Tomatoes prevent aging and fight dementia! Nutritionist: 3 tips to get the most lycopene

An Italian proverb says: "When tomatoes turn red, the doctor's face turns green." Sweet, delicious, thin-skinned and juicy tomatoes are very active in both Western and Chinese cuisines. Just a little bit can add flavor to the whole meal. However, in the eyes of people who regard tomatoes as "evil fruits", they only think that they have a soft and rotten texture and a strong grassy taste. Just one bite will make you "frozen."

However, tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. In addition to preventing skin and blood vessel aging, they can also help stabilize blood sugar, prevent obesity, and are a good helper in fighting cancer and dementia! Just follow nutritionist Cai Yixuan’s 3 tips to make tomatoes more delicious and maximize the lycopene’s value!

Tomato Story - The "evil fruit" with thin skin and juicy texture

Tomatoes are a nightmare for many people. However, to the still conservative Western world a hundred years ago, tomatoes were a sensational, impure "evil fruit" with their bright red luster, strong aroma and juicy texture. They were forbidden fruit that everyone wanted to eat but did not dare to.

However, it was not until the Italians began to add tomatoes to cooking, and tomatoes became the soul of Italian cuisine such as pasta, borscht, and pizza, that people gradually began to accept tomatoes. Taiwan began to introduce and plant it in large quantities during the Japanese colonial period. In addition to selling it as a fresh food, it is also processed and exported in large quantities.

Read on to find out that tomatoes, besides being delicious, have 4 other benefits!

4 benefits of tomatoes

In addition to adding flavor and layers to dishes, tomatoes are also rich in nutrients such as lycopene, vitamin C, dietary fiber, and can provide 4 major benefits to the human body!

Benefit 1: Anti-aging

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene and vitamin C, both of which can eliminate free radicals in the body and achieve antioxidant effects. In particular, the antioxidant effect of lycopene is better than that of vitamins A, C, and E, and is very helpful in delaying aging and maintaining youthful skin.

Benefit 2: Prevent dementia

Lycopene's powerful antioxidant power can not only maintain beautiful skin, but also prevent neurotoxic damage to cerebral cortical neurons and inhibit oxidative stress. Studies have also shown that adults with higher concentrations of lycopene in their bodies have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. For patients who already have Alzheimer's disease, increasing the concentration of lycopene in their bodies can reduce the mortality rate.

Benefit 3: Cancer prevention

Lycopene can protect the body's healthy cells and delay the progression of cancer by inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, inhibiting the cell cycle at different stages, and promoting cell apoptosis. Studies in recent years have shown that lycopene has a preventive effect on male prostate cancer, and women with higher lycopene concentrations in their bodies have a lower risk of breast cancer.

Benefit 4: Stabilize blood sugar and control weight

Large tomatoes have only 19 calories per 100 grams, and the dietary fiber content is not low. On average, they can provide 1 gram of fiber per 100 grams. Eating them in moderation can increase satiety, help form stool and promote defecation, making them a good partner when losing weight. At the same time, tomatoes have a low GI value (GI value = 30), which will not cause fluctuations in blood sugar. It can also prevent the body from producing too much insulin, which leads to fat accumulation and increases the risk of obesity.

If you want to maximize the CP value of lycopene, nutritionists eat it this way...

Eating tomatoes raw has a low CP value! 3 tips to get more lycopene

Most fruits and vegetables have the most complete nutrients when eaten raw and uncut. However, the lycopene in tomatoes is different from other nutrients. Instead, it needs to be cooked and processed before it can be better utilized by the human body. Nutritionist Cai Yixuan reminds you of 3 key points to get enough lycopene!

Heat, cook, and blend into juice

The lycopene in tomatoes exists in the cell walls and can only be effectively released after being heated and cooked by frying, boiling, or chopping and blending. Therefore, if you want to consume lycopene, you can get more lycopene by blending tomatoes into fresh juice, chopping them into salsa, or cooking them into soup or other dishes than by eating them raw.

Consuming with fat

Lycopene is a fat-soluble nutrient. It is best to add oil when cooking, or eat it with foods containing oil, so that the lycopene can be digested and absorbed by the human body along with the oil, and the utilization rate will be better.

After processing

Processed foods are usually accused of being "high in calories" and "lacking in nutrition". However, if tomatoes are processed and made into tomato sauce or tomato juice, the lycopene in them is actually more easily absorbed and utilized by the human body. Therefore, next time you make pasta, pizza or other tomato dishes, you might as well use tomato sauce or tomato juice to make it delicious and increase your lycopene intake!