Lycopene May Protect Against Eye Disorders

University of Maryland researchers suggest that carotenoids, particularly lycopene may protect the eye against oxidative damage and play a critical role in visual function. The identification of lycopene and a diverse range of dietary carotenoids in ocular tissues suggest that these carotenoids, as well as other nutrients found in tomato-based foods, may work in concert with lutein and zeaxanthin to provide protection against age related macular degeneration and other visual disorders.

Evidently, cooking and processing of tomato products makes lycopene fmore readily available to the body, indicating that there may be an added health benefit to eating processed tomato foods like tomato soup, pasta sauce and vegetable juices. Ohio State University researchers found that standard daily servings of tomato sausce, tomato soup, and V8 vegetable juice were each effective interventions to significantly increase blood concentrations of lycopene. Lycopene levels increased among study participants by 192% (pasta sauce), 122% (soup) and 92% (vegetable juice) respectively, and plateaued at a new baseline after only 14 days of consumption.