Secret 19: Enjoy Pizza ... Guilt Free

If the last secret could have been titled 'Beautiful Beta Carotene', then this one could be called 'Lovely Lycopene'.  

Lycopene - a powerful anti oxidant that you can easily obtain in your food

Perhaps the U.S. publishers of Sally Beare's book '50 Secret's of the World's Longest Living Poeple' chose the title 'Enjoy Pizza..Guild Free' for the chapter on lycopene since American pizza is such a popular dish in the U.S. In a country in which so much depends on wheels, pizza is important enough to be delivered to your home on wheels. However, I guess that Sally Beare may have cringed when this title was chosen.  Where are your fresh, steamed vegetables on pizza?  Your raw salads?  Your fruit?  Your organic goat cheese? 

The best thing about pizza is lycopene, and lycopene is found in greatest abundance, according to Beare, in cooked tomatoes. Just like beta carotene, lycopene is an antioxidant and, according to Beare, antioxidants are the heroes of a healthy longevity diet. In fact, lycopene is more powerful than fellow antioxidants beta carotene and vitamin E. How powerful?  For one, if you are at risk of developing prostrate cancer, then lycopene is your friend. One Harvard study documented that men who enjoy 10 or more servings a week of some sort of cooked tomato have a 45% lower chance of getting prostrate cancer. While nutritionists tend to recommend eating vegetables as raw as possible or lightly steamed, in the case of lycopene the cooking process is beneficial.  Heat breaks down the tomato cell walls. Another important delivery system of lycopene is the presence of fat. Since lycopene is fat-soluble, the cheese in pizza helps make lycopene available to the body.  

Lycopene absorption is enhanced by the presence of fat

In the same study tomato juice was found to be much less effective in delivering lycopene. Why?  One reason might be the absence of a fatty messenger. Also, tomato juice is doused in salt (if you ever run out of salt, use commercially produced tomato juice like the kind that is served on planes.  Check out the sodium content next time you fly!)

And since lycopene is fat-soluble, it is not surprising that this antioxidant is preferentially deposited in fat-storing areas of the body such as the testes (which ensure that the extremely high energy-burning sperm  - they rocket across the galaxy of the female genital system to be the first to fertilize that elusive egg - are properly equipped with vital boosters), liver, adrenal gland and skin.  

Lycopene also may protect against:

• lung cancer
• cancer of the gastro intestinal tract
• cervical cancer
• cardiovascular disease
• high cholesterol
• forgetfulness as evidenced by the 1986 'Nun' study in which Snowden showed that women with the lowest level of lycopene in their blood were the most challenged by mental tasks

So where do you find this powerful carotinoid antioxidant?  It is the pigment that is found in many red fruit and vegetables: tomatoes, watermelons, red pepper, rhubarb and papayas. Although red, strawberries and cherries do not contain lycopene. The highest concentration of lycopene is found in the Southeast Asian fruit gac. Since gac is not readily available in the U.S., your best source would be cooked tomatoes. 

A powerful source of lycopene, especially when cooked and served with fat

Since lycopene cannot be stored for a long time, you need to regularly include cooked tomatoes in your meals.  

If you do not care for tomatoes, raw or cooked, consider making yourself some fresh watermelon juice at home.  Nothing is faster and simpler to make and tastes so refreshing on a hot summer day.  Simply cube up some fresh watermelon, throw it in a blender and - voila.

a fresh, home-made glass of lycopene

To ensure better absorption of lycopene and obtain a good dose of omega-3s at the same time, add a tablespoon of fresh flaxseed oil to the blender.  If you wish, decorate with a few leaves of freshly harvested peppermint (you can buy little affordable peppermint plants at most grocery stores starting in May). 

Take-home message: make sure you color your plate with the reds from tomatoes, watermelons, peppers, rhubarb, papaya and other red vegetables and fruit!