April 8, 2005 – The pigments that give tomatoes and carrots their color are believed to have protective properties against pancreatic cancer, according to the results of a study conducted by two researchers from the University of Montreal Hospital Center (CHUM-Hôtel- God)1.
Even though it accounts for only 2% of all cancer cases diagnosed, pancreatic cancer ranks fourth in death from cancerous tumors. Each year, it kills approximately 16,000 men and 17,000 women in Canada. There is no known cure and the survival rate of those affected is only three to six months.
André Nkondjock and Parviz Ghadirian, from the Epidemiological Research Unit of Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal, have just published a case-control study involving 5,183 people, 462 of whom were suffering from pancreatic cancer. Their results indicate that lycopene from tomatoes (red pigment) and beta-carotenes from carrots (yellow and orange pigments) provide significant protection against this type of cancer.
Lycopene from tomatoes is thought to decrease the risk of contracting pancreatic cancer in men by 31%. For reasons still unknown, it seems that women would not benefit as much as men from the protective properties of this pigment.
Beta-carotenes in carrots are believed to lower the risk of contracting pancreatic cancer in both women and men by 43%. However, the results of the study indicate that this protective effect is canceled out in smokers.
Although lycopene is found in watermelon (watermelon), fresh apricot, pink grapefruit, and blood orange, tomato is by far the most important source of this pigment. The cooked tomato contains more of it than the raw tomato and, since it is a fat soluble pigment, it will be better absorbed if we consume the tomatoes with a fatty substance.
As for beta-carotenes, metabolic precursors of vitamin A, they are found in carrots, but also in oranges, apricots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, yellow-fleshed squash (especially pumpkins), dark green vegetables, spinach, parsley, etc. Like lycopene, these pigments are better absorbed in the presence of fat. These two pigments belong to the large family of carotenoids.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Nkondjock A, Ghadirian P, Johnson KC, Krewski D; Canadian Cancer Registries Epidemiology Research Group. Dietary intake of lycopene is associated with reduced pancreatic cancer risk.J Nutr. 2005 Mar; 135 (3): 592-7.
