watch it turn brown. That's an
example of free radical damage. Dip the apple in lemon juice, and
the rate at which it turns brown is slowed. That's because the
vitamin C in the lemon juice slows the rate of oxidative damage.
The researchers exposed laboratory rats to a chemical that causes
prostate cancer, and then fed them on diets containing whole
tomato powder, pure lycopene or no lycopene at all.
Rats fed tomato powder had a lower risk of dying from their
cancer than rats who ate no lycopene. But the rats fed lycopene
had a risk similar to control rats.
By the end of the study, prostate cancer had killed 8 out of 10
of the control group, 7 out of 10 of the lycopene-fed rats and 6
out of 10 of the rats fed tomato powder.
The researchers also found that restricting the amount of food
given to the rats cut their risk of developing prostate cancer,
regardless of which diet they were on.
Research by a separate group confirms the beneficial effect of
whole tomatoes. Phyllis Bowen, associate professor of human
nutrition, together with colleagues from the University of
Illinois at Chicago, studied a group of 32 prostate cancer
patients who consumed one tomato sauce-based pasta dish daily for
three weeks.
Free radical damage and prostate specific antigen levels, or PSA
(an enzyme that some consider an important marker for the
diagnosis of prostate cancer), were measured before and after the
pasta regimen. Previous studies suggest that human prostate
tissue is particularly vulnerable to free radical damage. This
can lead to the formation of malignant tumors.
A high level of lycopene was present in the prostate tissues
after the study. Free radical damage was reduced by 28%, while
prostate specific antigen levels dropped by 17.5%.
You might see lycopene referred to as a phytochemical. The term
"phyto" (pronounced fight-o) comes from the Greek word meaning
plant. You'll see the terms "phytochemical" and "phytonutrient"
used interchangeably. They both mean essentially the same thing.
Of all the phytonutrients, we probably know the most about
carotenoids (pronounced ka-rot-en-oids). They make tomatoes red,
carrots orange and corn yellow. The work of Dr Rui Hai Liu,
assistant professor of food science at Cornell University, shows
that heating certain foods increases the availability of some
phytonutrients.
This contrasts with the conventional wisdom suggesting that
cooking vegetables reduces their nutritional value. Cooking
tomatoes actually triggers a rise in total antioxidant activity,
mainly due to an increase in lycopene.
Tomatoes, of course, are not a "magic bullet", and don't
represent a simple solution to what is clearly a complex problem.
But a diet that includes cooked tomatoes does appear to be an
important nutritional "weapon" in the fight against prostate
cancer.
Comment