Tomato

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Skin sun protection²

  Eating tomato and lycopene helped people's skin resist sun redness and aging in the studies reviewed.

• Open question

  Calcium blocking absorption³

  In people, calcium eaten with tomato paste cut how much lycopene the body absorbed.

• Open question

  Prostate cancer⁴

  In men with prostate cancer, eating tomato products for three weeks lowered PSA in some groups, but not all.

• Benefit

  Prostate cancer growth⁵

  In men with prostate cancer, daily tomato sauce raised lycopene levels and reduced oxidative DNA damage in prostate tissue.

• Benefit

  Sunburn and skin redness⁶

  In people, a tomato extract supplement reduced UVB redness and skin inflammation, though it did not change the sunburn threshold.

• Benefit

  Blood clotting⁷

  Eating soffritto made from tomato for six weeks reduced how much platelets clumped together in overweight people.

• Open question

  Breast milk nutrients⁸

  Eating tomato paste raised lycopene levels in the breast milk of mothers in the study.

Animal and lab studies only

• Benefit

  Bone strength¹⁰

  In lab studies, lycopene from Osteocol® tomato sauce raised two proteins in bone cells, but this was not tested in people.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Mould toxins in tomatoes⁹

  All 20 German tomato products tested contained tenuazonic acid and a related mould toxin.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.