Lycopene

Chance are you’ve heard about the antioxidant and cancer-preventing properties of Lycopene – and you know that it’s better absorbed by the body along with a fat such as avocado or olive oil.

What is it? Lycopene is a fat-soluble (needs fats to be absorbed by the body) pigment found in plants. For these plants it protects against the toxic effects of oxygen and light, for humans lycopene in our diet works as a powerful antioxidant that helps to neutralize harmful free radicals.

What makes lycopene so desirable, is its presence in the diet has been repeatedly studied on humans with positive results to be protective against a growing list of cancers. The evidence for a benefit was strongest for cancers of the prostate, lung, and stomach. Data were also suggestive of a benefit for cancers of the pancreas, colon and rectum, esophagus, oral cavity, breast, and cervix. Lycopene has also been linked to prevention of heart disease, age-related illnesses such as mascular degeneration, osteoporosis, as well as allergy symptoms.

Found in

Watermelon
Tomatoes
Mangoes
Papaya
Red grapefruit

• store these fruits at room temperature until cutting for maximum lycopene and beta-carotene. Once you cut it up, store in a glass container in your refrigerator for up to nine days with minimal nutrient loss.

Studies:

The carotenoid lycopene from tomato may interfere with levels of a hormone associated with an increase in the risk of colorectal cancer, suggests a Dutch study.

www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Lycopene-s-anti-cancer-benefits-extend-to-colon-study

Controversial study: answered by Dr. Andrew Weil

What do you think of the study showing that eating tomatoes offers no protection against prostate cancer and that, in fact, consumption of large amounts of beta-carotene may increase the incidence of aggressive prostate cancer?

www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/259518

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that in patients with colorectal adenomas, a type of polyp that is the precursor for most colorectal cancers, blood levels of lycopene were 35 percent lower compared to study subjects with no polyps.

www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/78/6/1219

Growing tomatoes in diluted seawater significantly increased the levels of antioxidant vitamins C and E, says new research from Italy.

www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Does-seawater-improve-a-tomato-s-antioxidant-punch

Regular consumption of both green tea and foods rich in lycopene resulted in a synergistic protective effect, stronger than the protection afforded by either, the researchers also noted.

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/135/12/3037S

Additional Sources

whfoods.com
sciencedaily.com/