I love summertime vegetables. You know, a fresh ear of corn. A nice green pepper from the garden. Crisp green beans. Juicy watermelon or peach. Cucumbers! As a popular Food Network is known to say: Yum-O!
Oh, and be sure to add a nice, round, juicy, and fresh red tomato to that list. There is nothing like a good tomato sandwich! With mayo and black pepper! Now you are talking some good eating!
Well, times are changing, as Bob Dylan once opined. Before long, we may have to change our way of thinking as we add genetically engineered purple tomatoes to our bread. British researches have engineered purple tomatoes that may well be added to the list of foods known to help fight cancer.
These researchers engineered the fruit to contain nutrients more commonly seen in dark berries, which have been shown to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and some neurological diseases.
For the study, cancer-prone mice fed the fruit lived an average of 40 days longer than animals on a standard diet. “The effect was much bigger than we had expected,” Cathie Martin, a plant biologist, said in a news release. “It is enormously encouraging to believe that by changing diet, or specific components in the diet, you can improve health in animals and possibly humans.”
Researchers focused on anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant found in berries such as blackberries and blackcurrants.
The researchers said trials in humans are still a long way off.
While I know it may take some time for my eyes to adjust to seeing purple tomatoes, so be it, if these little creations help with cancer, neurological diseases, and heart disease. After my little bout with my health recently, I might just offer to sign up to be a “test subject” for them! After all, I do love blueberries and blackberries, and I really do love tomatoes. So, what could be so bad about giving them a try!
What do you think? Game to try purple tomatoes?
