An Update on the Health Effects of Lycopene
The age-defying ingredient is lycopene – the natural pigment that makes tomatoes red – with highest levels found in processed or cooked tomatoes used in ketchup, paste, soup and juice.
In the study, women eating a diet rich in processed tomatoes had increased skin protection, as seen by a reduction in skin redness and less DNA damage from ultraviolet (UV) exposure.
Researchers compared the skin of 20 women, half of whom were given five tablespoons (55g) of standard tomato paste with 10g of olive oil every day for 12 weeks.
The researchers found significant improvement in the skin’s ability to protect itself against UV among those eating tomato paste.
Greek Tomato Tart
Some benefits of lycopene:
- Lycopene has been credited with reducing wrinkles because it neutralises free radicals which age the skin.
- It is also said to protect against osteoporosis and lung, breast and prostate cancer.
- Too much lycopene can have alarming side effects: one woman in the U.S. drank so much tomato juice her skin turned orange.
- Tomato stains are difficult to get out of fabric and kitchen surfaces because lycopene molecules are not soluble in water.
- Gac, a Chinese fruit known as the sweet gourd, contains the highest amount of lycopene 70 times that found in tomatoes. Lycopene is also present in papaya and rosehips.
- Cooked tomatoes are more beneficial than raw ones: heating lycopene alters its structure, enabling it to be more easily transported through the blood.