Higher Levels of Lycopene Associated with Less Stiffness in the Arteries

Isn’t the power of fruits and vegetables miraculous? This morning I was reading this article about the benefit of consuming foods that are high in lycopene if you want to prevent hardening of the arteries.

Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant I try to incorporate into our diet everyday. Good sources of lycopene include:

Tomatoes
Watermelon
Pink Grapefruit
Guava

The lycopene in tomatoes is better absorbed when they are cooked and consumed with a little fat. Lycopene is a fat-soluble substance that requires fat in your digestive tract so that you properly absorb the nutrient. About a year ago I read an article that watermelon that sat in a room temperature environment contained more lycopene.

Lycopene has also been linked to a reduction in many forms of cancer, which you can read about here.

Now that I have lycopene on the brain I think there will be something with tomatoes on the menu tonight at our house.