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05.08.2015

13-OXO-ODA, esculeoside-A and GABA in tomato juice reduce menopause symptoms

Two glasses daily of tomato juice can help middle-aged women have fewer menopausal symptoms, feel better about themselves, and keep their weight steady. Researchers at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University wrote about their findings in Nutrition Journal.

Tomato
Tomato juice is not only a source of the carotenoid lycopene. It also contains the spirosolane esculeoside-A [structural formula shown above] and the fatty acid 13-oxo-9,11-octadecadienoic acid [structural formula shown below].

Animal studies have shown that esculeoside-A reduces the concentration of triglycerides in the blood, and so offers protection against cardiovascular disease. [J Nat Prod. 2010;73:1734-41.] 13-Oxo-9,11-Octadecadienoic Acid is a PPAR-alpha-agonist, which boosts fat burning in the liver and, like esculeoside-A, reduces the concentration of triglycerides in the blood. [PLoS One. 2012;7:e31317.]

Lastly, tomatoes also contain large amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acid [structural formula shown on the right]. This substance goes by the abbreviation of GABA. Researchers think that GABA may help reduce hot flushes. A synthetic analogue of GABA, gabapentin, is capable of doing this in any case. [Clin Ther. 2009 Feb;31(2):221-35.]

Study
When women enter the menopause the concentrations of triglycerides and bad cholesterol in their blood rise, and their risk of developing cardiovascular disease increases. They put on weight easily and often feel off colour. The Japanese researchers, who by the way were paid by Kikkoman Corporation, wondered whether tomato juice supplementation would change this.

The researchers gave 95 women aged between 40 and 60, all of whom had at least one menopausal symptom, two glasses containing 200 ml tomato juice every day for eight weeks. There was no control group.

Results
During the supplementation period the women's score on the Menopausal Symptom Scale went down [MMS]. That means that the number of symptoms, such as hot flushes, palpitations, fatigue and irritation, that the women experienced declined to some extent - and that was a statistically significant extent.

The researchers also measured the extent that the women tended to worry, brood or be anxious, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaire [HADS]. The women's scores for these decreased a little during the experiment. Again, the effect was statistically significant.

But the most noticeable effect that the researchers observed is shown below: tomato juice increased the women's resting energy expenditure by a couple of hundred kilocalories. And yes, that was a statistically significant effect too. The researchers observed no clear effects on bodyweight or body composition though.

The researchers also found no effect on the concentrations of LDL, HDL and triglycerides. But when they looked at the results for the 22 women who had high triglyceride levels before the supplementation started, they noticed that there was a statistically significant decline in the triglyceride concentration for this subgroup.

Conclusion
"Tomato juice intake alleviated menopausal symptoms, including anxiety, increased resting energy expenditure and heart rate, and lowered high baseline serum triglyceride levels in middle-aged women", the researchers concluded.

Source:
Nutr J. 2015 Apr 8;14:34.

More:
Daily glass of tomato juice makes you slimmer 28.03.2015
A glass of tomato juice makes exercise even more healthy 09.06.2012

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Tomato

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