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A couple of glasses of tomato juice twice a day might slow the growth of prostate and breast cancer tumors, according to Dr. Venket Rao, who presented research at the Nutrition Food and Health Research Centre in Kings College, London, on Monday.
Tomatoes have been found to help prevent cancer because they contain high levels of lycopene -- the carotenoid that puts the red in the tomato -- which is a powerful antioxidant. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene it contains.
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Rao, a professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto, found that breast and prostate cancer sufferers had low levels of lycopene. When he gave them tomato juice, their levels shot up.
He believes lycopene could be the "master switch" to cancer and coronary heart disease and by giving excessive lycopene, doctors might be able to control the switch, the Electronic Telegraph reports.
Professor Gordon McVie of the Cancer Research Campaign, who last year advised people to make one of their five daily portions of fruit and vegetables a tomato, said he thinks Rao may be on to something.
Cancer lumps can consume nutrients, he says. "You can eat what you like, but the cancer gets it. Dr. Rao has shown that you can overcome that by [raising] lycopene levels."
Other HealthScout stories reported that whey and soy protein fight breast cancer and cabbage fights prostate cancer.
-- Priscilla Tucker
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