“Cooked tomatoes contain more lycopene than raw ones. That’s because cooked tomatoes become more concentrated when they lose some water. One cup of cooked tomatoes has about 7,300 micrograms of lycopene, as opposed to about 4,600 in raw tomatoes.”
Alice H. Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University came to this conclusion in a study that appeared in the New York Times. This is old news for Gustiamo, we’ve been shouting for years that our canned and jarred tomatoes are not only delicious and harvested at the peak of ripeness, but they are more nutritious than fresh ones. What’s fascinating of this new study is that preserved/cooked tomatoes have almost DOUBLE the amount of lycopene.
In an old episode of the Food + Science = Victory! Podcast on Freakonomics Radio, Stephen Dubner and J. Kenji López-Alt discuss with investigative journalist Jo Robinson about how and why preserved tomatoes are healthier than fresh tomatoes.
“Canned tomatoes are actually better for us than a fresh, organic, locally harvested, heirloom tomato. Because the nutrient in tomatoes, which is proving to be supportive of heart-health, is called lycopene. And when lycopene is heated, it is transformed into a form that we find easier to absorb. And the best source of lycopene in the entire store is tomato paste.”
One teaspoon of strattu can revolutionize your food in terms of flavor + health! If cooking concentrates tomatoes and amps up lycopene content, making it more available for the body, it’s just natural that tomato concentrate aka Sicilian strattu is a lycopene bomb.
Cooking tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil further boosts lycopene
In the same NYT study, Rachel Kopec, an associate professor of human nutrition at the Ohio State University, lets us in another secret to boost the health benefits of cooked tomatoes: cooking them with extra virgin olive oil.
“And because lycopene is fat-soluble, eating tomatoes along with a bit of healthy fat can help your body absorb the lycopene, Dr. Kopec said. She recommended drizzling tomatoes with olive oil”
Cool, right? Think about all the nutrients you are getting next time you eat your canned and jarred tomatoes on your pasta, pizza and stews.
