MedWire News: Women who consume 10 or more tomato-based food products per week are less likely to have elevated total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and hemoglobin A1c levels than those who consume less than 1.5 servings per week, shows research.
These women also showed significant improvements in total cholesterol and the total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio, say Howard Sesso (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) and co-authors.
"This large, cross-sectional study provides important, preliminary insights on tomato-based food products and coronary biomarkers," they write.
The team examined the cross-sectional association between coronary biomarkers and intake of tomato-based food products, such as tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce, or pizza, using data from nearly 28,000 participants of the Women's Health Study who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer at enrollment.
Overall, tomato-based food product intake, measured using a 131-item validated semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire, was "modest," with 84% of women consuming less than one serving per day.
Women consuming greater amounts of tomatoes were generally younger and had a healthier lifestyle and diet than other women, say Sesso et al in the Journal of Nutrition.
Compared with women who consumed less than 1.5 servings of tomato-based food products per week, those consuming 10 or more servings had significant improvements in total cholesterol (5.51 vs 5.38 mmol/L [212.74 vs 207.72 mg/dL]), the total/HDL cholesterol ratio (4.22 vs 4.08), and hemoglobin A1c (5.13 vs 5.02%).
Furthermore, women consuming 10 or more servings, compared with less than 1.5 servings per week of tomato-based food products, were 31% less likely to have elevated total cholesterol levels (≥6.21 mmol/L [239.77 mg/dL]), 40% less likely to have elevated LDL cholesterol(≥4.14 mmol/L [159.85 mg/dL]), and 66% less likely to have elevated hemoglobin A1c (≥6%).
Other coronary biomarkers showed no significant association with tomato consumption.
The researchers note that tomato-based food products represent the primary source of lycopene in the American diet, and, because dietary lycopene was an important confounder of many of the observed associations, additional studies that "better distinguish any effects of tomato-based food products compared with lycopene on coronary biomarkers," are needed.
MedWire (http://www.medwire-news.md/) is an independent clinical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2012
Free abstract
