Soy, Tomato Foods Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

Soy and tomato food combo may be effective in preventing prostate cancer than when either of them is eaten alone, says study.

John Erdman a University of Illinois professor of food science and nutrition, said that for their study they used mice that were genetically engineered to develop an aggressive form of prostate cancer

Health Benefits of Soybean - Uses - Health Implications - Reference
Soyabean is the richest plant source of protein containing 43 percent protein. Soy protein is also of the highest quality amongst all legumes.

He said that even so, half the animals that consumed tomato and soy had no cancerous lesions in the prostate at study's end.

However, all the mice in the control group-no soy, no tomato-developed the disease, he said.

From the time the mice were 4 to 18 weeks old, the animals were fed one of four diets, (1) 10 percent whole tomato powder; (2) 2 percent soy germ; (3) tomato powder plus soy germ; and (4) a control group that ate neither tomato nor soy.

Health Benefits of Tomato
Tomatoes are a rich source of potassium and vitamins. Tomatoes are used in the manufacture of skin care products. They have a whole lot of health benefits and one prominent benefit is its role in reducing prostate cancer risk.

Erdman said that the 4- to 18-week time frame modelled an early and lifelong exposure to the bioactive components in these foods.

He said that eating tomato, soy, and the combination all significantly reduced prostate cancer incidence. But the combination gave us the best results.

Quiz on Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is fast gaining as a common cancer form among men; more threatening since its symptoms often go unnoticed until it’s too late. This quiz tests your knowledge on prostate cancer, its diagnosis and treatment options and is as mandatory for men as the screening tests mentioned here are!

Erdman asserted that only 45 percent of mice fed both foods developed the disease compared to 61 percent in the tomato group, and 66 percent in the soy group.

Erdman noted that soy isoflavone serum and prostate levels in the mice are similar to those found in Asian men who consume one to two servings of soy daily. In countries where soy is eaten regularly, prostate cancer occurs at significantly lower levels.

Prostate Cancer
Interactive section of Medindia gives details regarding Prostate Cancer

Krystle Zuniga, co-author of the paper, said that the results of the mouse study suggests that three to four servings of tomato products per week and one to two servings of soy foods daily could protect against prostate cancer.

Erdman said that it's better to eat a whole tomato than to take a lycopene supplement and it's better to drink soy milk than to take soy isoflavones.

He said that when people eat whole foods, they expose themselves to the entire array of cancer-fighting, bioactive components in these foods.

He added that of the isoflavones, genistein gets most of the attention. But soy germ is very high in the other isoflavones, daidzein and glycitein, and low in genistein.

Source-ANI