Isn´t it cheaper just to eat more tomatoes?

Question is, how many tomatoes do you have to eat to get the benefit of lycopene? Much as I love fresh tomatoes (and I grow my own in pots every year), the acid gets to me after a while and I´m not keen on tomato sauces.

I read that cooking the tomato with its skin affords maximum lycopene benefit.

I remember when coral calcium and bluegreen algae were a big breakthrough.There was another supplement that was pushed by Oprah for a while that was supposed to be a big deal.Sea salt is supposed to be better than table salt. Does the body know about this?

I don´t know how you measure a supplement slowing things down.You´d have to have a parallel person not taking them for a comparison. Sometimes these studies conclusions are to extend research dollars.

"While this is an exciting news,more research needs to be done."

How about ´A tomato a day´, on let´s say.......PIZZA.

#2, here are some cooking tips to make tomato sauce less acidic:

1. Use canned Italiam plum tomatoes, whole (unless you can get some fresh at a farmer´s market). Don´t get the chopped tomatoes in a can -- those are the "leftovers" of packaging and have been sitting in the acidic juice of tomatoes for a long time.

2. Basic tomato sauce basis: puree the large can of tomatoes, one can of Italian tomato paste, and water (three canfuls of water measured in the tomato paste can) and in a separate pot, bring the pureed tomatoes, paste and water to a simmer. For each big can of tomatoes, add a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. The baking soda is basic in chemical composition, and will neutralize the acidic properties of the tomatoes (base + acid = salt plus water). Stir and simmer (it will foam a bit until the reaction has completed) until the pureed tomatoes no longer foam.

3. For meatless sauce, sautee lots of onions slowly until they carmelize. Puree a couple of heaping sauce spoonfuls with a little water and add to the sauce with the oil you cooked the onions in; salt and pepper to taste; add a couple of glugs of olive oil to finish the sauce (don´t fry with olive oil -- it scorches quickly).

Hope this helps -- I am Italian-American and I would hurl myself off the nearest bridge if I couldn´t eat tomato sauce! LOL!

Grazzie Mike, #6

Should´ve posted the Mail piece on this subject. It says you have to eat 6lbs of tomatoes a day to get the benefit of the little pill with the concentrated lycopene.

http://tinyurl.com/byyrgtu

Baking soda--it was a must when soaking and cooking dried "marrowfat" peas to make mushy peas--a choice accompaniment to fish and chips. (Think of it as the British version of refried beans.) Some years ago baking soda used in this manner got a bad reputation--it was said to destroy water-soluble vitamins, like B vitamins. I have no idea if that´s still the rule or not.

Coulda hada V8. :-)

Very interesting. You could save the skins from tomatoes when canning them and dehydrate the skins, grind into a powder, then add the powder to any tomato based recipe you have. Or I guess put the tomato powder into empty gelatin capsules and take it that way.

Right about now I could sure use a fresh from the garden tomato. We are at least 5 months away from that tasty treat.

Everyone gets their hopes up on the latest greatest pill only to find it will be years before they see it.