Natural Breakthrough DESTROYS Cancer Cells
Dear Reader,
It’s something I look forward to every summer: Dinners of grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and plump, juicy tomatoes straight from the garden.
But as much as I love the taste of a perfectly vine-ripened tomato, there’s something I like about them even more: they help prevent some of the most common types of cancer.
And according to a study published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology, we can add another benefit to the list:
Tomatoes can prevent—and maybe even help treat—stomach cancer.
When the researchers treated gastric cancer cell lines with whole tomato extracts, three key things happened: they stopped the growth of cancer cells, they prevented them from being able to spread, and they led to cancer cell death (apoptosis).
Talk about a triple threat!
Other studies have shown the health benefits of compounds found in tomatoes. But what makes this study unique is that these anti-tumor effects did not occur as a result of the individual components in tomatoes (such as lycopene), but from the whole tomato.
In this case, the specific types of tomatoes used were the San Marzano and Corbarino varieties.
Studies like this are especially exciting to me because it proves the power of real food as medicine, and it paves the way for future studies examining the impact of lifestyle habits not just for preventing disease, but for treating it.
This latest study adds to a long line of research showing the health benefits of tomatoes.
According to the American Cancer Society, people who have diets rich in tomatoes have a lower risk of prostate, lung, and stomach cancer. Tomatoes, or the nutrients found in tomatoes, are also beneficial for eye health, skin health, blood sugar levels, heart health, and even depression.
It should come as no surprise that tomatoes are so healthy. These nutrient-dense superfoods are rich sources of vitamins A and C, folic acid, alpha-lipoic acid, lycopene, choline, beta-carotene, and lutein.
Tomatoes should definitely be on your list of the must-have foods to incorporate in your diet.
Unfortunately, tomatoes are on another, not-so-healthy list: the Dirty Dozen.
This is a list of fruits and vegetables with the highest amount of pesticide residue, and cherry tomatoes in particular are often pretty high up on the list.
In order to minimize pesticide exposure, buy organic tomatoes when possible. If you can’t buy organic, just make sure you thoroughly wash your produce before eating it.
To a brighter day,
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
