Healthier with Tomatoes

Consuming a lot of tomatoes; approximately 10 servings in a week, could lower the risk of having prostate cancer down to 18 percent, based on a recent research from Great Britain. The 10 servings don not have to be raw tomatoes or salad tomato, but also the tomatoes contained in pasta sauce, pizza, juice and tomatoes in baked beans.

Experts from the universities of Bristol, Cambridge and Oxford observed the diets of 14,000 British men in range of ages 50 to 69. The researchers also reported that men who consumed 5 servings or more of vegetables or fruits a day had a 24 percent lower prostate cancer risk than that of men who consumed fruit and vegetable averaged 2,5 servings a day. Tomatoes contain antioxidant lycopene that is believed to be responsible to lower risk of prostate cancer. Moreover, they also reported that men who consumed selenium found in pasta and bread and calcium provided in dairy products also had lower risk of prostate cancer.

Lycopene is a strong antioxidant; it’s the carotenoid pigment that is responsible for the tomatoes’ red color. In numerous large studies, it has shown a protective function to combat prostate, rectal and colon cancer, and also heart disease. Lycopene is much more provided to the body from cooked tomatoes rather than raw ones. Furthermore, since it is fat soluble, the cooked tomatoes need to be eaten with some fat to enhance absorption. However, it is also suggested that homemade marinara sauce would be a healthy staple. You can combine marinara with olive oil and keep it in the freezer. Otherwise, if you don’t like tomatoes much, you can also obtain lycopene from watermelon. It contains 40 percent more lycopene than the tomatoes with same weight.

The lycopene gained from watermelon is as well-absorbed as the one from tomatoes. And, luckily, you don't have to cook the watermelon to get the same benefits from tomatoes.