Survey Uncovers Tomatoes as a Great Source of Lycopene

LycopeneBenefit.com, a website promoting the latest news on lycopene, cancer, heart disease and others have suggested that tomatoes are an excellent source of lycopene. Many researchers have shown that consuming lycopene has several health benefits. Lycopene is one of the best anti-oxidants used to treat cancer and cardiovascular disease. Lycopene is also useful in treating gum disease, diabetes and probably male infertility. Cancer such as breast cancer and colon cancer is said to respond well to being treated with lycopene. The study revealed that lycopene can be extracted more from red and pink colored food. Foods such as watermelon, guava, papaya, tomatoes and others are a good source of lycopene. The research also recommended that the orange colored tomatoes have more percentage of lycopene than the red varieties of tomatoes. The researchers from Ohio State University studied the amount of lycopene in red and orange colored tomatoes. This article was later published in the journal of agricultural and food science. They prepared a sauce and asked some people to eat it. After some time, the researchers tested all the people who had eaten the sauce. The study of those researchers revealed that the amount of lycopene in red colored tomatoes was 95 percent while the amount of lycopene in orange colored tomatoes was 100 percent. The researchers said that the lycopene present is divided in two forms – tetra-cis and all-trans. The red tomatoes contain more all-trans variety, whereas orange colored tomatoes contain more tetra-cis. The study said that the tetra-cis form is absorbed 2.5 times more by the human body as compared to all-trans. The lycopene found in tangerine tomatoes can be easily broken down as compared to other varieties of tomatoes. The lycopene finds it difficult to bind with water. The digestive system of the human body finds it hard to separate the lycopene from the indigestible fibrous vegetables. The lycopene compounds if processed or cooked can be easily absorbed by the body’s digestive system. The scientists have also found that tetra-cis lycopene gets broken down easily when heated while the all-trans form remains unaffected. The tetra-cis as well as all-trans form when mixed with oil is easily absorbed by the body meaning sauces and soups. Antioxidants such as Lycopene increase the immune system in the body and protects from cell damaging. Intake of Lycopene decreases the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.