Lycopene benefits may include a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and skin aging. The main benefits have to do with the nutrient’s antioxidant activity.
There are hundreds of different antioxidants in fruits, vegetables and some other foods. The bright color of the plant is often indicative of the kind of antioxidant it contains. In this case, the color is red.
Tomatoes and tomato products are the best known dietary sources. It is often said that the nutrient concentration increases with cooking, which is unusual because cooking usually reduces the nutrient content of fruits and vegetables.
If you have ever made spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, you know that the seeds, skins and much of the water are discarded. So, it isn’t really that cooking increases the nutrient concentration. It is that only the lycopene-rich parts are included in sauces and pastes. Other than the skin, the richest parts are the reddest.
You might know that antioxidants are important for neutralizing free radicals. What you might not know is that some antioxidants are more powerful than others, particularly against certain free radicals.
For example, free radicals known as singlet oxygen species are produced in the skin during exposure to UV light from the sun. The antioxidant lycopene is more powerful than any other when it comes to neutralizing singlet oxygen.
You may have seen a lycopene supplement advertised as an anti-aging supplement. Depending on the ingredients it contains and how well it is designed, the supplements could actually de-age your skin. The antioxidants can repair damage that has already occurred.
When it comes to preventing cancer, most of the evidence is in the area of prostate cancer prevention. Most natural health experts and many doctors recommend that their male patients take a good lycopene supplement every day.
Major health agencies like the FDA would not agree with that recommendation. It is very hard to prove that a nutrient prevents a disease. It takes years of study just to say that it might help.
What has been proven again and again is that people who watch their weight, avoid cigarette smoking, exercise and eat a variety of fruits and vegetables seem to live longer, healthier lives.
If you are impressed by the lycopene benefits, you might be interested in a multi-nutritional formula that contains it. Instead of getting just one antioxidant, you can get them all.
Featured Product
A company that produces a Lycopene supplement which supplies all the benefits mentioned above is Xtend-Life Natural Products.
Their multivitamin supplement, Total Balance, is the most complete nutritional supplement we’ve found so far. For example, not only does it contain Lycopene it also contains other important nutrients for heart and overall health like L-carnosine, N-acetyl cysteine, green tea and coenzyme Q10.
Wishing You Good Health – The Editors
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