Eating broccoli with tomatoes protects from cancer much more than eating
them separately

   16 Jul 2004

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   Cancer researchers say we should eat foods together rather than on
   their own if we want better protection from cancer. Rather than eating
   your broccoli and tomatoes separately, you should eat them together.
   Mixed up compounds offer better protection, according to studies
   carried out on rats. Supplements will not work on their own to prevent
   cancer.
   The study was carried out at the University of Illinois, Urbana, USA.
   Study leader, John Erdman, said "We decided to look at these foods in
   combination because we believed it was a way to learn more about real
   diets eaten by real people. Of course, it's important to analyze how
   specific food components influence our health, but such findings
   provide only the tools for further study. They should open the debate,
   not close it down,"
   Tomatoes are thought to protect against prostate cancer because they
   contain lycopene. However, the scientists found that lycopene on its
   own offered much less protection (in rats).
   In this study the rats were given powdered tomato and/or dried
   broccoli. Some of the rats got a combination while others just got one
   or the other. Some of the rats also got finasteride. They were all
   injected with human prostate tumors.
   The rats that were given both the tomato and broccoli combined had the
   smallest tumours. The ones to fare the worst were the ones that just
   got the finasteride.
   Erdman said "Separately, these two foods appear to have enormous
   cancer-fighting potential. Together, they bring out the best in each
   other and maximize the cancer-fighting effect.