Lycopene is a carotenoid antioxidant found in many red fruits and vegetables. It is the compound that makes both tomatoes and watermelon red. Lycopene is most widely known for its link to reduced risk of prostate cancer and its potential heart benefits. However, recent research has found benefits to the skin, heart, blood pressure, prostate, and bones.

New research recently published in The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry has found that lycopene may protect against inflammation in the lungs and reduce the risk of developing asthma.

In this randomized animal model, the researchers fed mice either a standard diet or a standard diet with lycopene added. The mice were fed an amount of lycopene that would be approximately equivalent to human consumption of 50mg per day. The mice were exposed to ovalbumin in order to induce asthma-like allergic airway response.

The researchers showed that lycopene significantly reduced levels numerous inflammatory cells. Most significant was a two-fold reduction in the number of eosinophil cells. Eosinophils are a type of white blood cells tied to allergic or asthmatic immune response. Additionally, there were large reductions in specific Th2 cytokines, key immune cells involved in the inflammatory response.

The researchers stated that "this study provides evidence that dietary supplementation with lycopene prior to and during the onset of allergic airways disease may be of clinical benefit in reducing eosinophilic infiltrates both in the lungs and systemically."

Lycopene is tightly bound to the fiber in fruit and vegetables, making it difficult for the body to extract from raw fruits and vegetables. Unlike some other nutrients, the level of available lycopene increases with cooking. For instance, tomatoes are rich in lycopene, but it is largely unavailable in raw tomatoes, while cooked tomatoes and tomato products are rich in lycopene. Lycopene is, however, available in raw watermelon.

Lycopene is also fat-soluble, which means that fat (such as olive oil) must be present with the cooked tomatoes for the body to be able to absorb the lycopene from the tomatoes. That is why our lycopene supplement is a softgel in a base of soy and corn oil.

1. Hazlewood, L. C., L. G. Wood, et al. (2010). "Dietary lycopene supplementation suppresses Th2 responses and lung eosinophilia in a mouse model of allergic asthma." J Nutr Biochem.