This is your brain on tomato paste

Veggies and fruits are staples in my diet, but tomato products often don’t make it into my shopping basket. However, a recent study of the potential brain benefits of tomato paste may change that.

Tomatoes contain an antioxidant called lycopene, which has been associated with a reduced risk of some chronic diseases, including certain cancers and heart disease.

To learn the effects of tomato paste, researchers recruited a small group of healthy participants, aged 40 to 55, and had each follow two diets for three months each.

On the tomato paste diet, participants consumed approximately 2 tablespoons daily. On the control diet, tomatoes and other lycopene-rich foods were minimized.

The researchers collected blood samples from each person, performed brain scans, and conducted a cognitive assessment at the start and conclusion of the study.

After 3 months of tomato paste consumption, scores in both concentration and processing speed improved by several points, and blood samples showed elevated lycopene levels and a protein associated with brain cell adaptation.

Additionally, some brain scans indicated increased neural connectivity efficiency.

Based on their findings, the authors concluded that “these neural changes suggest that tomato intake promotes functional reorganization of large-scale brain networks, enhancing neural efficiency and adaptability...”

The researchers add that these are preliminary results, and while they believe lycopene plays a significant role, other compounds in the paste may have contributed as well, and further study is needed.

If you aren’t already adding tomato paste to dishes, will you be looking for some on your next grocery run?

You can learn more about the study, as well as 16 ways to use tomato paste, in this article from Food and Wine:
https://www.foodandwine.com/tomato-paste-brain-function-study-12128855