The Health Benefits of Tomatoes

tomatoesThe tomato originates from Central and South America, with Mexico being the first known cultivators.

The conquistadors took seeds back to Spain, and soon became popular in other European countries.

Strangely enough, it was first grown only for ornamental purposes in Italy for fear that it was poisonous due to the fact that it belongs to the nightshade family. And it was for the same reason that they were not popular in the United States until 1820.

The health benefits of tomatoes include prostate cancer prevention, cholesterol reduction, anti inflammatory, and anti thrombotic.

Health Benefits of Tomatoes

  • Prostate Cancer Prevention
    Epidemiological studies have suggested a potential benefit of the lycopene in tomatoes against the risk of prostate cancer, particularly the more lethal forms of prostate cancer. Several studies support a reduction in prostate cancer risk associated with high tomato or lycopene consumption. Other studies, mostly dietary case-control studies, have not been as supportive of the benefit of lycopene against prostate cancer. The reasons for these inconsistencies are unclear, but in some studies, tomato consumption or serum lycopene level may have been too low to observe an effect. A large prospective dietary study in male health professionals concluded that frequent consumption of tomato products is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer, and intake of tomato sauce was associated with an even greater reduction in prostate cancer risk.

    The results of yet another large prospective study involving 692 prostate cancer cases and 844 randomly selected matched controls suggest that lycopene or tomato based products will not be effective for prostate cancer prevention.
    The reported correlations or associations between the consumption of tomato products and prostate cancer risk should not be interpreted as causal until additional data are available from a variety of studies in different populations. Ideally, randomized controlled intervention studies would provide an ultimate test of the tomato/lycopene prostate cancer hypothesis.

  • Cholesterol Reduction
    In a study conducted to investigate the effects of increased dietary intake of tomato products on plasma lipids and LDL cholesterol, it was concluded that a high dietary intake of tomato products significantly reduced LDL cholesterol levels.
  • Inflammation
    Ferulic acid is a phytochemical found in tomatoes, and is an effective scavenger of free radicals and may protect against various inflammatory diseases.
  • Thrombosis
    Another study has demonstrated that tomatoes might be beneficial in the prevention of arterial thrombotic diseases.
  • Glycemic Index (GI)
    In a study to determine the estimated GI of various foods, it was concluded that canned tomato juice and tomato soup has a low GI of 38.
  • Nutrients
    Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A, C, and K. They a very good source of dietary fiber, chromium, manganese, potassium, and vitamin B1. They are a good source of magnesium, folate, phosphorus, niacin, vitamin E, B6 and B2, copper, pantothenic acid, iron, and protein.

It’s the lycopene, a carotenoid from tomatoes that gives it its alleged anti-cancer properties. Cooking seems to release more lycopene in the process, and as demonstrated in the table below, processed tomatoes can have up to ten times the lycopene content of raw tomatoes. The rupturing of the cell walls exposed to heat allows for effective release of the molecule.
  • Although ketchup consists of cooked tomatoes, it contains one-third sugar.
  • Redder tomatoes have higher lycopene content.
  • Cooked or processed tomatoes have higher lycopene content.
  • Tomato peels are a valuable source of lycopene.
  • Organic ketchup has a higher lycopene content.
Lycopene content of processed tomato products
Product
Lycopene content/100mg
Tomato paste 29.3
Ketchup 17.0
Condensed tomato soup 10.9
Whole tinned tomatoes 9.7
Tomato juice 9.3
Raw tomatoes 3.0

References:
1. The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno.
2. Benders’ Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology.
3. Foods to Fight Cancer by Professor Richard Beliveau and Dr Denis Gingras.
4. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.
5. USDA-NCI Carotenoid Database
6. Etminan M, Takkouche B, Caamaño-Isorna F. The role of tomato products and lycopene in the prevention of prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004 Mar;13(3):340-5. PMID: 15006906.
7. Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Liu Y, Stampfer MJ, Willett WC. A prospective study of tomato products, lycopene, and prostate cancer risk. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Mar 6;94(5):391-8. PMID: 11880478.
8. Silaste ML, Alfthan G, Aro A, Kesäniemi YA, Hörkkö S. Tomato juice decreases LDL cholesterol levels and increases LDL resistance to oxidation. Br J Nutr. 2007 Dec;98(6):1251-8. Epub 2007 Jul 9. PMID: 17617941.
9. Srinivasan M, Sudheer AR, Menon VP. Ferulic Acid: therapeutic potential through its antioxidant property. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2007 Mar;40(2):92-100. PMID: 18188410.
10. Yamamoto J, Taka T, Yamada K, Ijiri Y, Murakami M, Hirata Y, Naemura A, Hashimoto M, Yamashita T, Oiwa K, Seki J, Suganuma H, Inakuma T, Yoshida T. Tomatoes have natural anti-thrombotic effects. Br J Nutr. 2003 Dec;90(6):1031-8. PMID: 14641962.
11. Miller EC, Giovannucci E, Erdman JW Jr, Bahnson R, Schwartz SJ, Clinton SK. Tomato products, lycopene, and prostate cancer risk. Urol Clin North Am. 2002 Feb;29(1):83-93. PMID: 12109359.
12. Giovannucci E. A review of epidemiologic studies of tomatoes, lycopene, and prostate cancer. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2002 Nov;227(10):852-9. PMID: 12424325.
13. Peters U, Leitzmann MF, Chatterjee N, Wang Y, Albanes D, Gelmann EP, Friesen MD, Riboli E, Hayes RB. Serum lycopene, other carotenoids, and prostate cancer risk: a nested case-control study in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 May;16(5):962-8. PMID: 17507623.
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