Pairing these two powerhouse foods could be a match not only made in Italy, but in health heaven. Ever since I read about the following study by Dr. Erdman, I've been thinking of ways to get tomatoes when I eat broccoli and visa versa. Here's the study info:

In a recent study led by Dr. Erdman (John W. Erdman, Ph.D., Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana) published in the December 2004 issue of Journal of Nutrition, prostate tumors grew much less in rats that were fed tomato and broccoli powder than in rats who ate diets containing broccoli or tomato powder alone, or diets that contained cancer-fighting substances that had been isolated from tomatoes or broccoli.

In an earlier study, Erdman found that rats fed isolated lycopene (a natural
substance from tomatoes suggested to have prostate cancer fighting abilities) didn't have significant protection from prostate cancer but that rats fed freeze-dried tomato powder (it's easier to feed and contains the full range of nutrients in tomatoes) had much greater prostate cancer survival. Now for broccoli, broccoli is known to contain substances called glucosinolates that break down into compounds that help enzymes flush carcinogens from the body. But just like with lycopene, reseasrch has shown that glucosinolates work better when they are eaten with the other natural substances found in broccoli.

The take-home message: A lycopene supplement may not hurt, but the whole tomato will probably help more. Even better, a tomato eaten with broccoli may help the most. "Separately, these two foods appear to have enormous cancer-fighting potential," says Dr. Erdman. "Together, they bring out the best in each other, and maximize the cancer-fighting effect."

~~Elaine

Related Topics: Top Cancer Fighting Foods, Crunchy Veggies Fight Cancer

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