Lycopene is a valuable secondary plant substance that is found in various types of fruit and vegetables. Canned tomatoes contain it in particularly large quantities. Men in particular should benefit.
Tomato paste and canned tomatoes are usually found next to the pasta on the supermarket shelf. The latter are known to fill you up, which are also not particularly healthy. You really can’t say the same about the neighbors on the shelf. Eating canned tomatoes has advantages, especially for men who want to have children. Men should eat more tomato paste – FITBOOK explains why.
What is lycopene?
Lycopene belongs to the group of carotenoids and, as a fat-soluble pigment, is responsible for the red color of the fruit that contains it. In addition to rose hips, for example, these are mainly tomatoes. The more intense the coloring, the more lycopene is in it.
Why does tomato paste contain more of it than fresh tomatoes?
Canned tomatoes provide even more lycopene than fresh tomatoes, especially small ones (such as cherry tomatoes). On the one hand, the corresponding tomatoes are allowed to ripen longer and are processed immediately after harvesting. Second, they are heated for preservation, and this process increases the body’s ability to utilize lycopene. The substance is found in tomato paste in a particularly high concentration.
Also interesting: Canned fruit and vegetables are healthier than you think
Usability – Lycopene inhibitor iron
While heating aids in the absorption of lycopene, there is also one factor that can inhibit its beneficial effects: iron, according to a 2019 Ohio State University study that FITBOOK previously reported on elsewhere. Whether it’s from supplements or iron-rich foods (red meat, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts), iron is said to completely neutralize the effects of lycopene. The detailed reason at the cell level has not yet been determined exactly, but the researchers suspect that the iron switches between lycopene and dietary fats and thus prevents the fat from transporting the (among other things cancer-inhibiting) active ingredient into the bloodstream. If you want to top up your lycopene account – and that should be the case for both men and women – it is best not to eat tomatoes in combination with iron-rich foods.
Positive properties for health
This background was already known to nutritional science. There is also sufficient evidence that the immune-boosting lycopene protects against free radicals and thus against cancer. The following finding, which researchers at the British University of Sheffield determined in a study in 2019, is newer: In men, the secondary plant substance is said to improve fertility. You can read more about this in the specialist journal “European Journal of Nutrition”.
Lycopene study of sperm size, shape and structure
The 2019 study involved 60 healthy men between the ages of 19 and 39. Half of them received dietary supplements with high concentrations of lycopene and the other half received placebo preparations – with none of the subjects knowing which group they were in. Sperm and blood samples were taken before and after the twelve-week investigation phase, with astonishing results: «The structural improvement in the size and shape of the sperm was dramatic,» says Prof. Allan Pacey from the University of Sheffield, who evaluated the study. Pacey is a global authority on male reproductive medicine.
Because the measurement was carried out using a computer program, human errors are largely excluded and the results are therefore particularly reliable; not least because it was a blind study.
Also interesting: foods and snacks that improve sperm quality
The researchers acknowledge that the work needs to be replicated on a larger, more representative scale. The data are very encouraging, but one cannot (yet) speak of a possible fertility cure. Rather, Prof. Pacey and the team believe that the antioxidants are the key factor in lycopene and that they are associated with improved sperm quality, among other health benefits.