The secret of eternal youth? Try a tomato!

The secret of eternal youth? Try a tomato

By FIONA MACCRAE - More by this author » Last updated at 22:35pm on 28th April 2008

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Health benefits: A tomato can help keep skin looking youthful, according to a new study

At this rate, scientists will have to come up with a better description for the tomato than mere \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'superfood\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'.

While it has long been credited with cutting cholesterol and preventing some cancers, the fruit now appears to have two more healthgiving benefits.

Protection against sunburn and helping keep the skin looking youthful are the latest pluses, a study has found.

Professor Mark Birch-Machin said tomatoes could provide a cheap and easy way of improving health.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I went into the study as a sceptic,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" he added. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"But I was quite surprised with the significance of the findings.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

Researchers at Manchester and Newcastle universities recommend two tomato-based meals a day for optimum health.

Possible menus include a glass of tomato juice with breakfast and a salad later or tomato soup for lunch and pasta with a tomato sauce for dinner.

To test the fruit\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s ability to protect the skin, ten volunteers were asked to eat five tablespoons of tomato paste mixed with olive oil every day for three months.

Another ten had a daily dose of olive oil - minus the tomato paste.

Tests using ultra-violet lamps showed the tomato-eaters were a third better protected against sunburn at the end of the study than at the start, the British Society for Investigative Dermatology\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s annual conference heard.

Other tests suggested the tomato-based diet had boosted production of collagen, the protein that keeps skin supple.

If that were not enough, the fruit also protects our mitochondria - the elements of cells which turn the food we eat into energy.

Professor Birch-Machin, of Newcastle University, said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Being kind to our mitochondria is likely to contribute to improved skin health, which in turn may have an anti-ageing effect.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

The researchers stressed, however, that their findings were not an excuse to throw away the suncream. Professor Lesley Rhodes, a Manchester University dermatologist, said: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"People should not think tomatoes in any way can replace suncreams but they may be a good additive.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"If you can improve your protection through your diet then over several years this may have a significant effect.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

She added: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"These weren\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t huge amounts we were feeding the group. It was the sort of quantity you could easily manage by eating a lot of tomato-based meals.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"

The fruit\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s benefits are credited to lycopene, the pigment behind its distinctive red skin.

Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant capable of mopping up free radicals - the harmful molecules linked to cancer - is made easier for the body to absorb when tomatoes are cooked or processed.

永葆青春的秘密？吃个番茄吧

永葆青春的秘密？吃个番茄吧

在当今这样的速度，科学家们将不得不想出一个更好的对番茄的描述，对番茄的描述不应不仅仅是“超级食品”。

一直以来，番茄都被视为能降低胆固醇和防止某些癌症的水果，但从现在看来还有两个有益于健康的好处。最近在一个研究中发现，它能避免阳光灼伤和帮助皮肤保持青春，这两种好处都被新增加了。

Mark Birch-Machin教授说，西红柿是一个既廉价又简便的改善健康的方法。“我作为一个怀疑者走进这个研究，”他补充说。“但我惊讶它们被发现后的意义。”

研究人员在曼彻斯特和纽卡斯尔大学推荐了两个以番茄为基础的能使人体处于最佳健康状态的一日三餐。其菜单中，早餐为要喝一杯番茄汁，午餐为饭后一份沙拉或番茄汤，晚餐为番茄意大利面。

为了测试番茄的能力，10位志愿者被要求每天吃五汤匙番茄酱混合橄榄油，持续3个月。另10位志愿者则要求每天吃五汤匙，但只有橄榄油，其中要减去番茄酱。测试使用超紫外灯，在去年年底的研究结果显示，比在刚开始时，吃番茄的人中三分之一能更好地保护皮肤，防止皮肤晒伤，这结果在英国的社会调查皮肤科的年度会议上公布了。其他的测试表明以番茄为基础的饮食能推动产生胶原蛋白，该蛋白可以使到皮肤保持柔软。

如果这还不够，番茄还可以保护我们的线粒体，一种把我们吃的食物转化为能量的基础细胞。英国纽卡斯尔大学的Birch-Machin教授说：“对我们的线粒体有好处则有助于改善皮肤的健康，反过来，则可能有抗老化效果”。

研究人员强调，他们的研究结果并不是一种丢弃防晒乳的借口。曼彻斯特大学皮肤科教授Lesley Rhodes说：“人们不应该认为番茄可以完全替代防晒乳，但番茄可能是一个很好的添加剂。”“如果你能在几年之后，通过你的饮食提高你的防护力，那么这可能就影响重大了。”她补充说：“我们并没有对喂养组喂很多。你通过吃很多以番茄为基础的膳食，你就可以轻松拥有了”。

番茄的益处主要是来源于其中的番茄红素，在番茄里的独特的红色色素。番茄红素有很强的抗氧化能力和清除自由基的能力，而自由基为与癌症有关的因素。

番茄经煮熟或加工处理后其功能成分更容易为人体吸收。