There is no doubt processed tomatoes are one of the
best sources of lycopene. For example, 1 cup of canned, tomato puree (with or
without added salt) contains 54,385 micrograms of lycopene.
According to The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, 80 percent of lycopene consumed by the average American is in the
form of packaged tomato products such as ketchup, pizza sauce and tomato juice.
Because those foods are highly processed and often contain added sugar, you may
consider getting some of your lycopene from one or more of the following raw
fruit sources:
Fruit or vegetable
|
Lycopene (micrograms per cup)
|
Cherry tomatoes (raw)
|
3,834
|
Grapefruit (pink and red)
|
3,264
|
Guava
|
8,587
|
Papaya
|
2,651
|
Watermelon
|
6,979
|
As with any fruit, I recommend you eat these
lycopene-rich fruits only occasionally. For optimal health, you'll want to keep
your total fructose intake below 25 grams (g) daily, including fructose from
whole fruit. If you have diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure or
insulin resistance you'll do better by limiting your daily intake of fructose
to 15 g until your condition improves.
Article Source: Dr Mercola at Mercola.com
