Tomato Sauce Helps Beat Heart Disease

By E.J. Mundell

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The secret really is in the sauce: scientists are singing the praises of the heart-healthy benefits of cooked tomatoes.

Cooking tomatoes seems to release their cache of a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. "Based on our findings, and other research showing lycopene can be an excellent antioxidant, we recommend that people eat tomato-based cooked foods," said Dr. Lenore Kohlmeier, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kohlmeier is lead author of a study appearing in this month's American Journal of Epidemiology.

Antioxidants are compounds which scientists believe help 'clean up' the potentially damaging byproducts of the body's oxidation processes, part of how the human body burns fuel.

The link between tomato sauce and healthier hearts echoes previous research, as reported by Reuters earlier this year, that suggested lycopene in cooked tomatoes might help fight various cancers.

During Kohlmeier's study, researchers examined fat samples drawn from two sets of European men, averaging 54 years of age. The first group had suffered a heart attack, while the second ('control') group was healthy.

The researchers compared levels of various plant-based antioxidants called carotenoids (which include lycopene, lutenes, and alpha- and beta-carotenes) between the two groups of fat tissue samples. The results, Kohlmeier says, were "a surprise." She originally thought beta-carotene (found in yellow and orange vegetables) would turn out to be the strongest heart-protector, but "we saw that lycopene was the strongest protective indicator."

Lycopene seems to be "released" from its tight cellular environment within fresh tomatoes by the oil and heat involved in the cooking process. Kohlmeier explains that that's why sauces supply the best tomato-based antioxidant punch.

Consumers who opt to cook tomatoes at home "shouldn't forget that you need a little bit of oil in the process," Kohlmeier says, since oil is a catalyst for lycopene release.

Ketchup contains lycopene as well. But, unfortunately, "it has too much salt," Kohlmeier says, "and people tend to eat it on things like french fries."

Lycopene is also found in pink grapefruit, guava, and watermelon -- any fruit that's naturally red. But since these foods are rarely cooked, their lycopene bioavailability -- the amount available for use by the body -- is probably as low as that of fresh tomatoes.

But a note of caution: the researchers stress that lycopene was only found to be a "marker" for raised tomato consumption in healthier individuals. This means that lycopene has not been conclusively labeled as "the" protective agent in tomato sauce, but may merely point to "another protective substance." For this reason, Kohlmeier says she doesn't "want people to go out and take lycopene supplements."

She says the next step is investigating the relationship between antioxidants and the body's ability to cope with air pollution. "We're looking at whether we can reduce ozone damage to the lungs, by giving people foods rich in lycopene," Kohlmeier explained. SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology (1997;146(8):618-626)