Glossary: lycopene

lycopene

What is it?

Have you seen the magazine ads about ketchup - our favorite source of lycopene? What is lycopene, what does it do, why do you need it and where can you get it?

Named the 1997 Vegetable of the Year by Eating Well magazine, tomatoes are receiving a lot of attention and promotion now because lycopene, an antoxidant, may help lower the risk of prostate cancer, perhaps other cancers, and lower the risk of heart disease. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School studied more than 47,000 men and discovered those who ate tomato products 10 or more times a week. had less than one-half the risk of developing prostate cancer. In that study, most of the lycopene came from tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice and pizza. Although the exact mechanism isn't known, lycopene appears to efficiently quench single oxygen molecules which when left unchecked initiate various disease processes. Heart disease, for example, is thought to begin when LDL ("bad" or low-density) cholesterol is oxidized.

Former President Reagan, who attempted to classify ketchup as a vegetable to the horrors of nutritionists, must be having a laugh now. Processed tomato products, including ketchup, sauce, paste, juice, soup, salsa and canned tomatoes, all contain various amounts of lycopene, a carotenoid responsible for the fruit's deep red color. (Other red/pinkish fruits - watermelon, pink grapefruit - also contain lycopene.) Cooking breaks down the plant's cell walls releasing lycopene, so processed tomato products have more lycopene than fresh tomatoes. Comparisons in ads only show how tomato products compare to each other in lycopene not to a Daily Value because no Daily Value or RDA exists for antioxidants such as lycopene.

For You....

Without a Daily Value for antioxidants and because Nutrition Facts labels do not list antioxidants such as lycopene, good advice is to enjoy tomatoes and tomato products in a variety of dishes and meals. In addition to lycopene, tomatoes provide vitamin C and are naturally low in fat, sodium and calories. Processed tomato products are convenient and versatile, but have more sodium and calories than fresh tomatoes. Consider, too, how you eat foods and what works for you. It might be more reasonable, for example, to eat 1/2 cup to 1 cup of tomato sauce on an entree size pasta dish than frequently eating smaller portions of condiments. The health connection appears to be associated with lycopene rich foods in general. No one food or condiment is going to be able to go it alone when it comes to providing all the benefits you get from a varied diet.

Standard Process Supplements

OPC Synergy, Super EFF