How tomatoes can protect your liver!

25/04/2019

A study published in Cancer Prevention Research has revealed that tomatoes have a protective effect on the liver.

This trial 1 was conducted on mice that had been "programmed" to develop liver cancer then were fed a tomato powder equivalent to us eating two to three tomatoes a day.

The researchers found that the excess fat in the mice’s livers was more effectively eliminated, and as a consequence, their risks of inflammation and cancer related to this excess was reduced. This protective effect is due to the presence of lycopene in tomatoes, a natural pigment that gives them their red colour.

The tomato powder also prevented the proliferation of certain bacteria, and increased the mice’s microbiota diversity. So don’t hold back this summer, whether it’s gaspacho, tomato-mozzarella salads or simply biting into a juicy tomato from the garden sprinkled with salt, get your fill!

1 Hui Xia et al. Dietary Tomato Powder Inhibits High-Fat Diet–Promoted Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Mice Lacking Carotenoid Cleavage Enzymes, Cancer Prevention Research (2018). DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-18-0188