Question: Seeing the red pigment from packaged tomato-based sauces stain clothing and plastic, can I trust what they do in my gut?
Answer: Tomatoes are tasty and versatile, whether on toast for breakfast, in a salad for lunch, or in the sauce squirted onto a sausage that, yes, might get onto your white T-shirt. But while lycopene, the natural red pigment in tomatoes, has a staining potential, it also plays a beneficial role in improving cardiovascular health and potentially reducing the risk of prostate cancer for men.
Colourful fruits and vegetables contain many different types of health-promoting carotenoids, which explains why health authorities advise us to eat a variety of them. For example, tomatoes are an abundant source of lycopene, and this powerful antioxidant protects our body from free radicals. In excess, free radicals can damage cells and contribute to the progression of chronic diseases.
Lycopene may improve vascular system function. Studies find it has anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive effects and can lower LDL cholesterol levels, among other things. Hence, researchers have concluded lycopene can assist in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Tomatoes and lycopene have also garnered headlines for their potential role in helping to maintain youthful-looking skin. A 2011 study in the British Journal of Dermatology, for example, reported that adults who ate 55g of lycopene-rich tomato paste mixed with olive oil daily for 12 weeks had less short-term and long-term skin damage when exposed to UV radiation. In addition, the participants also had higher levels of procollagen, the precursor to collagen, which gives skin its structure.
Lycopene-rich tomatoes have also been the subject of considerable cancer prevention research. Perhaps the most promising findings relate to prostate cancer. Researchers used dietary and health data from Seventh-day Adventist Church members, who are known to encourage healthy lifestyles. Researchers enrolled about 28,000 men in the US in a study that monitored dietary intake and health status. Some 1226 of those men developed prostate cancer. However, those who ate canned and cooked tomatoes five to six times a week had a 28% decreased risk of prostate cancer compared with those who never ate it. This led researchers to conclude “consumption of canned and cooked tomatoes may reduce the risk of prostate cancer”. They noted, however, that because it was an observational study, it was possible there might have been another preventive factor.
![Cooking tomatoes in a pasta sauce will increase lycopene bioavailability. Photo / Getty Images](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/366NNMYGWFFNJHYQ62YZ5QBPTU.jpg?auth=b30f083594202947fcbed2e3b3fdd8ab7752f676bd4902d2edb9f6b143ef60ea&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Why only canned and cooked tomatoes? Lycopene is significantly affected by how the food is prepared and cooked. So, although lycopene is relatively poorly absorbed from raw tomatoes, it is dramatically more bioavailable in canned and cooked tomatoes, thanks to the heat-treatment processes. Likewise, cooking tomatoes in a pasta sauce will increase lycopene bioavailability. So, too, will serving tomatoes with a meal containing fat or oils, so you will better absorb the lycopene in a tomato salad if you sprinkle an oil-based dressing on it.
A tablespoon of tomato sauce is a better source of lycopene than a cherry tomato, but unfortunately, it also contributes a significant amount of unwanted sodium. Indeed, a valid criticism of many canned and processed foods is their sodium content. However, canned and frozen foods, including tomatoes, with no added salt or sugar are now readily available, as are lower-sodium tomato sauces.
Of course, all this positive health news does not alter lycopene’s ability to stain your clothes. But there is a silver lining to every cloud, and in this case, a research paper published last year highlighted the potential for the natural red pigments from tomato products to be used in place of synthetic dyes in the broader food industry. The bonus for food manufacturers would be that lycopene has antioxidant activity and could help reduce or eliminate some artificial preservatives in food. So, the red pigments in tomatoes could be coming to you in many different food forms in the future, providing a little health boost as well.
This article was originally published June 25 2022