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Antioxidant: A substance that delays or prevents oxidation, the chemical reaction between oxygen and other elements or compounds. Antioxidants have the ability to inactivate harmful free radicals in the body. Some of the common antioxidants are vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), lecithin, and some phytochemicals, notably lycopene and beta-carotene. Others are being identified every day.

There is growing scientific evidence that a diet high in antioxidants may protect against certain chronic diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease, and cataracts.






Bioavailability: The rate at which a drug, trace element, nutrient, etc. enters the blood stream, circulates to specific organs or tissues, is absorbed and utilized by the body.






Carotenoids: Fat-soluble plant pigments with marked yellow to orange-red color. They are responsible for the bright red color in tomatoes and the orange in carrots. The most important are carotene and cryptoxanthin which are precursors of vitamin A. These vitamin A retinoids are essential for normal vision, growth, reproduction, and a healthy immune system. Beta-carotene and lycopene, the most abundant carotenoids in tomatoes, exhibit antioxidant activity.

Diabetes: A metabolic disorder characterized by varying degrees of impairment in the body’s ability to utilize carbohydrates due to a deficiency or absence of the hormone insulin. Insulin is responsible for controlling sugar levels in the blood. Nearly 10 percent of diabetics have Type 1 Diabetes and must take insulin because their bodies do not make enough of it. About 90 percent of the diabetics have Type 2 Diabetes. They can usually manage the disease through exercise and diet. If diabetes is not controlled, serious complications, such as blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart attacks or strokes, can arise.

Functional Foods: Foods that may have health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients are often called functional foods. There is no official, universally accepted definition of functional foods in the U.S. It is best to rely on the ‘health claims’ statements approved for package labels by the FDA to identify these nutritionally dense foods.

Free Radicals: Highly reactive oxidation byproducts created by normal cell metabolism and environmental factors such as pollution that destroy tissues and create new free radicals in the process. Free radicals lack electrons and try to steal them from other molecules, setting up a chain reaction that causes cellular damage thought to contribute to many degenerative diseases, developing cancer, and some conditions related to aging.

If free radicals attach to the molecules involved in normal cellular reproduction, cells may become cancerous. Free radicals can also damage the molecules responsible for moving cholesterol through the bloodstream, resulting in a build-up of plaque in arteries. Researchers believe that lycopene, found in tomatoes, help reduce free radicals.

Lycopene: An antioxidant that is an open-chain unsaturated carotenoid. It gives tomatoes their red color but it does not convert to Vitamin A. Tomatoes are the primary source of lycopene in our diet. Processing tomatoes (by cooking and canning) enhances the bioavailability of the Lycopene.

This carotenoid predominant in tomatoes may have enormous significance in disease prevention due to its potent activity and its ability to stop free radicals. Lycopene is the most abundant carotenoid in human blood and tissues.

Macular Degeneration: Occurs when the photoreceptors of the macula lutea, a small yellowish area lying slightly lateral to the center of the retina in the eye and the region of maximum visual acuity, are damaged, degenerate, and die. It first impairs vision and can lead to blindness.

There are two types of macular degeneration, wet and dry. The dry form may cause blind spots in vision while the wet form is more severe and may lead to blindness. There is no cure but there is strong evidence that antioxidants, such as the lycopene, lutein, beta carotene (vitamin A), and vitamin C in tomatoes may decrease the risk of vision loss and have a delaying effect on this disease.

Nutraceuticals: Phytochemicals, dietary supplements, and functional foods are all referred to as nutraceuticals.

Osteoporosis: A bone disorder characterized by a reduction in bone density accompanied by increasing porosity and brittleness. This condition, in which bone mass gradually decreases and weakens the skeleton, is most prevalent in women who have passed menopause and more common in women than in men. Lycopene and vitamin C, both found in tomatoes, may play a role in delaying or preventing this degenerative disease.

Oxidation: The chemical reaction of oxidizing or combining with oxygen. To change a compound by increasing the proportion of the electronegative part or change an element or ion from a lower to a higher positive valance; remove one or more electrons from an atom or molecule by combining it with oxygen.

Oxidative Stress / Oxidative Damage: Within every cell of the body, oxygen is utilized to create energy and life itself. Occasionally a charged oxygen molecule is created, called a free radical. If this free radical is not neutralized by an antioxidant it can create more volatile free radicals, damage the cell wall, vessel wall, proteins, fats, and even the DNA nucleus of the cell itself. When there are not enough antioxidants available to readily neutralize the number of free radicals, oxidative stress will occur.

Pollutants in the air, food, and water along with enormous stress, excessive exercise, cigarette smoke, sunlight, radiation, and every drug prescribed greatly increase the number of free radicals produced in the body each day. Oxygen is essential for life itself but it is inherently dangerous to our existence. Oxidative stress may also cause wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.

Oxidative stress over a prolonged period leads to oxidative damage that can develop into serious chronic degenerative diseases. Aging increases the likelihood of oxidative stress that maybe a factor in well over 70 chronic diseases like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s dementia, macular degeneration, lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue.

Diets rich in antioxidants (lycopene, vitamins C and E are some of the most common) can limit the harm caused by oxidative damage and perhaps even slow aging. Along with the army of antioxidants produced in our bodies, the best way to prevent oxidative stress is to practice a consistent exercise program and eat well, remembering that the best source of additional antioxidants are fruits and vegetables like processed tomatoes.

Processing/Processed Tomatoes: In season all the time, varieties of tomatoes grown only for processing are very different from the fresh market tomatoes available at the grocery store. One of the first and most important differences is that they can be and are picked ripe and red. Then, they are processed almost immediately, no more than 6 hours from field to can. One hundred percent machine-harvested, only stray vines and a few crushed over-ripe tomatoes are removed by hand. California, the number one producer, grows 9 out of 10 of the processing tomatoes in the United States.

After potatoes, tomatoes in all their many processed forms, including whole, stewed, crushed, diced, ketchup, tomato paste, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, enchilada sauce, cocktail sauce, tomato juice, meatloaf, and barbecue sauces, contribute the second greatest amount of nutrients to the American diet. Every man, woman and child in America eats nearly 92 pounds of tomatoes every year. Catsup is the only tomato product that is consumed more often away from home; a trend reflected in school lunch meals where 7 percent of catsup servings originated. This is twice as often as any other tomato product reported in school meals.

Consumption of processed tomato products is strongest in the West and Midwest and weakest in the South. Men and women over the age of 39 represent 39 percent of the population, yet they consume 50 percent of all fresh tomatoes. Teenage boys, ages 12 to 19, have the highest per capita consumption of catsup. Some of this increasing consumption may also be due to rising public awareness of the health benefits of processed tomato products in the diet.

Phytochemicals: Substances related to phytochemistry, the chemistry of plants, plant processes, and plant products. Hundreds of substances produced naturally by plants to protect themselves from disease. When found in foods, they demonstrate antioxidant activity but are not vitamins or minerals. Their exact roles in promoting human health are still under investigation. Lycopene is an example of a phytochemical with potent antioxidant activity that is present in tomatoes.

Phytochemicals are the substances that produce many of the beneficial effects associated with a diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains. The undeniable value of phytochemicals is one reason the USDA/HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least five servings of fruits and vegetables and several servings of grains every day. Carotenoids and dietary fiber, very potent phytochemicals along with some hormone like compounds, are found in abundance in tomatoes.

There are no minerals listed as phytochemicals because plants don’t manufacture minerals; they absorb them from the soil. Therefore, minerals are not phytochemicals.

Vitamin C: Fights infections, heals wounds and helps keep gums healthy; strengthens bones; regulates blood pressure; acts as an antioxidant and may have an additional role in prevention of chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Also referred to as ascorbic acid, vitamin C plays a vital role in combating infection, keeping gums healthy and healing wounds. Vitamin C is involved in bone health and in regulating blood pressure, too.

Processed tomatoes are just loaded with vitamin C. One serving, about one-half cup, of processed whole peeled tomatoes provides 40% of the daily requirement of this vitamin that functions as an antioxidant.