By Kyle J. Norton
Oxidative stress is a condition characterized by overexpression of free radicals in the body.
In other words, oxidative stress is a result of the imbalance of the ratio of free radicals and antioxidants caused by abundant free radicals and low levels of antioxidant enzymes produced by the body.
A free radical is an unstable atom with a single electron on the outermost ring. Given to its nature, free radical readily donate or intercept an electron from another atom, leading to a chain of the free radical cascade that cannot be stopped until all single electron is paired or inhibited by antioxidants.
The antioxidant is a stable atom with a function to inhibit oxidation, comes either from dietary sources or produced by the body.
Contrast to general belief, free radical is also needed in moderated amount for the function of the heart muscle to pump blood such as NO for vasodilation and increasing blood flow.
According to studies, in cancer, oxidative stress has been found to induce cytotoxicity used in chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer by killing cancer cells.
However, in a healthy person, oxidative stress is harmful because it not only induces cells' lipid and protein oxidation but also causes the change of cell DNA, leading to diseases associated with oxidative stress including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Ozone, certain pesticides, and cleaners, cigarette smoke, radiation, and pollution are some of the risk factors associated with the increased risk of oxidative stress.
Based on the oxidative stress theory of aging oxidative stress, oxidative stress is also the main culprit contributing to aging in humans.
Dr. Ilaria Liguori, the lead scientist said, "Aging is a process characterized by the progressive loss of tissue and organ function. The oxidative stress theory of aging is based on the hypothesis that age-associated functional losses are due to the accumulation of RONS-induced damages".
Tomato is red, edible fruit, genus Solanum, and belongs to the family Solanaceae, native to South America. Because of its health benefits, the tomato is grown worldwide for the commercial purpose
and often in the greenhouse.
With an aim to find a potential compound for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress researchers examined the efficacy of lycopene a carotenoid commonly found in tomatoes and tomato products.
In a total of 23 healthy postmenopausal women, 50-60 years old, were provided blood samples at baseline and following a one-month lycopene-depletion period according to the St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. PARTICIPANTS AND STUDY DESIGN.
Compared to the blood sample before and after experiment samples, a one-month lycopene-depletion period diet showed a significantly decreased antioxidant profile including serum lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).
Furthermore, the diet also depressed levels of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT), significantly in the participants while increasing levels of lipid and protein oxidation.
In other words, tomatoes restrictive diet increased the risk of diseases associated with oxidative stress in postmenopausal women due to the increase of ROS and depletion of antioxidants in the tissues.
In order to reveal more information about the tomato effect against oxidative stress, researchers conducted a study to determine whether lycopene would act as an antioxidant to decrease oxidative stress parameters.
The study included a total of 60 postmenopausal women, 50-60 years old, following a 1-month washout without lycopene consumption,.
After a month, the participants were randomly divided into groups with 15 members each consuming either : (1) regular tomato juice, (2) lycopene-rich tomato juice, (3) tomato Lyc-O-Mato lycopene capsules, or (4) placebo capsules, twice daily for total lycopene intakes of 30, 70, 30, and 0 mg/day respectively for 4 months.
According to the tested assays, for 4 months significantly increased serum lycopene compared to placebo.
Moreover, the total serum antioxidant capacity (TAC) and decreasing lipid and protein peroxidation were found to increase substantially in the groups treated with consumed juice or lycopene capsules compared to the placebo group.
Taken altogether, tomatoes and its major bioactive compound lycopene may be considered remedies for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.
Intake of lycopene in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.
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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
Sources
(1) Dietary restriction of lycopene for a period of one month resulted in significantly increased biomarkers of oxidative stress and bone resorption in postmenopausalwomen by Mackinnon ES1, Rao AV, Rao LG. (PubMed)
(2) Supplementation with the antioxidant lycopene significantly decreases oxidative stress parameters and the bone resorption marker N-telopeptide of type I collagen in postmenopausal women by Mackinnon ES1, Rao AV, Josse RG, Rao LG. (PubMed)
(3) Oxidative stress, aging, and diseases by Ilaria Liguori,1 Gennaro Russo,1 Francesco Curcio,1 Giulia Bulli,1 Luisa Aran,1David Della-Morte,2,3 Gaetano Gargiulo,4 Gianluca Testa,1,5 Francesco Cacciatore,1,6Domenico Bonaduce,1 and Pasquale Abete. (PMC)
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