Tomato Recipe

Harvard researchers found that men who consumed tomatoes or tomato based foods including pizza at least four times a week had a 20 percent lower risk of prostate cancer than those who didn"t eat tomatoes. Men who ate tomatoes 10 times a week reduced their risk by almost half. If didn't matter what form the tomatoes were in, although cooked tomatoes appeared to be more protective than fresh.

The researchers theorize that lycopens-bioflavonoids that are closely related to beta-bioflavonoids that are closely related to beta-carotene-are the cner fighting agents in tomatoes. They also speculate that cooking releases the fat-soluble lycopenes from the tomato's cells, and that a small amount of oil, such as that in pizza or tomato sauce, intensifies the protective effect.

 Tomatoes also contain beta carotene, which may help to prevent cataracts and cancers of the stomach, pancreas, mouth, and gums. Tomatoes also contain caffeic and ferulic acids, which may help to enhance the production of the body's cancer-fighting enzymes, asnd chlorogenic acid, believed to battle environmental toxins.