Lycopene-enriched ice cream, oxidative stress and facial skin in ten people
What it found
In ten healthy people, eating lycopene-enriched ice cream for four weeks lowered two markers of oxidative stress in the blood.
It also prevented increases in skin cell shedding and bacteria on the face seen with plain ice cream.
What they found
Studies in people
Lycopene levels rose
Blood levels of lycopene climbed quickly after two weeks of eating the enriched ice cream and kept rising more slowly by week four. Lycopene also built up steadily in skin cells and skin oil taken from the face.
Oxidative stress markers fell
Two markers of oxidative damage in the blood dropped by the end of the four weeks with lycopene ice cream. One marker, LDL peroxidase proteins, fell by 46.4%. These markers stayed the same when volunteers ate the plain ice cream.
Routine blood tests unchanged
Cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar and other standard blood measures did not change with either ice cream. Small rises in bilirubin and a liver enzyme occurred with both ice creams but stayed within normal ranges.
Plain ice cream affected skin
Eating plain ice cream for four weeks led to significantly more dead skin cells shedding from the face. It also significantly increased gram-positive bacteria on the facial skin surface.
Lycopene ice cream prevented changes
When volunteers ate the lycopene-enriched ice cream, neither skin cell shedding nor bacterial presence on the face increased. The authors suggest this may lower the chance of acne linked to eating ice cream.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that lycopene-enriched ice cream acts as a functional food with clear antioxidant effects in the blood and on facial skin.
- They suggest that adding lycopene may counter the mild inflammatory skin changes caused by eating regular ice cream.
- The authors advise that larger studies are needed to confirm these findings in more people.
How it was done
The authors note that lycopene is a strong antioxidant but is hard for the body to absorb. They wanted to see if adding it to a fat-rich food like ice cream would improve absorption and benefit the blood and facial skin.
Ten healthy adults aged 21 to 47 ate 50 g of either plain or lycopene-enriched ice cream daily for four weeks. After a one-month break they switched to the other ice cream for another four weeks. The researchers took blood and facial skin samples before, during and after each period.
What it can’t tell you
- Only ten people took part, so the results need confirmation in a larger group.
- The study lasted four weeks per ice cream, so longer-term effects remain unknown.
- Most volunteers were close to 30 years old, so the findings may not apply to younger teenagers who get acne more often.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Saratov State Medical University, Russian Federation
The paper
- Title
- Systemic and skin-targeting beneficial effects of lycopene-enriched ice cream: A pilot study
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Chernyshova MP, Pristenskiy DV, Lozbiakova MV, Chalyk NE, Bandaletova TY, Petyaev IM (2019). Systemic and skin-targeting beneficial effects of lycopene-enriched ice cream: A pilot study. Journal of dairy science. doi:10.3168/jds.2018-15282Free full textPubMed 30447975DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error