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Yes, that’s true, but there are a lot of other fruits that have lycopenes in them that don’t need to be cooked, like watermelon and guava, for instance.
The USDA says each of these contains about 20mg of lycopene:
2 medium ripe tomatoes
1 cup canned tomatoes
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup tomato soup
3/4 cup tomato juice
And 2 Tbs. ketchup has 5mg.
fyi =)
Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition – North America
Shrub berry – more lycopene than tomato
According to scientists from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the berries from autumn olive, a shrub, could become an alternative source of lycopene.
ARS horticulturist Ingrid Fordham learned that the brilliant-red berries were edible and turned them into delectable jams. She noticed that the red pigment settled to the bottom of her juicer and wondered if it might be one of the carotenoids, especially lycopene, the pigment that colours tomatoes red.
ARS nutritionist Beverly Clevidence analysed the berries.
The analysis showed that, ounce for ounce, the typical autumn olive berry is up to 17 times higher in lycopene than the typical raw tomato.
According to Clevidence, who heads ARS’ Phytonutrients Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, lycopene has generated widespread interest as a possible deterrent to heart disease and cancers of the prostate, cervix and gastrointestinal tract.
80-90 per cent of the US intake of this nutrient comes from tomatoes and tomato products.
Autumn olive – elaeagnus umbellata – is a multistem shrub covered with silvery green leaves and a profusion of red berries in late September and October, according to Fordham, who is with ARS’ Fruit Laboratory in Beltsville. It has become a popular erosion-control shrub along highways because it thrives in poor soil.
A few nurseries sell cultivated varieties of autumn olive as a food source in order to attract wildlife. But there are few reports of people eating the sweet-tart, pea-size berries. Fordham collected berries from five cultivated varieties and six naturalised plants for analysis in Clevidence’s laboratory.
The berries contained the same carotenoids as tomato: lycopene, beta-carotene and lutein. The big difference was in the lycopene levels. They ranged from 15 to 54mg per 100g, compared to an average 3mg/100g for fresh tomatoes, 10mg/100g for canned tomatoes, and 30mg/100g for tomato paste.
An article on autumn olive appears in the September online issue of Agricultural Research magazine.
I wouldn’t use the word “activate”. The research actually states… “increasing the lycopene content that can be absorbed by the body”
2 reasons I don’t care…
1. As a Raw Foodist, I am sure that I eat so many more tomatoes than normal and this more than makes up for the difference.
2. Everyone’s so crazy about Lycopene because it’s an antioxidant and it also helps fight Free Radicals. In other words they are scared of Cancer. Which I am not!
The only reason this is even making the News is because it’s being used as an argument agaist a 100% Raw Food lifestyle.
Scientists find out little bits of information, then they think they have figured something out and eveyone goes crazy over some new discovery. The percentage we actually know about anything isn’t even worth considering compared to what there is to be known. I’ll trust a scientists opionion on a Tomato when they can make one in the labratory. I’ll trust their opionion on the human body when they can make one of those.
In all the advances of science, they have yet to create even the simplest form of LIFE. They are nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, a complete waste of time. I am Raw because it’s obvious. Here we are on this planet with raw live food growing all around. Why should I change anything? I should just eat the food the way it has been prepared for me. The first person to cook was the first scientist. Someone who thought they had a good idea.
Red and pink grapefruits also have lots of lycopenes in their raw state, as well as yellow and red bell pepper.
Having a balanced Raw diet will work wonders for your body, that’s for sure.