Contents:
- Medical Video: Lycopene: Powerful Antioxidant with Multiple Benefits for Men, Cancer & Heart
- Various benefits of lycopene for health
- 1. Helps prevent cancer
- 2. Keep eyes healthy
- 3. Maintain heart health
- 4. Relieve neuropathic pain
- 5. Keep bones healthy and strong
- The benefits of lycopene are more effective than fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than supplements
Medical Video: Lycopene: Powerful Antioxidant with Multiple Benefits for Men, Cancer & Heart
The human body cannot produce lycopene so it must be obtained from food sources. Lycopene itself belongs to the family of carotenoid antioxidants, which give red fruit and vegetables. What are the benefits of lycopene for health?
Various benefits of lycopene for health
As explained above, lycopene is included as an antioxidant. In the body, antioxidants counteract free radicals to protect you from various risks of degenerative diseases. Call it arthritis, heart disease, atherosclerosis, stroke, hypertension, gastric ulcer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cancer, and premature aging.
That is why, there have been many studies focusing on observing the benefits of lycopene. Among others are:
1. Helps prevent cancer
Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant group, which can prevent and slow down certain types of cancer. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth, UK, reported that lycopene is beneficial for inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells and prostate cancer.
The benefits of lycopene on the development of prostate cancer are also found by other studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, after involving 46,000 men who were asked to consume tomato sauce.
2. Keep eyes healthy
Free radicals can cause eye health problems. In an experiment by the Department of Pharmacology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the research team found that lycopene might have the ability to prevent or delay the development of cataracts in most cases.
Lycopene also has a protective effect on age-related macular degeneration. This condition is the main cause of blindness in the elderly. In 2012, an article in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine stated that consumption of lycopene can protect you from macular degeneration thanks to its antioxidant content and anti-inflammatory properties. Lycopene is found to slow oxidative stress in eye cells which can cause macular degeneration. Even so, the scientific evidence is still limited.
Lycopene and other carotenoids may also be useful in the treatment of glaucoma.
3. Maintain heart health
A review study published in the journal Maturity in 2010 concluded that consumption of high-dose lycopene supplements (at least 25 mg per day) can reduce total cholesterol by up to 8 mg / dL and LDL cholesterol by 10.35 mg / dL, after observing 12 previous studies. This review study also mentions consumption of lycopene supplements can decrease systolic blood pressure.
Decreasing cholesterol and blood pressure can protect you from the risk of heart disease and keep your heart healthy.
4. Relieve neuropathic pain
Neuropathy is a chronic pain condition caused by nerve damage and soft tissue damage. Many things can cause neuropathy, ranging from alcohol abuse to diabetes. Sometimes, neuropathy does not have a definite cause.
In studies published in the European Journal of Pain it was shown that increasing food intake containing lycopene has the potential to relieve chronic pain caused by neuropathy.
5. Keep bones healthy and strong
In addition to vitamin K and calcium, the intake of lycopene is equally important to keep bones healthy and strong. The antioxidant properties of lycopene help ward off oxidative stress which causes bone fragility. Lycopene also facilitates bone formation and increases bone density.
The benefits of lycopene are more effective than fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than supplements
Now there are many supplements and vitamins that are enriched with lycopene. However, supplements are not strictly regulated by medical drugs by the BPOM so that the exact dosage rules are unknown. In general, the dose of lycopene supplements will be adjusted to the age, health conditions and needs of each person. Reporting from WebMD, daily supplements containing 120 mg of lycopene are safe to use for up to one year.
It must be understood, high doses and sustained over a long period of time from consuming lycopene supplements can actually reduce the body's immune system to fight disease. So, consult with your doctor before using any supplements.
If you want to get the benefits of lycopene to maintain a healthy body, it's better to get it from its natural sources. Lycopene can be found in watermelons, guava, papaya, mango, purple cabbage, and carrots. Even so, the most lycopene content is in fresh tomatoes and processed tomato products - such as tomato juice, tomato sauce, or tomato paste. The content of lycopene in tomato products is also more easily absorbed by the body so you can reap the benefits of lycopene to the fullest.
