It’s good to know what foods are high in lycopene because this substance can really help someone, especially when it comes to prostate cancer.
For example in a study around 140 rats were given a formula that would induce cancer on them. Then about half of them were given tomato paste with lycopene while the other half took a placebo paste that did not have lycopene. The result was that the group that took lycopene was above 25% less likely to be killed by the cancer.
It’s not just prostate cancer that lycopene can help with this nutrient can also increase someone’s protection from other cancers as well such as lung, stomach, breast, cervix cancers and some more as well.
Another way that lycopene can help someone’s health is with heart disease. Heart disease usually happens but not always, due to clogging of arteries caused by cholesterol. A study in Harvard tested around 40 thousand woman for eleven years. Yea, it’s fairly mind boggling how they tested that many woman, maybe it’s a big reason for high tuition costs.
The result was that woman who ate 7 servings or more of tomato paste had a 30 percent reduction of cardiovascular disease, which has to do with heart health. More health benefits of lycopene are increasing sperm count in men, reducing the chance of kidney disease and reducing toxins and free radicals in a person.
Lycopene is found highest in fruits and vegetables. This is because it’s a carotenoid which serves plants by converting the power of sunlight into usable energy.
Caratenoids are also antioxidants which serve to reduce toxins and free radicals. Can you guess what the number one source of lycopene is? I’ll give you a hint we already talked about it in this article. That’s right tomatoes are the highest in lycopene nutrients.
So maybe pizza and spaghetti isn’t so bad, depending on the carbs. The next biggest source of lycopene is in watermelons, which I love especially on a really hot day.
Another great idea is on a cold day have some tomato soup. Grapefruit has a lot of this substance as well but the only problem is that only so many people like the taste, how about you do u like the taste of this fruits? Throwing some parsley and Basel spice on food is another great way to get lycopene as well as eating asparagus, onions, chilies, and carrot juice like V-8.
Besides eating fruits and vegetables another source someone can get this nutrient with a supplement.
Now before you go out and purchase the first brand that you see there is some important things that you should know. For example how do you know if a brand is safe? How do you know what vitamins and nutrients to consume as well as the amount? To get these answers check out a FREE eBook that I have written by clicking on “How to Choose a Good Supplement.”