Improve your natural SPF with lycopene-rich tomatoes
Here’s another reason to eat lots of antioxidant-full plant-foods – recent studies are again showing that certain foods can improve the skin’s ability to protect and heal itself – both by increasing its natural spf and by reducing cancerous skin tumors.
One study showed that supplementing the diet with tomato paste reduced the number of sunburns and improved participants’ natural SPF by up to a third:
“A study out of Athens Medical School in England found people who ate about a quarter cup of tomato paste every day, suffered fewer sunburns and raised their skin’s natural SPF by a third. The antioxidants in dark greens like spinach disperse in your body and destroy free radicals from the sun.”
Food really is medicine in this instance. Damage caused by the sun is almost instantly fixed by the nutrients circulating around your system from the foods you’ve eaten.
While many people assume that raw foods are always more nutritious, this isn’t always the case – especially for certain antioxidants. One of the most widely studied and very beneficial carotenoids in tomatoes is lycopene. Lycopene in tomatoes actually multiples when cooked, so tomato paste – which has been cooked for long periods of time and condensed – is one of the richest sources of this powerful antioxidant.
A separate study showed that patients who already had skin cancer could reduce their cancerous tumors by over fifty percent with just one serving of leafy greens per day. Isn’t food amazing! Don’t forget to maximize your absorption of the nutrients in these vegetables by eating them with a little fat- extra-virgin olive oil is the best.
Check out our meal plans for fool-proof delicious weekly plans that will rev up your diet with antioxidant-rich, unprocessed foods. Eat Happy!