tomatoes Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Pioneering Method Determines if Tomatoes are Ready to Pick

The AHA! Team — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 06:39:18 +0000

Yulia Karra via Israel21c – This new machine learning technology could help farmers optimize harvest timing and improve the quality of the produce. Researchers recently developed a machine learning model that helps assess the quality of tomatoes before harvest. The pioneering method could make tomato harvest easier, more cost efficient and sustainable. In a study recently published in the Computers and Electronics in Agriculture scientific journal, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) said their model recognizes the key parameters of tomato quality with exceptional accuracy. Why tomatoes? The coauthors explain that the tomato is “one of the most substantial crops grown worldwide, with significant economic and nutritional values.” In 2020, the global gross production of tomatoes was 189 million tons. Tomatoes are nutritionally rich, offering sugars, organic acids, lycopene, and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and may even reduce the risk of several cancers, cardiovascular conditions, and age-related macular degeneration. However, traditional methods of determining the quality of tomato crops happen only after harvest and have many drawbacks. The HUJI researchers, in collaboration with researchers from Bar-Ilan University and the government’s Volcani Center Agricultural Research Organization, employed hyperspectral imaging to develop a machine learning model for pre-harvest assessment. Hyperspectral images of specific ranges of light wavelengths, known as spectral bands, are used to study the properties of objects based on how they reflect light. The scientists used a handheld hyperspectral camera to collect data from 567 tomato fruits across five cultivars. They then employed machine learning algorithms to predict seven critical tomato quality parameters: weight, firmness, total soluble solids, citric acid, ascorbic acid, lycopene, and pH. The model demonstrated high prediction accuracy. The researchers said the study highlights potential for integration of the method into agricultural practices to evaluate produce quality during ripening stages, optimizing harvest timing, as well in supermarkets at later stages. “Our research aims to bridge the gap between advanced imaging technology, AI, and practical agricultural applications,” said David Helman from HUJI’s Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, who led the study. “This work has the potential to revolutionize quality monitoring not only in tomatoes but also in other crops. Our next step is to build a low-cost device — ToMAI-SENS — based on our model that will be used across the fruit value chain, from farms to consumers,” he added. To read the original article click here.

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Strawberry Salad Recipe

The AHA! Team — Wed, 29 May 2024 08:14:47 +0000

Recipe by: Robby Barbaro, Co-founder, Mastering Diabetes via NutritionFacts – This Strawberry Salad is a delicious way to enjoy summer produce. This Strawberry Salad is a delicious way to enjoy summer produce. The berries and tomatoes add their own flavorful dressing to the salad, but feel free to toss on your favorite vinegar if the mood strikes. Consumption of blueberries and strawberries has been associated with delayed cognitive aging by as much as 2.5 years—thought to be because of brain-localizing anthocyanin phytonutrients, as shown on functional MRI scans. Arugula is one of the highest nitrate-containing vegetables. Nitrates from plants are converted into nitric oxide in the body, and potassium increases nitric-oxide release. Including foods high in both nitrates and potassium, such as green leafy vegetables, can help lower blood pressure and improve arterial function. COURSE: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish DIFFICULTY: Easy SERVINGS: 4 INGREDIENTS ▢1 head of romaine lettuce ▢2 cups arugula ▢2 cups chopped or sliced strawberries ▢2 heirloom tomatoes, chopped ▢1 cup blueberries INSTRUCTIONS Wash and clean all of the ingredients. Chop the romaine lettuce and add it to a large bowl, along with the arugula. Toss gently. Add the remaining ingredients, toss again, and serve. To read the original article click here.

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Tomato Concentrate Could Help Reduce Chronic Intestinal Inflammation Associated With HIV

AHA Publisher — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:00:28 +0000

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences via Newswise – New UCLA-led research in mice suggests that adding a certain type of tomato concentrate to the diet can reduce the intestinal inflammation that is associated with HIV. Left untreated, intestinal inflammation can accelerate arterial disease, which in turn can lead to heart attack and stroke. The findings provide clues to how the altered intestinal tract affects disease-causing inflammation in people with chronic HIV infection, suggesting that targeting the inflamed intestinal wall may be a novel way to prevent the systemic inflammation that persists even when antiviral therapy is effective in controlling a person’s HIV. The study is published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Pathogens. “Inflammation is an important process that protects the body from invading infections and toxins,” said Dr. Theodoros Kelesidis, the paper’s senior author and an associate professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “But in individuals who are successfully treated for HIV to the point that their viral load is no longer detectable, the continuing low-grade inflammation in the cells of the intestine contributes to an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.” People with HIV have been found to have a condition called “leaky gut,” in which products in the gut bacteria, such as lipopolysaccharides, move to other parts of the body through the bloodstream. Those products promote systemic inflammation and can accelerate coronary disease, Kelesidis said. The researchers worked with mice that had been infected with HIV and whose immune systems had been altered to mimic those of humans. The mice were fed a diet containing the tomato concentrate Tg6F, while the rest were fed a normal diet for mice — low in fat, cholesterol and calories. Tg6F comes from a specific type of genetically modified tomato; it contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant peptides called apoA-I mimetic peptides, which imitate the main protein in HDL, the so-called “good cholesterol.” The researchers examined proteins called cytokines and chemokines that are known to predict intestinal and blood inflammation, which can augur adverse outcomes for people with chronic HIV infection. They found that mice that were given Tg6F had lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in their gut and blood than the mice that received the standard diet. In addition, they discovered that Tg6F prevented an increase in levels of a protein called ADAM17, which orchestrates inflammatory responses in people with chronic HIV infection. The investigators confirmed the anti-inflammatory effects of apoA-I mimetics in gut biopsies from people with HIV. “Targeting the inflamed intestine with the peptide that mimics the main protein in HDL may be a way of preventing systemic inflammation in people with chronic HIV,” Kelesidis said. “Giving oral apoA-I mimetics together with oral antivirals may be an attractive novel therapy to treat inflammation and prevent disease and death in HIV.” The authors note in the paper that mice cannot fully recreate all aspects of humans’ HIV infection. Also, the gut biopsies used to test the effects of apoA-I mimetics do not fully reflect how inflammation works within a living human body. To read the original article click here.

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AMAZING Compound Found in Tomatoes Can Strengthen Bones and Help Prevent Osteoporosis

AHA Publisher — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 08:00:25 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Osteoporosis, characterized by low bone mineral density, causes brittle bones susceptible to breakage. Odds of developing osteoporosis skyrocket with advancing age – with women disproportionately affected. About 30 percent of postmenopausal women in the United States are affected by osteoporosis, and – according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation – roughly one in three women over age 50 will experience a bone fracture due to the condition. (For men over 50, the odds of an osteoporosis-related fracture are one out of five). Unfortunately, pharmaceutical therapies for osteoporosis can feature horrific side effects, including jaw osteonecrosis, thromboembolisms, increased cancer risk, and – ironically – bone fractures. This has led to an urgent search for effective natural interventions. And, there’s good news on that front. New research suggests that lycopene, the antioxidant plant pigment responsible for the ruby-red coloration of tomatoes, may help to stop the progression of osteoporosis in its tracks. New Study Explores Exciting Potential of Tomato Compound to Support Bone Health In a study conducted at Azienda University Hospital in Catanzaro, Italy, and published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, scientists set out to investigate the effects of lycopene on bone mineral density. Some of the research centered around test-tube studies – and was designed to evaluate the effects of lycopene on bone cells such as osteoblasts (the specialized cells that synthesize bone matrix). But, it wasn’t all lab tests. The team also conducted a clinical trial involving 39 postmenopausal women. In this deceptively small trial, participants received 150 ml a day of a lycopene-rich sauce made from vine-ripened tomatoes. The control group – 39 women of comparable age and health status – received no tomato sauce. Lycopene Plays a Vital Role in the Regulation of Bone Metabolism and IMPROVES Bone Density The study results were encouraging. The team found that lycopene helps activate cellular systems – such as the WNT/beta-catenin pathway – that help prevent bone loss. In addition, lycopene appears to improve bone resistance and repair by influencing collagen biosynthesis. But, it was the clinical study that yielded the most dramatic results. To put it simply, at the end of the three-month study, the control group had a loss of bone density – but the lycopene group did not. Lycopene also reduced biomarkers of bone loss (and the team noted that it did this about as well as raloxifene, a pharmaceutical anti-osteoporosis medication). The impressed researchers concluded that lycopene improves bone mineral density and can help prevent the bone loss that results from osteoporosis – potentially exciting news for the 10 million people in the United States suffering from the disease. Additional Research Backs Therapeutic Effects of Lycopene Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that can scavenge harmful free radicals that otherwise cause oxidative stress and damage. Researchers have learned that oxidative stress can increase osteoclast cells, which degrade bone and cause bone loss (a process also known as resorption). So, it’s not surprising that additional research helps to confirm the therapeutic potential of lycopene. In a separate study published in Osteoporosis International, the team found that 30 mg of lycopene a day – the amount found in two glasses of tomato juice – could decrease bone resorption and prevent bones from becoming brittle and prone to breakage. And a 2020 review of studies published in the International Journal of Molecular Science (IJMS) concluded that there is a positive correlation between lycopene consumption and prevention of bone loss. Boost Dietary Intake of Lycopene With Ripe, Red Tomatoes According to the review published in IJMS, most people get about 80 percent of their lycopene by way of tomatoes – making them an important part of a healthy, bone-supporting diet. In addition to consuming stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, you can get lycopene from fresh tomatoes and tomato juice. Lycopene is fat-soluble, so it is best absorbed with some healthy fat. This is one reason why natural health experts and nutritionists are so enthusiastic about serving tomatoes alongside avocados or olives. (For the “best of all possible worlds,” add tomatoes and olives to your favorite guacamole recipe). If you absolutely can’t tolerate tomatoes in any form, other sources of lycopene include watermelon, guava, papayas, pink or red grapefruit, red cabbage, persimmons, and, somewhat surprisingly, asparagus. Many researchers believe that tomatoes release more lycopene when cooked, although not all scientists agree. By the way, it’s not only women who benefit from this amazing compound. Men can – and do – suffer from osteoporosis. In addition, lycopene is important for prostate health. Whether you eat tomatoes raw or cooked, one thing is clear. These savory fruits (yes, tomatoes are technically fruit) can be a valuable natural ally in the fight against osteoporosis. Sources for this article include: HealthyDirections.com InternationalOsteoporosisFoundation.com NIH.gov Healthline.com To read the original article click here.

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Tomato Sauce Put to the Test for Prostate Cancer

AHA Publisher — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:00:05 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – What happened when cancer patients were given three quarters of a cup of canned tomato sauce every day for three weeks? “Occasionally…positive things happen in the field of cancer prevention science to popular, good-tasting foods.” Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli are wonderful, but they may be “a hard food for the public to swallow.” By contrast, who doesn’t like tomatoes? As I’ve discussed previously, studies using high-dose supplements of lycopene, the antioxidant red pigment in tomatoes thought to be the active anti-cancer ingredient, failed over and over again to prevent or treat cancer. In fact, it may even end up promoting cancer, since lycopene may actually act as a pro-oxidant at the high levels one can get with supplements. But, lycopene in supplement form doesn’t appear to be effective at lower doses either. “There is a strong inverse [protective] correlation between the intake of fruit and vegetables and the incidence of certain cancers.” However, when we supplement with only a single compound isolated in pill form, we may upset the healthy, natural balance of antioxidants. It does seem to be quite the human hubris to think we can reproduce the beneficial effects of consuming entire fruits and vegetables by giving supplements of a single phytochemical, which would normally interact with thousands of other compounds in the natural matrix Mother Nature intended. “In addition to lycopene, [other] known carotenoids in tomatoes and tomato-based products include β-carotene, γ-carotene, ζ-carotene, phytofluene, and phytoene, all of which…have been found to accumulate in human prostate tissue.” There are also numerous non-carotenoid compounds in tomatoes that may have anti-cancer activity, not to mention all of the compounds we have yet to even characterize. It’s not about finding the one magic bullet, though. As one study title reads, “The anti-cancer effects of carotenoids and other phytonutrients resides in their combined activity.” For example, as you can see at 1:52 in my video Tomato Sauce vs. Prostate Cancer, at the low concentrations of the tomato compounds phytoene, phytofluene, and lycopene that are found in most people who eat normal amounts of tomatoes, there’s very little effect on cancer cell growth in vitro when used separately. But, when they are combined together, a non-effective dose of phytoene and phytofluene plus a non-effective dose of lycopene somehow become effective, significantly suppressing prostate cancer cell growth. The same synergy can be seen across foods. Curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric and curry powder, tomato extracts, and the vitamin E found in nuts and seeds do little individually to inhibit pro-growth signaling of prostate cancer cells—less than 10 percent—but all three together suppress growth signaling about 70 percent. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. So, instead of giving cancer patients lycopene pills, what if we give them some tomato sauce? Researchers gave 32 patients with localized prostate cancer three quarters of a cup of canned tomato sauce every day for three weeks before their scheduled radical prostatectomy. In their bloodstream, PSA levels dropped by 17.5 percent. PSA, prostate-specific antigen, is a protein produced by prostate gland cells, and elevated blood PSA levels are routinely used to monitor the success of cancer treatment. “It was surprising to find that the 3-week, tomato sauce-based dietary intervention” could decrease PSA concentrations in men with prostate cancer. As well, free radical damage of the DNA in their white blood cells dropped by 21 percent. Imagine how antioxidant-poor their diet must have been beforehand if less than one cup of tomato sauce a day could reduce DNA damage by more than a fifth! What did they find in their prostates, though? Human prostate tissue is thought to be “particularly vulnerable to oxidative DNA damage by free radicals, which are thought to play a critical role in all stages of carcinogenesis,” that is, of cancer formation. This may be for a number of reasons, including fewer DNA repair enzymes. Well, the researchers had tissue samples taken from biopsies before the tomato sauce regimen started, as well as tissue samples from surgeries after three weeks of tomato sauce, and resected tissues from tomato sauce-supplemented patients had 28 percent less free radical damage than expected. I show a graph of the DNA damage in the prostate before the tomato sauce and after just 20 days of sauce at 4:18 in my video. You can see the drop yourself. What’s interesting is there was no association between the level of lycopene in the prostate and the protective effects. Tomatoes contain a whole bunch of things, some of which may be even more powerful than lycopene. Regardless, in contrast to the lycopene supplements alone, the whole food intervention seemedto help. To see if lycopene plays any role at all, one would have to test a lycopene-free tomato—in other words, a yellow tomato. So, what if you compared red tomatoes to yellow tomatoes, which have all the non-lycopene tomato compounds, to straight lycopene in a pill? Researchers fed people red tomato paste, yellow tomato paste, lycopene pills, or placebo pills, and then dripped their blood onto prostate cancer cells growing in a petri dish. As you can see at 5:18 in my video, the red tomato serum—the blood from those who ate red tomato paste—significantly decreased the prostate cancer cell’s expression of a growth-promoting gene called cyclin D1, compared to those not eating anything. This downregulation of the gene by the red tomato consumption “may contribute to lower prostate cancer risk by limiting cell proliferation.” The red tomato seemed to work better than the yellow tomato, so maybe the lycopene helped—but not in pill form. This gene “was not regulated” by the lycopene pill serum, indicating that it may be something else. And, lycopene alone significantly upregulated procarcinogenic genes. “Therefore, it can be stated that tomato consumption may be preferable to pure lycopene…” So, what’s the best way? A spouse wrote to the editor of the Harvard Men’s Health Watch, saying their husband wants to have pizza for his prostate but they don’t think it’s a healthy food. The doctor replied with the suggestion of a “cheese-free pizza (with broccoli instead of pepperoni, please)” or just some “tomato juice.” To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Greger click here.

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