Can we have Lycopene if we heat tomato by using microwave oven?
2007-02-15 01:43:16 · 4 answers · asked by cjc2002 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Vegetarian & Vegan
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.
2007-02-15 03:22:31 · answer #1 · answered by wineduchess 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lycopene is a heat stable chemical so the microwave isn't going to change the amount of Lycopene in your tomato.
2007-02-15 12:41:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tomatoes have lycopene if eaten raw, cooking just increases it. I don't think it matters how you cook the tomato-- the process of cooking it increases the lycopene either way.
2007-02-15 01:48:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can't see it being different than cooking on the stove, but I am not an expert on microwaves, whether they destroy stuff or not. If you listen to Kevin Trudeau who is a health fanatic, nothing should be done in a microwave oven, he says it destroys enzymes, vitamins etc.
2007-02-15 01:54:38 · answer #4 · answered by Mightymo 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋