Eating broccoli with tomatoes protects from cancer much more than eating
them separately
16 Jul 2004
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Cancer researchers say we should eat foods together rather than on
their own if we want better protection from cancer. Rather than eating
your broccoli and tomatoes separately, you should eat them together.
Mixed up compounds offer better protection, according to studies
carried out on rats. Supplements will not work on their own to prevent
cancer.
The study was carried out at the University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.
Study leader, John Erdman, said "We decided to look at these foods in
combination because we believed it was a way to learn more about real
diets eaten by real people. Of course, it's important to analyze how
specific food components influence our health, but such findings
provide only the tools for further study. They should open the debate,
not close it down,"
Tomatoes are thought to protect against prostate cancer because they
contain lycopene. However, the scientists found that lycopene on its
own offered much less protection (in rats).
In this study the rats were given powdered tomato and/or dried
broccoli. Some of the rats got a combination while others just got one
or the other. Some of the rats also got finasteride. They were all
injected with human prostate tumors.
The rats that were given both the tomato and broccoli combined had the
smallest tumours. The ones to fare the worst were the ones that just
got the finasteride.
Erdman said "Separately, these two foods appear to have enormous
cancer-fighting potential. Together, they bring out the best in each
other and maximize the cancer-fighting effect.
