The redder, the better!
Tomatoes – keeping you young from the inside out!
Tír na nÓg – land of eternal youth, must have been overgrown with tomatoes as no other food has the anti-aging properties as this versatile fruit. The tomato is a true all-rounder – not only does it thrill the taste buds and brighten the dinner table, it is also a powerful weapon against many diseases. Although tomatoes are now available year-round, the wonderful qualities of tomatoes are at their best when they are in season from July through September. In the area of food and phytonutrient research (phyto = plant), nothing has been hotter than the studies on the lycopene found in tomatoes. Lycopene is the compound responsible for the colour of tomatoes and belongs to a group of compounds called carotenes. These plant pigments give your favorite fruits and vegetables their familiar orange, red, and brown colour. The deep red colour of a well-ripened tomato screams “lycopene” and is a much better choice than the hard, tasteless unripened tomatoes that are ever more present in the vegetable aisles. As an antioxidant, lycopene is extremely potent in fighting free radical damage and preserving healthy skin cells. The major health benefits of lycopene include its ability to prevent heart and kidney disease, the decay of the brain and nervous system as a result of aging, fighting cancerous cells as well as to prevent DNA damage and cellular damage from aging. It seems there isn’t anything lycopene can’t do! Cosmetic companies are catching on too and are adding lycopene to many of their skincare products because of the anti-aging properties of lycopene which protect and repair skin cells. However, our grandmothers were ahead of the game by using rosehips and rosehip oil as part of their beauty regime. Rosehips, like tomatoes, are naturally rich in lycopene, vitamin C and other antioxidants which prevent aging and also treat scars or burns. There is a huge body of research supporting the role of lycopene in the prevention of prostate cancer with results indicating that a diet rich in tomatoes and tomato based foods can lower the risk of prostate cancer by 35%. It is also well documented that the protective and healing properties of lycopene extend to other major illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, macular degeneration and cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas and colon.
The best way to add more lycopene to your life is by eating fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene. You can find plenty of lycopene in any tomato product such as tomato soup, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato juice, even ketchup!. Lycopene is one of the few phytonutrients that becomes more bioavailable with cooking or processing. However choose organic tomato products as they have been shown to have 3 times more lycopene than non-organic products as well as having less salt, sugar or other harmful ingredients. Tomatoes aren’t the only food that contains lycopene so if you’re not a fan of tomatoes, you can also load up on watermelon, red grapefruit and guava.
If you have grown your own tomatoes this summer and are lucky enough to have a glut of them – make up your own tomato sauce, chutneys or soups and preserve them for the cooler months ahead. A great way to eat them now is to team them up with some broccoli to make a supper that will knock the socks off the ills that plague us. Another area of research which looks at the synergy of different nutrients (the way in which they interact with each other) show that the individual anti-cancer properties of both broccoli and tomatoes are greatly enhanced when the two are combined – sauté broccoli and chopped tomatoes gently with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil leaves, sea salt and voila! – a wonderful addition to any meal and a recipe for lasting youthfulness! Alas, if only Óisín had the benefit of reading this blog before he mounted his horse and rode out of Tír na nÓg!
