How to Understand the Health Benefits of Ketchup

It's the all American condiment. As it turns out it has health benefits too. Here's how to understand the health benefits of ketchup.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Ketchup is as American as apple pie. Who doesn’t love a healthy serving of ketchup served next to an order of crispy French fries? Although French fries may not be the healthiest food you can put on your plate, when you add ketchup you may be doing your body a favor. What are the health benefits of ketchup?

2. The Health Benefits of Ketchup
   
   The health benefits of ketchup come from the high concentrations of lycopenes found in each and every bottle of America’s favorite condiment. Lycopenes are a form of carotenoid, phytonutrients responsible for giving tomato its brilliant red color as well as its well known health benefits. Although most foods lose some of their nutritional value when processed, ketchup is the exception. The processing of the tomatoes used to make ketchup helps to release the lycopene so it can be better absorbed and used by the body.

3. What About the Health Benefits of Lycopene?
   
   What’s so important about this carotenoid found in tomatoes and ketchup? Lycopene has been shown in some studies to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, most notably prostate cancer. Although a recent study called this association into question, the study was criticized for a variety of reasons and many experts still believe that lycopene has anti-cancer properties. Not only could it have cancer preventative properties, its antioxidant properties help to promote a healthy heart by reducing the risk of coronary artery disease. Lycopene is the carotenoid most responsible for the health benefits of ketchup.

4. Why Ketchup?
   
   Adding ketchup to your diet is the perfect way to get the health benefits of lycopene. Studies have shown that cooking tomatoes as in the preparation of ketchup breaks down the matrix of the cell and releases the lycopene so it can be more easily assimilated by the body. A study showed that when the tomatoes were cooked in olive oil, even more heart healthy lycopenes was made available. This is one of the few instances where cooking a vegetable supplies superior nutrition to eating it raw.

5. Is Some Ketchup Better than Others?
   
   To maximize the health benefits of ketchup, there are reasons to buy organic. Organic ketchup can contain up to three times the concentration of lycopenes as non-organic brands. One key to getting the most health benefits of ketchup is to select a ketchup with the darkest red color. This is an indication of a higher lycopene concentration.

[jujudy]

on 4/10/2009 Thank you for you advice to guy ketchup with a darker color in your article on how to understand the health benefits of ketcup. Excellent advice. 5*s