NUTRITION

Indispensable lycopene

In recent years, the topic of lycopene is very hot. Because of its strong ability of scavenging free radicals and the effect of preventing various cancers, lycopene is favored by people. In fact, in addition to anti-cancer and beauty, lycopene is also an essential healthy choice for mothers and infants. So, what are the benefits of lycopene, known as "plant gold", and how to supplement it?

What is lycopene

Lycopene is a natural pigment contained in plants. It is red and is one of the substances that cannot be produced by the human body and must be taken from the diet. It is an oxygen-free carotenoid and can also be used as a natural food additive. Lycopene is mainly present in the ripe fruits of the tomato Solanaceae, and it is found in watermelon, grapefruit and guava. It was first separated from the berry yam by Hartsen in 1873. Later, after continuous research by scientists, it was found that it also has various effects such as delaying aging, suppressing tumors, and improving human immunity.

Promote development and improve immunity

Lycopene is the most abundant in tomatoes. To obtain a large amount of natural lycopene, edible tomatoes are the first choice. In addition to lycopene, tomatoes are rich in minerals and vitamins. These substances can promote the growth and development of the body, prevent birth defects, and prevent night blindness and vision loss, which is helpful for the treatment of various eye diseases.

At the same time, lycopene can also effectively remove free radicals in the human body, because free radicals can cause lipid peroxidation to form a variety of products, these products are related to diseases such as autoimmune diseases, so removing free radicals can protect organs and tissues Protected from harm, while strengthening the body’s immunity. Therefore, for babies, lycopene can not only promote the baby’s growth and development, but also improve its body immunity, thereby growing up healthily.

Good helper for pregnancy

Some Indian scholars have pointed out that lycopene can increase the sperm count and vitality of infertile men, thereby curing infertility. This is because lycopene can effectively prevent prostate hyperplasia in men, at the same time can increase the concentration and vitality of sperm, make the quality of sperm better, and reduce the risk of men suffering from infertility. Therefore, men in pregnancy can eat more foods containing lycopene, which is helpful for eugenics.

In addition, lycopene can reduce the oxidative stress response in the body, thereby preventing the occurrence of osteoporosis. And pregnant women are responsible for the baby’s nutritional supply, which can easily cause calcium deficiency in the body and cause osteoporosis. Therefore, pregnant women can take lycopene properly to prevent osteoporosis.

The weapon of beauty loving women

People’s skin exposed to sunlight is prone to melanin pigmentation, long spots, skin aging and relaxation, and lycopene can resist ultraviolet radiation, which plays a role in protecting skin from these damages. The results showed that the content of lycopene in the skin exposed to sunlight was 31% - 36% lower than that in the skin not exposed to sunlight, and the content of other components was almost the same.

Moreover, lycopene is one of the most powerful antioxidants found in nature, and it is also the most effective antioxidant. Its antioxidant capacity is 3.2 times of β - carotene and 100 times of vitamin E [1]. Therefore, lycopene, a strong oxidant, is a powerful weapon for beauty loving women to delay aging.

How to get lycopene effectively

Many people are used to washing tomatoes directly and eating them raw. However, relevant data show that the lycopene absorption rate is not satisfactory when eating tomatoes directly. This is because lycopene is a fat-soluble pigment, insoluble in water, insoluble in methanol, ethanol, etc., soluble in ether, hexane, acetone, and soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform, benzene, carbon disulfide, etc. It is more conducive to absorption after cooking.

At the same time, lycopene exists mostly in all-trans structure in tomatoes and other fruits, but the cis isomer of lycopene is more easily absorbed than the trans. Many people know that heated ketchup is easier to absorb than unheated ketchup, because lycopene will change from trans to cis after heating the ketchup in corn oil for 1 hour.

Finally, it should be reminded that although lycopene has many benefits to the human body and has no side effects, it does not need to be intentionally added in large quantities. You know, everything has a degree, and there is a balance in the body. For healthy people, as long as you eat the right amount of tomatoes in your daily diet, you can get the lycopene needed in the body.