Lycopene is a compound found in some foods and is part of a group of compounds known as carotinoids. Beta carotene and lutein are other examples of carotinoids. Carotinoids help protect your body from disease caused by free radicals, which are caused by environmental damage, radiation, cigarette smoking and some drugs. Free radicals may contribute to cancer and other chronic diseases.
Tomatoes
Ripe red tomatoes provide one of the best sources of lycopene. Deep red tomatoes may contain as much as 50 mg of lycopene per 2.2 lbs. of tomatoes. Cooking tomatoes makes the lycopene more accessible for use by the human body, so consuming cooked tomato sauce, tomato ketchup, tomato soup, stewed tomatoes and other cooked tomato dishes are excellent ways to get lycopene into your diet. A study of 32 prostate cancer patients showed that those who consumed tomato sauce daily for three weeks showed lower prostate specific antigen levels and reduced signs of cell damage.
Other Fruits
Red-fleshed watermelon yields almost 13,000 mcg of lycopene in a 1/4-melon wedge. Other red- tinged fruits such as guavas and red grapefruit also contain lycopene in small amounts, about 1,700 mcg in a half a grapefruit.
Rose Hips
Rose hips are the bright-red, berry-like fruits that form at the base of a rose blossom, after the blossom fades. You can dry rose hips and use them to make tea, or cook them fresh, mash them and make jelly. Rose hips yield vitamin C along with lycopene. Pick hips from roses that have not been sprayed with pesticides.
Fats
Though fats and oils don't contain any lycopene, they help make lycopene more available to your body. So tomato sauce mixed with a little olive oil to make pasta sauce yields more usable lycopene than tomato juice with no oil added. A little butter on a broiled grapefruit halve will make the lycopene more usable for your body.
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