COOKED TOMATO PASTE AND LYCOPENE

“Is cooked tomato paste all right, because I have heard that cooking tomatoes makes the lycopene more accessible?

ANSWER: Lycopene is just one phyto-nutrient and there are thousands of them in food. It doesn't even make sense to start worrying about all those little phyto-chemicals. Just eat fruits and vegetables and you will get all the lycopene and other nutrients, that you could use.

It doesn't make sense to eat cooked tomato paste (a refined food that comes from the factory) just to try to get an isolated, over-hyped nutrient. Instead, eat WHOLE tomatoes and do not even worry about the lycopene. You are getting plenty. Just watermelon or pink grapefruit has more lycopene than tomatoes.