What is lycopene? Did you know…? Lycopene is a carotenoid, the bright pigment that gives red fruit and vegetables their colour, most notably in tomatoes. Because the tomato has seeds and grows from a flowering plant it is classed as a fruit, not a vegetable. There are more than 7,500 tomato varieties grown around the world and each variety contains different levels of lycopene. Processing fruit and vegetables releases the lycopene which is normally locked away inside the cells. By eating cooked fruit and vegetables, you obtain five times more lycopene than eating them raw! The richest dietary sources from tomatoes are ketchup, concentrated tomato purée and passata (pizza sauce) – so pizza can be good for you (although in moderation!) and especially if drizzled with a little of olive oil, as lycopene is fat-soluble this can increase its absorption in our bodies. Why choose Healthspan’s High Strength Lycopene capsules? Lycopene is considered an essential nutrient in the human diet; in Britain however we are thought to consume only a fraction of the intake recommended by nutritionists. As lycopene is found in high concentrations in tomatoes, we make our capsules from specially selected tomato varieties with particularly high levels of lycopene. We also use non-GMO tomatoes only, meaning they have not been genetically modified for more desirable traits such as faster growing at the expense of food safety. Even better, we use a patented extraction process that protects the main tomato compounds, delivering a high-quality lycopene extract rich in tomato phytonutrients. Just one of our gelatin-free capsules daily provide 15mg of natural source lycopene, alongside 10mg of vitamin E which protects your cells from oxidative stress. Made in the UK.