Lycopene: Health Benefits and Top Food Sources - Healthline

Lycopene is a plant nutrient with antioxidant properties. It's the pigment that gives red and pink fruits, such as tomatoes, watermelons and ... HealthConditionsDiscoverPlanConnectShopSubscribeNutritionHealthyEatingMealPrepVitamins&SupplementsLifestyleDietsWeightManagementConditionsProductsNutritionEvidenceBasedLycopene:HealthBenefitsandTopFoodSourcesWrittenbyAlinaPetre,MS,RD(NL)—UpdatedonOctober3,2018AntioxidantCancerHeartHealthSunProtectionOtherBenefitsFoodSourcesSupplementsRisksBottomLineLycopeneisaplantnutrientwithantioxidantproperties.It’sthepigmentthatgivesredandpinkfruits,suchastomatoes,watermelonsandpinkgrapefruit,theircharacteristiccolor.Lycopenehasbeenlinkedtohealthbenefitsrangingfromhearthealthtoprotectionagainstsunburnsandcertaintypesofcancers.Thisarticlelooksatthehealthbenefitsandtopfoodsourcesoflycopene.ShareonPinterestStrongAntioxidantPropertiesLycopeneisanantioxidantinthecarotenoidfamily.Antioxidantsprotectyourbodyfromdamagecausedbycompoundsknownasfreeradicals.Whenfreeradicallevelsoutnumberantioxidantlevels,theycancreateoxidativestressinyourbody.Thisstressislinkedtocertainchronicdiseases,suchascancer,diabetes,heartdiseaseandAlzheimer’s(1).Researchshowsthatlycopene’santioxidantpropertiescanhelpkeepfreeradicallevelsinbalance,protectingyourbodyagainstsomeoftheseconditions(2).Inaddition,test-tubeandanimalstudiesshowthatlycopenemayprotectyourbodyagainstdamagecausedbypesticides,herbicides,monosodiumglutamate(MSG)andcertaintypesoffungi(3,4,5,6).SummaryLycopeneisastrongantioxidantthatcanprotectyourbodyagainstoxidativestressandoffersomeprotectionfromcertainenvironmentaltoxinsandchronicdiseases.MayProtectAgainstCertainTypesofCancerLycopene’sstrongantioxidantactionmaypreventorslowdowntheprogressionofsometypesofcancer.Forinstance,test-tubestudiesshowthatthenutrientmayslowdownthegrowthofbreastandprostatecancersbylimitingtumorgrowth(7,8).Animalstudiesfurtherreportthatitmaypreventthegrowthofcancercellsinthekidneys(9).Inhumans,observationalstudieslinkhighintakesofcarotenoids,includinglycopene,toa32–50%lowerriskoflungandprostatecancers(8,10,11).A23-yearstudyinmorethan46,000menlookedatthelinkbetweenlycopeneandprostatecancerinmoredetail.Menwhoconsumedatleasttwoservingsoflycopene-richtomatosauceperweekwere30%lesslikelytodevelopprostatecancerthanthosewhoatelessthanoneservingoftomatosaucepermonth(12).However,arecentreviewof26studiesfoundmoremoderateresults.Researcherslinkedhighlycopeneintakestoa9%lowerlikelihoodofdevelopingprostatecancer.Dailyintakesof9–21mgperdayappearedmostbeneficial(13).SummaryDietsrichintheantioxidantlycopenemayhelppreventthedevelopmentofprostatecancer.Itmayalsoprotectagainstcancersofthelungs,breastsandkidneys,butmorehuman-basedresearchisneededtoconfirmthis.MayPromoteHeartHealthLycopenemayalsohelploweryourriskofdevelopingorprematurelydyingfromheartdisease(14).That’sinpartbecauseitmayreduceheartdiseaseriskfactors.Morespecifically,itmayreducefree-radicaldamage,totaland“bad”LDLcholesterollevelsandincrease“good”HDLcholesterol(15,16).Highbloodlevelsoflycopenemayalsoaddyearstothelivesofpeoplewithmetabolicsyndrome—acombinationofhealthconditionsthatcanleadtoheartdisease.Overa10-yearperiod,researchersnotedthatindividualswithmetabolicdiseasewhohadthehighestbloodlycopenelevelshaduptoa39%lowerriskofdyingprematurely(17).Inanother10-yearstudy,dietsrichinthisnutrientwerelinkedtoa17–26%lowerriskofheartdisease.Arecentreviewfurtherassociateshighbloodlevelsoflycopenewitha31%lowerriskofstroke(18,19).Lycopene’sprotectiveeffectsappearparticularlybeneficialtothosewithlowbloodantioxidantlevelsorhighlevelsofoxidativestress.Thisincludesolderadultsandpeoplewhosmokeorhavediabetesorheartdisease(20).SummaryLycopene’sstrongantioxidantpropertiesmayhelpimprovecholesterollevelsandreduceyourlikelihoodofdevelopingordyingprematurelyfromheartdisease.MayProtectAgainstSunburnLycopenealsoappearstooffersomeprotectionagainstthedamagingeffectsofthesun(21,22).Inonesmall12-weekstudy,participantswereexposedtoUVraysbeforeandafterconsumingeither16mgoflycopenefromtomatopasteoraplacebo.ParticipantsinthetomatopastegrouphadlesssevereskinreactionstotheUVexposure(23).Inanother12-weekstudy,dailyintakeof8–16mgoflycopene,eitherfromfoodorsupplements,helpedreducetheintensityofskinrednessfollowingexposuretoUVraysby40–50%.Inthisstudy,supplementsprovidingamixoflycopeneandothercarotenoidsweremoreeffectiveagainstUVdamagethanthoseprovidinglycopenealone(24).Thatsaid,lycopene’sprotectionagainstUVdamageislimitedandnotconsideredagoodreplacementforusingsunscreen.SummaryLycopenemayhelpincreaseyourskin’sdefenseagainstsunburnsanddamagecausedbyUVrays.However,itisnoreplacementforsunscreen.OtherPotentialBenefitsLycopenemayalsoofferarangeofotherhealthbenefits—thebest-researchedonesinclude:Mayhelpyoureyesight:Lycopenemaypreventordelaytheformationofcataractsandreduceyourriskofmaculardegeneration,theleadingcauseofblindnessinolderadults(25,26).Mayreducepain:Lycopenemayhelpreduceneuropathicpain,atypeofpaincausedbynerveandtissuedamage(27,28).Mayprotectyourbrain:Lycopene’santioxidantpropertiesmayhelppreventseizuresandmemorylossexperiencedinage-relateddiseases,suchasAlzheimer’s(29,30,31).Maycontributetostrongerbones:Lycopene’santioxidantactionmayslowdownthedeathofbonecells,reinforcebonearchitectureandhelpkeepboneshealthyandstrong(32).Sofar,mostofthesebenefitshaveonlybeenobservedintest-tubeandanimalresearch.Morestudiesinhumansareneededbeforestrongconclusionscanbemade.SummaryLycopenemayhelpreducefeelingsofpainandhavebeneficialeffectsonyoureyes,brainandbones.Morestudies,especiallyinhumans,areneededtoconfirmtheseresults.TopFoodSourcesAllnaturalfoodswitharichpinktoredcolorgenerallycontainsomelycopene.Tomatoesarethebiggestfoodsource,andtheriperthetomato,themorelycopeneitcontains.Butyoucanfindthisnutrientinanarrayofotherfoodsaswell.Here’salistoffoodscontainingthemostlycopeneper100grams(33):Sun-driedtomatoes:45.9mgTomatopurée:21.8mgGuava:5.2mgWatermelon:4.5mgFreshtomatoes:3.0mgCannedtomatoes:2.7mgPapaya:1.8mgPinkgrapefruit:1.1mgCookedsweetredpeppers:0.5mgThereiscurrentlynorecommendeddailyintakeforlycopene.However,fromthecurrentstudies,intakesbetween8–21mgperdayappeartobemostbeneficial.SummaryMostredandpinkfoodscontainsomelycopene.Tomatoesandfoodsmadewithtomatoesaretherichestsourcesofthisnutrient.LycopeneSupplementsThoughlycopeneispresentinmymanyfoods,youcanalsotakeitinsupplementform.However,whentakenasasupplement,lycopenemayinteractwithcertainmedications,includingbloodthinnersandblood-pressureloweringmedications(34).Onesmallstudyalsofoundthat2mgofdailylycopenesupplementsduringpregnancycouldincreaseyourriskofpretermlabororlowbirthweight(35).Asasidenote,someresearchreportsthatthebeneficialeffectsofthisnutrientmaybestrongerwheneatenfromfoodsratherthansupplements(36).SummaryLycopenesupplementsmaynotbesuitedforeveryoneanddonotalwaysofferthesamebenefitsaslycopenefromfoods.PotentialRisksLycopeneisgenerallyconsideredsafe,especiallywhenit’sobtainedfromfoods.Inafewrarecases,eatingveryhighamountsoflycopene-richfoodsledtoaskindiscolorationknownaslycopenodermia.Thatsaid,suchhighlevelsaregenerallydifficulttoachievethroughdietalone.Inonestudy,theconditionresultedfromamandrinking34ounces(2liters)oftomatojuicedailyforseveralyears.Theskindiscolorationcanbereversedfollowingalycopene-freedietforacoupleofweeks(37,38).Lycopenesupplementsmaynotbesuitedforpregnantwomenandthosetakingcertaintypesofmedications(34,35).SummaryLycopenefoundinfoodsisgenerallyrisk-free.However,lycopenefromsupplements,especiallywhentakeninhighamounts,mayhavesomedownsides.TheBottomLineLycopeneisapowerfulantioxidantwithmanyhealthbenefits,includingsunprotection,improvedhearthealthandalowerriskofcertaintypesofcancer.Thoughitcanbefoundasasupplement,itmaybemosteffectivewhenconsumedfromlycopene-richfoodsliketomatoesandotherredorpinkfruits.FEEDBACK:WrittenbyAlinaPetre,MS,RD(NL)—UpdatedonOctober3,2018ReadthisnextTomatoes101:NutritionFactsandHealthBenefitsWrittenbyAddaBjarnadottir,MS,RDN(Ice)Thetomatoisaverypopularfruit/vegetable.Tomatoesarehighinmanynutrients,andalsocontainacancer-fightingsubstancecalledlycopene.READMORE11RedVegetableswithHealthBenefitsMedicallyreviewedbyNatalieButler,R.D.,L.D.Redvegetables,liketomatoesandbellpeppers,mayhelpreducetheriskofdiabetes,osteoporosis,andhighcholesterol.READMORETheTop9HealthBenefitsofWatermelonWrittenbyKerri-AnnJennings,MS,RDandFatimaHallal,APDWatermelonisadeliciouslowcalorietreatwithnumerousbenefits.Herearethetop9waysthatwatermeloncanimproveyourhealth.READMORE4WatermelonRindBenefitsMedicallyreviewedbyAtliArnarsonBSc,PhDThepossiblebenefitsofwatermelonrindincludebetterhearthealth,andevenabettertimeinbed.READMORE8HealthBenefitsofGuavaFruitandLeavesWrittenbyMaryJaneBrown,PhD,RD(UK)Guavasarepackedwithnutrientsandhavespecialpropertiesthatcanboostyourhealth.Hereare8reasonstoeatthem,backedbyscience.READMORE10Science-BasedBenefitsofGrapefruitWrittenbyBriannaElliott,RDGrapefruitisatropicalfruitthat'srichinvitamins,minerals,andantioxidants.Herearethetop10healthbenefitsofgrapefruit,allbackedby…READMORE