Green Tomatoes Boost Muscle Health

Consumption of green tomatoes could potentially help protect the body from muscle atrophy and even obesity, according to a recent study.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Biological Chemistry, details the results of an investigation looking into the health benefits of tomatidine, a molecular compound commonly found in green tomatoes.

According to the study, researchers from the University of Iowa determined tomatidine might be able to help prevent muscle atrophy after noticing that gene expression chances generated by the compound were practically the complete opposite of the gene changes that occur in muscle cells that are affected by muscle atrophy -- the degradation and wasting of muscle strength that results from illness or injury.

The researchers then started to administer small doses of tomatidine to mice. They compared these tomatidine-fed mice to a control group of genetically similar mice who had not been fed the compound.

Interestingly, they found that the tomatidine-fed mice tended to grow larger, stronger, and more efficient muscles compared to the control mice. Surprisingly, the researchers also found that while the tomatidine-fed mice boasted larger muscles, they maintained a body weight similar to the control group, indicating that the green-tomato compound might contribute to an efficient management of body fat as well.

Still, although the compound proves effective in mice, the researcher admit they don not know how much tomatidine would have to be ingested by humans to result in the same effect.

"Green tomatoes are safe to eat in moderation. But we don't know how many green tomatoes a person would need to eat to get a dose of tomatidine similar to what we gave the mice. We also don't know if such a dose of tomatidine will be safe for people, or if it will have the same effect in people as it does in mice," said head researcher Christopher Adams, M.D., Ph. D. in a University of Iowa press release.

Of course, more research will need to be done before the effects tomatidine has on human muscles can be confirmed.
The study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

A University of Iowa press release accompanied the study on April 9.