Phytochemicals: Beta Carotene and Lycopene

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Phytochemicals: Beta Carotene and Lycopene

JoAnn Guest

Jun 19, 2004 21:07 PDT

 

 

Pay attention to the lowly tomato. It may seem too mundane to bother

with as an anti cancer drug, but new research finds the tomato prominent

in the diets of people less prone to cancer. There’s no mystery about

the tomato’s potential anti-cancer weapon. It’s lycopene, a pigment that

gives the tomatoes their red color.

 

New research by Dr. Helmut Sies of Germany has found that lycopene is

twice as powerful as beta carotene at “quenching singlet oxygen” a

rampaging toxic oxygen molecule that can trigger cancer in cells.

 

Lycopene, an increasingly prominent *carotenoid* found in tomatoes and

watermelon

is being investigated for its ability to prevent cancer.

A study conducted at Harvard and published in the Journal of the

National Cancer Institute in 1993 with a follow-up in 1999 sent waves

throughoutthe research community.

 

Edward Giovannucci and colleagues found that those who ate 10 or more

servings a week of tomatoes (tomato juice, tomato sauce) had a 35% lower

risk of cancer than those who ate one-fifth that amount.

 

The most widely eaten highly concentrated sources of Lycopene is

tomatoes, although watermelon is richer in lycopene on a weight basis.

Tomatoes have 3.1 grains of lycopene per 100 grams.

Watermelon has 4.1 grams. Lycopene is the stuff that gives them their

red color.

Small amounts are also present in apricots although lycopene is not

responsible for the color of red berries.

Lycopene is found in (tomato products, red peppers, pink grapefruit,

watermelon, and guava).

 

Lycopene is an antioxidant and anti-cancer agent that intervenes in

devastating chain reactions of oxygen free radical molecules. Tomatoes

are linked in particular to lower rates

of pancreatic cancer, prostate and cervical cancer. Its benefit seems to

be in interrupting the ability of blood vessel formation (metastasis) in

cancer cells and tumours. Genistein is found in non-gmo soya beans and

again is thought to be beneficial in a similar way to lycopene.

 

Lycopene

 

47,894 health care workers were carefully followed during a four- year

study.

None had prostate cancer at the beginning of the study but 773 had

developed prostate cancer by the finish. Men who ate 10 servings a week

of tomatoes or tomato sauce had 45 percent less cancer of the prostate

than those eating no tomatoes.

This study confirms previous studies of Mediterranean people, which

shows that they have one of the lowest rates of cancer in the world.

 

 

A patient with an androgen-resistant (not responding to

anti-testosterone therapies) prostate cancer at Wake Forest School of

Medicine was treated with only 10 mg. daily of lycopene and 300 mg. of

saw palmetto 3 times daily.

In 2 months his bone metastases were improved and his PSA had fallen

from 365 to 8.1 ng/ml. Saw palmetto does not lower PSA.

This small amount of lycopene could be obtained from daily consumption

of 1½ cups of watermelon or 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce.

 

 

Organic Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that attacks roaming

oxygen molecules, known as free radicals, that are suspected of

triggering cancer.

It appears that the hotter the weather, the more lycopene tomatoes

produce. They also have vitamin C, an antioxidant which can prevent

cellular damage that leads to cancer.

It is wise however to obtain organic tomatoes. Traditionally, tomatoes

are grown from genetically engineered seeds created by Monsanto. This

includes Romas as well, which are known to be less acidic.

 

 

An increased intake of lycopene has already been linked to a reduced

risk of breast, prostate, pancreas, skin and colorectal cancer.

Scientists in Israel have shown that lycopene can kill mouth cancer

cells.

 

(Note: Recent studies indicate that for proper absorption, the body

needs some cold pressed oil (omega 3, omega 9, i.e. in olive oil) along

with the lycopene.)

 

The most widely eaten highly concentrated sources of Lycopene is

tomatoes, although watermelon is richer in lycopene on a weight basis.

Tomatoes have 3.1 grains of lycopene per 100 grams.

Watermelon has 4.1 grams.

Lycopene is the stuff that gives them their red color. Small amounts are

also prseent in apricots. Lycopene is not responsible for the color of

red berries.

 

Note: Lycopene is not destroyed by cooking or canning. Stewed tomatoes

have just as much lycopene as raw ones USDA tests show.

 

Eating lycopene in tomatoes and other fruit appears to prevent

precancerous signs of cervical cancer, namely an inflammation called CIN

(cervical intraepithelial neoplasia). Researchers at the University of

Illinois at Chicago found that women with the highes blood levels of

lycopene had a five times lower risk of developing the precancerous

condition than those who had the lowest blood levels of lycopene.

 

 

Cancer-preventing diets center around vegetables and fruits. According

to nutritionists Laura Pensiero and Susan Oliveria in The Strang

Cookbook for Cancer Prevention, More than 200 studies have shown that

people who consume a diet high in organic fruits and vegetables reduce

their risk for cancer, specifically, cancer of the esophagus, stomach,

mouth, lung, bladder, colon, rectum, larynx and cervix.

 

The evidence is strong. Professor Block notes that there are hundreds of

different components in plants and we evolved on them.

 

All of our biochemistry is based on a diet that's plant-based.

Many studies focus on specific phytochemicals (phyto means

plant) found in fruits, vegetables, teas and other plant matter.

 

Some phytochemicals have been shown to counteract or prevent cell

mutation.

Some augment the body's natural defense system. And some attack tumors,

blocking their blood supply or reducing their size.

 

In most cases, trying to isolate the specific phytochemicals in a

vitamin or pill form has not been proven to be as effective as simply

ingesting these potent nutrients in their natural forms:

fresh, unprocessed foods.

 

Many phytochemicals are not heat-sensitive.

In fact, cooking makes some more readily available to the body.

This is particularly true with the lycopene in tomatoes and the

beta-carotene in carrots.

 

However, you should make it a point to buy organic produce as often as

you can as tomatoes have undergone genetic engineering, a process by

which foreign genes are inserted into each specific fruit or vegetable.

If you're trying to clear your system of toxic substances from the

environment, don't reintroduce them by eating plants that are

genetically altered and nutritionally devoid from contact with

pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers.

 

Eating lots of carotenoids has been linked to a decrease in cancer risk.

 

The most famous carotenoid is beta-carotene, but over 600 others have

been identified. Carotenoids are found in brightly colored foods,

imparting red and gold colors to fruits and vegetables. But they are

also found in dark green plants, where the chlorophyll covers the

carotenoid's color. To increase your carotenoid intake, look for fruits

such as cantaloupe, mango, papaya and peaches;

root vegetables such as beets and carrots; squashes; and lettuces and

greens of all kinds.

 

 

Raw organic wheat germ (vitamin E works synergisticially with lycopene)

 

Yellow orange vegetables -- Eating foods high in beta- carotene has been

linked in many studies to lower rates of cancer.

Tip: Baby carrots beta-carotene is more absorbable then regular carrots

and carrots beta-carotene is 500% more absorbable.

 

 

Nelda Mercer, an Ann Arbor, Michigan private-practice dietitian who

formerly served as director of community nutrition at the University of

Michigan Medical Center, observes that in at least a few cases, such as

lycopene, minimal cooking actually makes the vegetables better for you.

 

Beto, Mercer, and other nutrition experts say that there's certainly no

harm in upping your intake of raw fruits and vegetables -- especially if

what they replace is nutrition-deficient junk food -- simply for the

clearly established health benefits of eating more fruits and

vegetables,

less meat, and less processed fats.

 

Unfortunately though, you will not experience the same benefit from a

transfat-laden pizza as you will from unprocessed organic fruits.

 

Clearly hydrogenated oils (transfats) promote abnormal cell growth and

alter cellular DNA. Free radical formation is largely prevented in whole

foods, as natural antixodants, which are present in these foods, prevent

their formation. A natural balance exists between antioxidants such as

the fat-soluble vitamins A and E and the quantity of polyunsaturated

fats that are present in whole foods.

 

An imbalance between polyunsaturates and antioxidants will result in a

rise in free radical formation with concomitant harmful results such as

an increase in the rate of the aging process, inflammation,

carcinogenesis, liver disorders and arteriosclerosis.

 

Organic unrefined foods and sauces provide the most benefit in these

areas.

Also, regardless of what you're being told, ketchup is certainly not the

best source of lycopene. Commerically processed ketchup contains many

refined sugars and copious amounts of high fructose corn syrup. High

fructose corn syrup is derived from genetically altered corn. If the

source of refined sugar is sugar beet, it comes from a genetically

altered source as well.

 

There are other more healthy ways to ingest lycopene. Organic ketchups,

sauces and salsas are widely available through your natural foods market

or health food store. Whenever you eat organic salsa, a combination of

tomato and red peppers, you receive multiple benefits.

 

Vitamins, minerals, non-vitamin factors like lutein and lycopene, and

amino acids are essential for life. A wide-spectrum antioxidant supplies

vitamin E as natural tocopherols plus tocotrienols, natural carotenoids

(alpha, beta, and gamma-carotene, lutein, lycopene and astaxanthin).

 

It’s not at all what we’re being told. Its the other way around.

Drugs “interfere” with *essential* nutrients.

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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