This red pigment will keep your health in the black. Lycopene's antioxidant properties can cut your risk of heart attack by 48 percent and reduce prostate-cancer risk by 21 percent. Fruits and vegetables provide important nutrients including antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene and lycopene. Antioxidants have disease-fighting properties that protect cells from damage by substances called free radicals. Antioxidants also may help keep your immune system healthy and reduce your risk for cancer and other diseases.
Lycopene is a pigment that gives vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes, pink grapefruit and watermelon their red color. It also appears to have strong antioxidant capabilities. Several studies suggest that consumption of lycopene-rich foods is associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Lycopene is not produced in the body, so you can only obtain its benefits by eating lycopene-rich foods. Canned tomato products, such as spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, ketchup and pizza sauce are by far the major sources of lycopene in the typical American diet. Other fruits and vegetables such as watermelon and pink grapefruit also provide lycopene, but in smaller amounts.
Conditions
- Cancer risk
- Prostate
Recommendations
- Get 20 mg daily from tomatoes, pink grapefruits, watermelons, and guavas
Interactions & Side Effects
- None
Disclaimer: This website is for information purposes only. By providing the information contained herein we are not diagnosing, treating, curing, mitigating, or preventing any type of disease or medical condition. Before beginning any type of natural, integrative or conventional treatment regime, it is advisible to seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.
