Fruits and vegetables that are high in lycopene include tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit, pink guava, papaya, gac, and rosehip.

Unlike other fruits and vegetables, where nutritional content such as vitamin C is diminished upon cooking, processing of tomatoes increases the concentration of bioavailable lycopene. Lycopene in tomato paste is four times more bioavailable than in fresh tomatoes. Thus processed tomato products such as pasteurized tomato juice, soup, sauce, and ketchup contain the highest concentrations of bioavailable lycopene. Because lycopene is so insoluble in water and is so tightly bound to vegetable fiber, the bioavailability of lycopene is increased by food processing. Cooking and crushing tomatoes (as in the canning process) and serving in oil-rich dishes (such as spaghetti sauce or pizza) greatly increases assimilation from the digestive tract into the bloodstream. Lycopene is fat-soluble, so the oil is said to help absorption.

“Cooking tomatoes in oil encourages intestinal absorbtion and results in a two-to-threefold rise in plasma lycopene concentrations,” states Dr. Giovannucci. “Tomato sauce is one of the best lycopene sources.”

Lyc-O-Mato® which is the only all-natural tomato complex rich in lycopene, phytoene, phytofluene, tocopherols, phytosterols, phospholipids, beta carotene and other essential phytonutrients. It is extracted from non-genetically modified tomatoes grown in Israel that contain four times the lycopene content of tomatoes grown elsewhere. Avoid using other supplements, some of which simply contain synthetic lycopene without the tomato’s other important components.

Lyc-O-Mato® contains all of the tomato’s nutrients in their own oil. So if you are not consuming ½ cup to one cup of processed tomato products weekly, it provides an excellent alternative.

To avoid confusion and make well-informed decisions, always read the labels and choose those products containing the most complete and natural tomato ingredients to help ensure you receive the maximum benefits.