Guest guest Posted September 23, 2002 Report Share Posted September 23, 2002 Taken from a pamphlet sent to us by Blue Cross/Blue Shield: Scientists believe the beneficial ingredient in tomatoes is lycopene, a natural peigment that gives them their deep-red color. Lycopene has potent antioxidant properties and is believed to be the key to the tomato's coancer-fighting powers. Surprisingly, tomatoes that have been crushed and cooked appear to be a better source of lycopene than those that are raw. Researchers suspect that mashing and cooking releases more of the lycopene from the tomato, so it's free to be absorbed by the body. Like other nutrients in the carotenoid family, lycopen dissolves in fat. This means that your body will absorb it better when you accompany your tomato dishes with a little oil. If you cook with an oil free tomato product, you can get much the same benefit by serving a salad with fresh vinegar and olive oil dressing. But oil is still fat; there is no suggested ratio of tomatoes to oil, so just use good sense. On canned tomatoes: Canned tomatoes can be more nutritious than fresh because they're picked red and ripe and put through high technology processing that retains all the goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.