You might not know aboutthe antioxidant, Lycopene , but it has become of more and more interest to researchers lately . Antioxidants have newly recognized disease- combating characteristics that can help protect the cells in your body from the destructive effects of free radicals. They also help enhance the immune system and fight diseases.
Because of lycopene, antioxidant rich fruit and vegetables like tomatoes look red, and it might be useful in fighting prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease. Research has so far proven that eating 10 servings daily of food containing lycopene can actually reduce the risk of prostate cancer by over thirty percent. Antioxidants have also been shown to help defend against heart disease and lycopene might help defend against osteoporosis and assist men suffering from fertility issues .
Lycopene, unlike some antioxidants, is not naturally manufactured by the body. This is totally different from an antioxidant like Glutathione, which is only made by the body. In other words , the only way we can add to our lycopene levels is to find foods rich in this antioxidant.
Tomatoes, and that includes sauces, juices, and surprisingly catsup , are the best available source of lycopene . Other red-colored foods like watermelon and papaya also contain lycopene, but they don’t contain as much as tomatoes. Another little known fact about lycopene is that we absorb it more easily from processed tomato foods . No one is really certain why that is the case , but cooking tomatoes with just a bit of oil improves the body’s lycopene absorption rate .
If you’re a man and want to protect yourself against prostate cancer or heart disease, consuming tomato products is the best way of increasing your lycopene levels. There are a few quick ways of doing this. Your can add tomato sauce to pasta. We can all admit that’s a simple enough idea for anyone to follow. And you can have tomato soup with your dinner , tomato juice or other tomato based vegetable beverage . You can also eat watermelon or pink grapefruit for breakfast , but you’ll need to eat more of these fruits since they’re not as rich in lycopene.
I imagine you could pour catsup on everything you eat, but even with the great benefits from the lycopene , that just sounds so wrong ! However , there’s no getting around that with the benefits credited to Lycopene, it seems like a pretty safe guess that the antioxidant rich red foods will be a smart part of our diet for the foreseeable future although you can also look for an antioxidant supplement that includes lycopene if tomatoes are just not an option .