As if I neededanotherreason to love tomatoes.
New inquiry present at the 2025 American Physiology Summit held in April just yield me one : it rick out that lycopene — the antioxidant chemical compound that give way love apple and watermelons their gorgeous red color — may play a powerful use in support liver health and even preventing system of weights profit .
You already know I ’m obsessed with tomatoes . I teach a whole course of instruction on farm them successfullyin our hot Texas climate , and I am currently compose a book on how to produce them successfully that will be write in 2027 ( stay tuned ! ) . But this study caught my attention because it links something gardeners already love — fresh tomato — with something so many of us are sour on : healthier habits and better metamorphosis .
New study on tomato consumption and liver function
Here ’s the short interlingual rendition : researcher at Northern State University were inspired by an earlier study where oestrogen supplement help zebrafish avoid fleshiness , even when they were overfed . Since lycopene regard some of the same biologic pathways as estrogen , they wondered — could eating tomatoes have a similar effect ?
Tomatoes and metabolism: What this means for you
So investigator fed zebrafish gamey - fat diet and supplement them with dissimilar combinations of tomato extract , lycopene , and estrogen . The group that receivedtomato extractdid easily than the one that catch estrogen supplements alone . The love apple - fed fish not only resisted free weight gain more effectively , but also showed advance in blood loot levels — propose good rich metabolic process in the liver .
Even better ? The irrefutable issue kicked in after justone calendar week .
That ’s huge . It means that small , uniform change to what we eat — like tossing a few more homegrown tomatoes into our meal — could start poke at our metabolism in a better direction pretty quickly .
Not all tomatoes are created equal
The investigator are continuing their work to understand how lycopene interact with liver function , inflammation , and cistron reflection , and how different tomato miscellany might vary in their impact . ( You bed I ’ll be observe that close — because if ‘ Juliet ’ tomatoes terminate up being good than ‘ renown , ’ I want to know . )
Grow tomatoes, support your health
Of course , while lycopene supplements exist , the researchers made it clear that the health benefits of whole food — like literal tomatoes — are better understand and far more reliable . I always say : if you’re able to grow it , cook it , and eat it , that ’s your best bet .
So if you involve a little nudge toplant more tomatoes this time of year — or a understanding to reach for the right ones at the market — this is it .
skill just keep confirming what gardeners already know : brisk , vivacious , homegrown nutrient is sound for the body and the soul .
To record the field nonfigurative , gohere .
