Tomato Juice Treating Breast Cancer

Tomato juice is good for women, especially breast cancer prevention. In fact, one glass of tomato juice every day can produce hormones which are supposed to prevent diseases that cause the death of the number two in the world, after cardiovascular disease, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010.

US researchers said, "The advantage of increasing the intake of tomatoes and tomato-based products, even in a short period, is clearly evident in our findings," according to the Daily Mail, Wednesday (18/12).

According to them, women can easily get a lot of benefits from the consumption of tomatoes. Call it, every day sipping a glass of tomato juice containing lycopene, a compound believed to be behind the huge benefits. Lycopene which gives a festive red color in tomatoes believed to stop prostate cancer.

If you are reluctant to drink tomato juice, you can also enjoy a bowl of tomato soup, add tomato sauce pasta fitting, and put one tablespoon of tomato sauce on the food.

Researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA, to measure hormone levels of 70 women aged 55 years and over before and after adding the tomato intake in their daily diet for 10 weeks. All participants were overweight or have relatives with breast cancer, which makes them a high risk of developing the disease who are sixth leading cause of death in Indonesia, according to data from the Health Research 2007.

The content of lycopene found in a glass of tomato juice every day increases adiponectin hormone levels to 0 percent, according to the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Active adiponectin in regulating the levels of fat and obesity are known to increase the risk of breast cancer. This hormone levels rose sharply in the thinner-bodied women.

"These findings show the importance of preventing obesity," says researcher Adana Llanos. "Eating foods rich in tomatoes have a major impact on hormone levels in women who maintain a healthy weight."

Previous studies showed that lycopene also against breast cancer by stopping the growth and spread of breast cancer.

Tomatoes are the best source of lycopene, but similar material with smaller amounts can be found in guava, watermelon, apricots, papaya, and pomelo.

Even so, the British breast cancer experts see weakness of this study. That is, according to him, women do not need to rush to buy tomatoes.

Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK Centre adds, "our food consists of a variety of foods and nutrients that much effect on cancer risk, which is often combined with another."

According Ebo, eat only one specific food does not seem to have a major impact to prevent cancer itself.

Therefore, "do not need to start stock up tomatoes, women can reduce breast cancer risk by maintaining healthy weight, reducing alcohol, and physical activity."