According to the expert, eating this fruit from the tin actually had more health benefits than eating it fresh.
An expert has urged people to always keep a supply of a specific tinned food due to its “anti-cancer” properties. According to Professor Tim Spector, the founder of Zoe Health, the tinned version of this fruit is actually packed with more nutrients than eating it fresh.
In a video uploaded to his Instagram account, Tim revealed that tinned tomatoes are rich in a pigment known as lycopene that research has linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. And while you might expect that eating fresh tomatoes would therefore be best, he said this actually isn’t the case.
Similarly, he recommended keeping your freezer stocked with frozen spinach and berries for their health benefits. Tim said: “Like me, you’ve probably always thought that fresh food is always the best option.
“Don’t be a snob when it comes to frozen foods or canned foods that can often be lifesavers. An example here is frozen spinach and actually the freezing process and the way it’s packed up means that those nutrients in spinach are perfectly preserved, so you don’t lose anything from buying the fresh product.
“Most of the fruits and berries again, the same thing is true that you are keeping those polyphenols, you’re keeping the fibre and you’re not losing anything if they’re prepared and packed really fast, which they normally are.”
Speaking about tomatoes, he said: “That also goes for tomatoes in your cupboard. Always have spare cans of tomatoes and they actually contain slightly more of the healthy nutrients like lycopene that has some anti-cancer properties.”
In a caption under the video he continued: “Tomatoes are our major source of lycopene, a form of carotene that has been linked to reduction in stroke, heart disease and cancer. Interestingly, there is more lycopene in tinned tomatoes than their fresh counterparts.
“A review including over 260,000 participants found an association between eating cooked tomatoes and a reduced risk of developing prostate cancer although the same association wasn’t found for fresh tomatoes.” He added: “So if you’re looking for ways to support your health, stocking your cupboards and freezer just might help.”
One of the studies referenced by Tim was published in the Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases journal in 2018. The meta-analysis of studies including more than 260,000 participants that found “higher total tomato consumption was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer”.
Researchers said this link was specifically in relation to “tomato foods, cooked tomatoes, and sauces”. However, none of these associations were found for raw tomatoes.
Another study from 2019 concluded that high-intakes or high-serum concentration of lycopene are associated with significant reductions in the risk of stroke (26 percent), mortality (37 percent) and cardiovascular disease (14 percent). And a more recent systematic review published in 2022 analysed 72 human and animal studies on lycopene. It found 70 percent of the studies confirmed “various anti-cancer properties of lycopene”.
