Lycopene is well known to support bone health.
Lycopene naturally gives foods liketomatoes, watermelons, and sweet red peppers their pink/red color.
That means some supplement products may not contain what the label says.
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For example, there’s emerging evidence that lycopene has a role in supporting the health of your bones.
Bone Health
There is growing evidence that lycopene can help maintain bone strength.
Additionally, the authors carried out a low-quality pilot (small-scale) study with 68 women.
The study showed that supplementing with tomato sauce (high in lycopene) helped retain bone strength.
This research is exciting, but larger studies are needed to confirm these results.
Cancer
Lycopene is an antioxidant.
In theory, antioxidants could protect against cancer by preventing damage to DNA and cell structures.
Unfortunately, the current research on lycopene is too limited in quality to ensure that lycopene decreases cancer risk.
Also, as lycopene intake and levels in the blood increased, cancer risk decreased further.
However, there’s currently no evidence that the lycopene itself is directly causing this reduced risk.
Goodblood pressureandcholesterolmanagement are essential to heart and vascular (cardiovascular) health.
However, additional evidence is emerging to support lycopene’s role in keeping blood vessels healthy.
In a clinical study, lycopene benefited endothelial function.
“Endothelial function” refers to factors related to the health of the inner lining of blood vessels.
Interestingly, this improvement was only seen in people with cardiovascular disease, not among healthy participants.
More research is necessary before lycopene can be confirmed to benefit cardiovascular health.
Lycopene Supplement Facts
What Are the Side Effects of Lycopene?
Though lycopene has health benefits, it can still cause undesirable effects.
There is, however, limited research on the side effects of lycopene.
It’s considered to be relatively harmless.
If you do not feel well after taking lycopene stop the supplement and contact your healthcare provider.
Lycopene supplements should generally be avoided during:
Dosage: How Much Lycopene Should I Take?
Lower doses are less likely to cause the benign skin condition, lycopenemia, discussed above.
Lycopene is fat-soluble, which means it is better absorbed in the gut when taken with fat.
Other supplements, such as calcium, can also reduce absorption.
Anorectic drugs:Theoretically, drugs that decrease food consumption (anorectic drugs) overall may decrease lycopene intake.
Lutein and zeaxanthin are mainly found in dark green vegetables.
Vitamins E and C are also common antioxidants in our diet.
Vitamin E is found in many foods, including almonds, sunflower seeds, avocados, and tomatoes.
Vitamin C is well-known for its presence in citrus fruits but is also in tomatoes and many other foods.
Foods with the highest amounts of lycopeneare watermelon, tomatoes, grapefruit, papaya, and mangoes.
Certain tomato products, including sun-dried tomato and tomato paste, are potent sources.
A fresh, medium-sized tomato has about 3.2 milligrams of lycopene.
Supplement Forms
There are three different types of lycopene supplements available.
Lycopene may be sold in a “synthetic” form, created in a lab.
Lycopene from each source appears to act the same way, once inside your body.
This typically includes the antioxidants vitamin E and vitamin A among other nutrients.
Summary
Lycopene is a plant chemical called acarotenoid.
It may also help with high blood sugar.
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