Lycopene and selenium are antioxidants, which help protect your body from substances called free radicals, which can damage your cells and increase your risk of developing chronic diseases. While selenium also is classified as a trace mineral, lycopene belongs to a family of compounds known as carotenoids, which are the substances responsible for giving fruits and vegetables their red, yellow or orange color.
Benefits of Lycopene
According to the Linus Pauling Institute, several research studies published in various medical journals, including the "Journal of Clinical Nutrition" and the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute," have discovered that a diet high in lycopene is associated with a lower risk of cancer. The strongest evidence was connected to cancers of the lung, stomach and prostate, although there was some evidence connecting high lycopene with lower incidence of cancers of the cervix, breast, prostate, colon, mouth, pancreas, rectum and esophagus. It is important to note that the lycopene administered to participants in the study was in the form of tomato-based foods. That being said, you must consider whether the lycopene was solely responsible for lower cancer levels or if the other vitamins, carotenoids and antioxidants in tomatoes also played a role.
Food Sources
Tomatoes are the richest food sources of lycopene, but other good sources include watermelon, papaya, guava, pink grapefruit and apricots. Researchers have found that lycopene levels are higher after consuming cooked tomatoes than raw tomatoes or tomato juice. Given this information, researchers concluded that the lycopene in cooked foods is more readily absorbed than uncooked lycopene. Consuming lycopene with oil also can increase its absorbability.
Benefits of Selenium
Your body needs selenium to regulate the thyroid hormones that help control all of your metabolic processes. Selenium also might help your body fight cancer. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, the "Biological Trace Element Research Journal" also found that consuming 200 micrograms of selenium a day for a total of eight weeks can increase your immune response to foreign substances in the body. Studies published in the journal have also found that people who have lower levels of selenium in their body have higher incidence of cancer. This conclusion is more apparent for men than women.
Food Sources
Meat, seafood, cereal, grains, dairy foods, fruits and vegetables all contribute to your dietary intake of selenium. It is important to note that the selenium content in plant foods depends on the selenium content of the soil in which they are grown. The selenium content of meat depends on the soil content of the plants on which the animals grazed.
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