Lycopene is the substance that gives plants like tomatoes, grapefruit, and watermelon their distinctive color. It is also a powerful antioxidant. Research shows that diets that contain a lot of lycopene may help prevent prostate cancer and heart disease.
In 1995, group of Harvard researchers examined the effects of eating tomatoes among almost 50,000 men. The men who ate 10 or more serving of tomatoes per week were as much as 34% less likely to get prostate cancer.
It is well known that antioxidants are effective in preventing heart disease. Modern research shows that males who have a lot of lycopene in their system have are much less likely to go into cardiac arrest. The amount of lycopene in the body can be ascertained by looking at the amount of lycopene in the fat. The risk of cardiac arrest was 50% lower for research subjects with the highest level of lycopene in their fat as compared to those with the lowest level of lycopene.
Lycopene is not naturally manufactured by the human body, so it has to be taken via supplementation. The best sources of lycopene are foods that contain tomatoes like marinara sauce, tomato juice, and ketchup. This group of foods provides four fifths of the lycopene eaten in America, and most people get most of their lycopene from it. Other fruits and vegetables, like watermelon and pink grapefruit, have lycopene in them as well.
by the Harvard School of Public Health
It has been asked by millions of people “If you eat a healthy diet, do you need to take vitamins?” Not very long ago, the common answer from most experts and professionals would have been an emphatic "no". However, today there's quite a bit of evidence that taking a daily multivitamin makes good sense for most adults.
by the Mayoclinic Staff
Given the popularity and availability of “high potency” amino acids, antioxidants, enzymes and herbs, it might seem like dietary supplements could replace food as a source of the nutrients the body requires. However, this is not the case.
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