Tomatidine

Tomatidine quick overview

• Tomatidine is a compound found in tomatoes that has shown promise as an ingredient to increase muscle gains and fat loss.
• Studies have shown that tomatidine is capable of enhancing exercise performance and may have cardiovascular health benefits.
• There aren't many tomatidine supplements on the market yet, but it may only be a matter of time before we see this ingredient in products such as post-workout supplements, creatine supplements and fat burners.

What is Tomatidine?

Tomatidine is a metabolic product formed during the digestion of another compound known as tomatin, which occurs naturally in tomatoes. This ingredient is fast becoming a powerful potential muscle building supplement thanks to initial research showing benefits in terms of muscle growth and prevention of muscle loss.

Where does Tomatidine come from?

Although tomatidine is naturally produced during the digestion of tomatoes, it requires a synthetic manufacturing process to produce concentrated and potent amounts. This involves the hydrolysis and removal of the sugar component of tomatidine, a compound that occurs naturally in the stems and leaves of the tomato plant. Tomatin is also found in lower concentrations in the tomato fruit itself, which is particularly the case with green tomatoes. Tomatidine is known as a sterol alkaloid. Sterol alkaloids are natural steroid compounds found in plants, animals and fungi. Some of the best known sterols or steroid compounds include cholesterol and testosterone.

Benefits of Tomatidine

Similar to lycopene, another bioactive compound derived from tomatoes, tomatin and tomatidin appear to have a wide range of health benefits, including antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and immune system stimulating effects (1). They may also have positive effects on the cardiovascular system (2). Perhaps the most exciting application for regular, healthy users, however, is based on tomatidine's potential to support muscle growth and exercise performance.

Benefits of Tomatidine for bodybuilders

Tomatidine's positive effects on muscle growth were first discovered in 2014 as part of research conducted at the University of Iowa, which was looking for compounds that could combat muscle atrophy (a loss of muscle mass) (3). The team of scientists discovered that tomatidine was able to generate gene expression that was the opposite of what is observed in people suffering from muscle atrophy. This began the investigation of the mechanisms by which tomatidine might be able to influence muscle growth.

Tomatidine, mTORC1 activity and muscle growth

mTORC1, also known as Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Complex 1, is a protein complex known to be one of the key mechanisms for controlling protein synthesis and thus muscle growth. Stronger mTORC1 signaling is synonymous with increased anabolic muscle building activity, while at the same time reducing signals for muscle breakdown.

Tomatidine has been shown to be able to stimulate mTORC1 activity within skeletal muscle, meaning that it was able to support muscle building activity. Tomatidine has been shown to help increase muscle hypertrophy and growth by supporting muscle building activity. This was true for both slow contracting and fast contracting muscle fibers.

Tomatidine & fat loss

Interestingly, tomatidine was not only able to increase muscle gain, but was able to do so while simultaneously reducing body fat levels (3). This would be the ideal scenario for anyone competing in weightlifting competitions, as they can maintain their weight while competing with more muscle and less fat - a damn good mix!

Tomatidine & training performance

In addition to muscle growth and fat loss, the same study conducted with Tomatidine also observed increased cardiovascular performance after 5 weeks of Tomatidine supplementation. Mice were not only able to run longer on a treadmill, but were also able to perform at a higher intensity than before supplementation (3).

Tomatidine side effects, safety, toxicity and disadvantages

As a natural ingredient, Tomatidine should be considered safe and harmless. However, since supplement dosages are likely to be significantly higher than what one would normally consume in the form of tomatoes, there is some gray area with long-term use of high concentrations of tomatidine. Human studies dealing with possible side effects are scarce to non-existent. However, it should be noted that no problems have been observed in people who traditionally eat tomatidine-rich foods such as cherry tomatoes or tomato leaves. As far as animal studies are concerned, the oral LD 50 dosage (the amount of a substance that kills 50% of test animals) appears to be in the range of 500 mg per kilogram of body weight for tomatin and these values are most likely to be similar for tomatidine. Side effects associated with excessive tomatine consumption are similar to the side effects of the compound found in potatoes called solanine and include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, drowsiness, confusion, weakness and depression. Tomatidine is likely to have similar side effects.

Tomatidine dosage recommendation and timing of intake

There are no definitive dosage recommendations for Tomatidine yet, but currently available supplements offer a dosage of 10 to 50 mg per serving. It is believed that splitting the daily dose into 1 to 4 single doses is best for optimal absorption. However, as there has been little research with Tomatidine, it would be wise to stick to the lower end of the dosage range. There does not appear to be any benefit to consuming tomatidine at specific times.

Tomatidine supplements

Currently, there are very few supplements that contain tomatidine. There are a small number of companies offering this ingredient in isolated form, while there are no active ingredient blends containing tomatidine yet. However, given the promising research and results, it is expected that tomatidine will soon appear on the market as an ingredient in a wide range of products, from post-workout supplements to fat burners and creatine combination products.

Combinations of Tomatidine with other supplements

Since Tomatidine supports muscle gains and fat loss, it is the perfect supplement to combine with protein powders, fat burners, BCAAs, creatine supplements and testosterone boosters. As there are no known interactions between Tomatidine and other supplement ingredients, it can be combined with virtually any supplement, although a combination with weight gainers may not necessarily make sense.

References

1. Friedman M. 'Anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, and other health benefits of tomato compounds lycopene, α-tomatine, and tomatidine in pure form and in fresh and processed tomatoes.' J Agric Food Chem. 2013 Oct 9;61(40):9534-50.
2. Fujiwara Y, Kiyota N, Tsurushima K, Yoshitomi M, Horlad H, Ikeda T, Nohara T, Takeya M, Nagai R. 'Tomatidine, a tomato sapogenol, ameliorates hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis in apoE-deficient mice by inhibiting acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl-transferase (ACAT).' J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Mar 14;60(10):2472-9.
3. Dyle MC, Ebert SM, Cook DP, Kunkel SD, Fox DK, Bongers KS, Bullard SA, Dierdorff JM, Adams CM. 'Systems-based discovery of tomatidine as a natural small molecule inhibitor of skeletal muscle atrophy.' J Biol Chem. 2014 May 23;289(21):14913-24.
4. Sackmann, W.; Kern, H., Wiesmann, E.; Studies on the biological effects of solanine and tomatine; Schweiz. Z. Allg. Pathol. Bacteriol., 1959; 22, 557-563.