Lycopene is the pigment that is in fruits and vegetables. These fruits and vegetables include:
- Pink grapefruit
- Tomatoes
- Watermelon
Red color
Lycopene gives the fruits and vegetables their color of red. And it also has strong antioxidant ability. Recent studies have shown that a diet that is rich in lycopene is linked with a risk that is lower of prostate cancer as well as cardiovascular disease.
Lycopene Antioxidant
Lycopene antioxidant is used by many to help in the protection of heart disease, atherosclerosis (also known as ‘hardening of the arteries’) and cancer of the:
- Prostate
- Lungs
- Breast
- Bladder
- Ovaries
- Colon
- And pancreas
Some even use it for cataracts and asthma. It is also used for the treatment of human papilloma virus or HPV infection which is a major cause of uterine cancer.
Carotenoids
It is one of a number of pigments referred to as carotenoids. You can find dietary lycopene which comes from tomato products such as tomato paste or tomato juice. A cup of tomato juice contains approximately 23 mg of lycopene. The processing of raw tomatoes provides a form of the product which is easier for the body to use. This is also lycopene that is used in supplements comes from.
How it works
Lycopene is one of the more dominant antioxidant that is believed to help in the protection of cells from damage. This is the reason why there is a lot of interest in research of lycopene’s role, in prevention of cancer.
Treatments
It is also used to treat:
- Age-related maculopathy treatments
- Cancer diagnosis treatments
- Asthenozoospermia treatments
- Asthma treatments
Health shops
It can be found in health shops as:
- All-Trans Lycopene
- Cis-Lycopene
- Licopeno;
- Lycopene
- Psi-Psi-Carotene
Lycopene
Lycopene is believed to be safe when used in the correct amount taken by mouth.Supplements for daily use contain up to 120 mg of lycopene and has been safe when used in treatments for up to one year.