LYCOPENE IS THE MOST POTENT FREE RADICAL QUENCHER OF ALL CAROTENOIDS

Tomatoes are delicious and refreshing when fresh-picked or chopped and mixed into a salsa.  And we hear how good they are for your health.  And they are.  But sometimes we find ourselves disappointed when we buy them fresh where they seem to lack all the rich taste and nutritional value.  And that is true.  That's not just folklore or rumor.  If you can find a delicious, vine-ripened tomato, those tend to be the most flavorful.  But the truth is that the tomatoes found inside a can of tomato sauce is actually more flavorful with a higher concentration of Lycopene.   

It's the Lycopene that gives tomatoes their health benefits.  Lycopene is one of 600 or more carotenoids.  Carotenoids accumulate in the skin where their protective compounds go to work.  I use the word protective because these carotenoids protect your skin from UV rays, working in this way as an anti-wrinkle food and anti-aging food.  What's not to like?  

But the health benefits of Lycopene don't end there.  According to NCBI, Lycopene is the most potent of all carotenoid free radicals.  

Lycopene, the most potent singlet oxygen quencher of all carotenoids, is a possible treatment option for male infertility because of its antioxidant properties. 

A singlet oxygen quencher is an antioxidant that destroys single oxygen free radicals.  

Dietary carotenoids seem to participate in the prevention of photooxidative stress by accumulating as antioxidants in the skin.  

Lycopene is the most potent of all carotenoids.  In fact, carotenoids have more powerful antioxidant activity than vitamin E.  

Carotenoids are known to be powerful O₂ (¹Δ_g) quenchers,⁽⁶⁾ and their activities are much higher than that of α-tocopherol and other biological antioxidants.

When the two are combined, Lycopene with vitamin E, they are a powerful compound for reducing erythema.

Stahl, et al ⁽³⁹⁾ found that combination of a relatively low dose of total carotenoids (25 mg/day) and vitamin E (RRR-α-tocopherol; 335 mg/day) significantly diminished the erythema (redness of the skin) on dorsal skin induced by illumination with UV light after 8 weeks.  

Eat your tomatoes and your watermelon and your red apples.  Not only is Lycopene good for your skin, it has terrific affects on your overall fertility, while enhancing your immunity.  Incorporate this food in your diet. 

other beneficial effects via nonoxidative mechanisms in the testis, such as gap junction communication, modulation of gene expression, regulation of the cell cycle and immunoenhancement. 

To achieve these results, however, one must take 4-8mgs per day for 4 to 12 months.  Fine.  You want these health benefits?  Great.  Take Lycopene on a daily basis for a full year and voila!

Okay, so reports on how much lycopene one should get on a daily basis varies.  The above NCBI article cites 4-8mgs per day.  But this Telegraph article says that one needs closer to 22mgs per day.  

One serving of cooked tomatoes a day, and several servings of fresh tomatoes a week. You should ideally eat 22 mg of lycopene a day; there are 27 mgs in two tablespoons of tomato purée. On a gram-for-gram basis, cherry tomatoes contain more lycopene than large tomatoes.

So far no mention of how many milligrams are found in an average-sized tomato.  

How should I eat them?

Here, canned is better than fresh. Lycopene is better absorbed when it is consumed in processed products, such as baked beans and tinned tomatoes, rather than as whole tomatoes. Choose tomato-based pasta sauces rather than creamy ones. Organic tomato ketchup is particularly good, and tomatoes are a fine excuse for a Bloody Mary.  

That surprised me.  You get more Lycopene in processed products. 

Tomato-based foods offer the highest concentrations of lycopene, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Because carotenoids are fat-soluble nutrients, cooking tomatoes with oil or eating cooked tomatoes with small amounts of fat increases the amount of lycopene that your body can absorb. Tomato sauces, pastes, soups and juices contain more lycopene than the fresh vegetable. One cup of canned tomato paste provides 75 mg of lycopene, compared to 5 mg[s] in one cup of raw tomatoes, the Linus Pauling Institute notes. Watermelon, pink, grapefruit, guava, apricots and papaya contain lycopene. These nutritious foods also provide vitamin C, potassium, folate and other antioxidant pigments.

That should be the final word on tomatoes and lycopene.  You get more Lycopene in processed foods. The one citation above even pointed to ketchup.  I used to think that Ronald Reagan was crazy when he and his commission cited ketchup as a vegetable, but apparently it has enough nutrients in it to have some protective effect against aging, illness, and a more youthful look.  

This was interesting.  If you consume too much carotenoids, they will deposit in your skin and turn your skin yellow, red, or orange.  I once consumed too much carrot juice one night and woke the next with orange arm pits.  Literally.  I freaked out and went to the Emergency Room the afternoon of the next day where the doctor asked if I had consumed any carrot juice.  Guilty as charged.  The best way to get the right amount is not really through supplementation but through food.  Your body will select the amount of Lycopene it needs and discard the rest.