Natural Remedies
What are the potential health benefits of lycopene consumption?
Lycopene is a vital phytonutrient (healthy substance found in plants) that is contained in certain foods like tomatoes and grapefruit.
Benefits
Can be good for an enlarged prostate
May support healthy blood pressure
Can act as a blood thinner
Can help in the regulation of blood lipids
Can act as anti-inflammatory
A powerful antioxidant
Helps boost detoxification in the body
Has some antitumor properties
Can help protect against things like hydrogen peroxide
Where to get it
The ability of lycopene to be absorbed and concentrated in the body increases when you heat the substance. For example, if you consumed tomato paste, you would get about 4x more lycopene than if you consumed raw tomatoes.
Additionally, olive oil increases the absorption of lycopene even more. This is because lycopene is a fat-soluble phytonutrient, so it requires bile to absorb it. Therefore, adding fat to a meal containing lycopene can help support the absorption of it.
Sources of lycopene:
Tomatoes
Grapefruit
Goji berries
Gac
Asparagus
Parsley
Basil
Last updated: Sep 07, 2024 16:08 PM