Lycopene Colors You Healthy
Updated June 09, 2015.
Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.
Want to cook something lovely and healthy for a special occasion? Make a dish using tomatoes cooked in olive oil as part of the meal, to bring out the protective properties of lycopene, an antioxidant that is found in processed tomatoes. Lycopene may inhibit the growth of tumors. It may help guard against prostate, lung, pancreatic, and breast cancers -- with the added benefit of boosting your heart health!
Lycopene In Food
Lycopene is a red pigment that colors plants such as tomatoes, watermelons, guavas, and pink grapefruit. It is a carotenoid (natural plant coloring agent) and acts as an antioxidant. The antioxidants found in tomato sauce may hunt down and neutralize free radicals, thus preventing oxidative damage to your cells. Tomatoes -- especially cooked tomatoes -- are loaded with lycopene as well as Vitamin C, folate, and potassium.
FDA Lycopene Study
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did an exhaustive study of all the data they could find on lycopene and cancer prevention. Although their study focused on prostate cancer, they also considered many other cancers, including breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. The FDA found limited evidence that suggests that eating tomatoes and/or tomato sauce would reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
Sauce For The Heart
Tomatoes and lycopene have been associated with good heart health. Women that participated in a study at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, consumed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce and pizza.
The women who ate the greatest amounts of tomato sauce and pizza had the lowest incidence of cardiovascular disease. It isn't totally convincing evidence that tomato lycopene protects your heart health, but the combination of tomatoes cooked in oil -- particularly olive oil -- does appear to be beneficial.
Dietary Supplements Fall Short
Lycopene supplements seem to be an attractive option, but these are not tested and regulated by the FDA, so we don't always know what they contain. In some cases, twice-daily use of a 15-milligram lycopene supplement can cause digestive distress, and if taken over a long period of time, may even give your skin an orangey hue.
Include Lycopene In Your Balanced Diet
The American Cancer Society reports that observational studies in various countries found that cancer risk was lower in groups that had higher than average levels of lycopene in their blood. Tomatoes in their diet may account for this, but on average, a diet rich in a wide variety of plants and grains combines to boost overall health. It seems that a balanced diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is the combination that best lowers cancer risk.
Sources:
Dietary lycopene, tomato-based food products and cardiovascular disease in women. Sesso HD, Liu S, Gaziano JM, Buring JE. J Nutr. 2003 Jul;133(7):2336-41.
Lycopene. American Cancer Society. Last Revised: 05/13/2010.
Lycopene. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Page last updated: 04 January 2011.
Qualified Health Claims: Letter Regarding Tomatoes and Prostate Cancer (Lycopene Health Claim Coalition) (Docket No. 2004Q-0201). Food and Drug Administration. November 8, 2005.
Lycopene In Foods - List of Most to Least Lycopene Content
| Lycopene In Foods: Best Bets | |
| Foods With Lycopene | Lycopene Rating |
| Tomato-based Spaghetti Sauce | ***** |
| Tomato Sauce | ***** |
| Tomato Paste | *** |
| Tomatoes, Fresh and Dried | *** |
| Watermelon | *** |
| Tomato Soup | ** |
| Tomato Ketchup | ** |
| Tomato Salsa, Cocktail Sauce | ** |
| Grapefruit, Pink | ** |
| Papaya | ** |
| Tomato Juice | * |
| Red Peppers, Sweet | * |
| Asparagus | * |
| Carrots, Red | * |
| Guavas | * |
| Rose Hips | * |
| Apricots, Dried | * |
| Persimmons | * |