Jake & Amos on Lycopene and Your Health

Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant found in fruits and vegetables that may help prevent prostate cancer and heart disease.

Vitamin C, E, beta carotene and Lycopene are excellent antioxidants found in most fruits and vegetables. Lycopene is a pigment that gives vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes, their red color. Several studies suggest that consumption of foods rich in Lycopene is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer and cardio vascular disease. Lycopene is better absorbed by the body when consumed in processed tomato products. On average it processes 2.5 times better than fresh tomatoes.

Lycopene helps prevent degenerative diseases by donating its electrons to oxygen free radicals thus quenching and neutralizing them before they can damage cells. Free radicals are molecules that have at least one unpaired electron. By donating an electron, Lycopene can stabilize the free molecule. There have been many recent studies into Lycopene so that it can be used to its fullest potential in fighting these diseases. A heart study measuring Lycopene in fatty tissue of 1,374 men showed that it could reduce the risk of a heart attack by 50%. It has been seen that Lycopene can be used as an anti-carcinogen, greatly reducing the risk of some cancers. In a six-year study of 47,000 males health professionals at Harvard Medical School found that eating tomato products more than twice a week was associated with a 21-34% reduced risk of prostate cancer. In 1995 Harvard School of Public Health studied further into this and found that those men who ate more than 10 servings of tomato foods a week were 45% less at risk to prostate cancer; those with only 4-7 servings were 20% less at risk.

The University of Illinois found that comparing women with the highest levels of Lycopene and those with the lowest showed that the highest levels were five times less likely to have cervical cancer. Tomatoes are therefore a very important part of our diet."

Update by Karl Harrison.
>> Molecule of the Month for September 1998

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