The current webpage is designed to make additional research available concerning how certain vegetables or their major bioactive components can enhance the treatment effects of tamoxifen. At the bottom of this webpage are links to studies relating to the beneficial vegetables listed in Foods to eat and avoid during tamoxifen treatment.
Generally speaking, vegetables increase the treatment effects of tamoxifen, or counteract its side effects without reducing its efficacy, primarily through the actions of polyphenols, among them:
- Allicin (found in garlic)
- Alpha-carotene (butternut squash, carrots, and pumpkins)
- Apigenin (artichokes, bell peppers, cabbage & bok choy)
- Beta-carotene (carrots, collard greens, sweet potatoes)
- Fisetin (Onions, especially red or white)
- I3C/DIM (Brussels sprouts, broccoli & broccoli sprouts, watercress & garden cress)
- Kaempferol (chives, arugula, kale)
- Lupeol (olives & olive oil)
- Lutein (collard greens, romaine lettuce, turnip greens)
- Luteolin (celery, hot peppers, radicchio)
- Lycopene (red or orange bell peppers, tomatoes)
- Quercetin (hot peppers, all types of onions, romaine lettuce)
- Rutin (black olives, tomatoes)
- Sulforaphane (cauliflower, kale, turnips & radishes)
Vegetable compounds should be obtained by eating vegetables rather than taking supplements. When a beneficial micronutrient is administered at low doses by consuming food, it is likely to have subtle chemopreventive effects, whereas the same compound administered at high doses is more likely to have pharmacological effects, with possible unwanted outcomes. For example, quercetin has been reported to contribute to the growth of estrogen-induced mammary tumors once the tumors were established in female rats.