A small study out of Spain has found that eating about two tablespoons of tomato paste every day for three months was linked to better attention, faster processing speed and modest gains in associative memory, compared with a diet low in lycopene, the red pigment found in tomatoes and other produce.
The trial involved 42 healthy adults ages 40 to 55. Each person spent three months eating roughly 35 grams of tomato paste daily, equal to about 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, and three months eating a diet that avoided tomatoes and other lycopene-rich foods, with a one-month break in between. Because each participant went through both diets, researchers could compare results within the same person rather than across different groups.
After the tomato paste phase, participants scored an average of 7.2 points higher on concentration tests and 8.3 points higher on processing speed tests. They also scored 0.8 points higher on a task that measured how well they matched faces with names. Blood tests showed a borderline rise in BDNF, a protein tied to brain-cell growth, and brain scans in a smaller group of participants showed changes in how brain regions communicate while at rest.
The study’s authors, whose work appeared earlier this year in the journal Antioxidants, cautioned that the findings do not prove tomato paste prevents cognitive decline or disease. They described the results as preliminary and said larger studies are needed before drawing firm conclusions.
A Pennsylvania physician’s take
Dr. John Showalter, a Pennsylvania-based internal medicine physician and chief operating officer of Linus Health, said the study, though small, fits into a growing body of research pointing to the importance of naturally red foods in the diet.
Showalter said the comparison to the low-lycopene diet may be the most useful part of the study. Rather than proving tomato paste is a standalone brain booster, he said, the results suggest that cutting out lycopene-rich foods altogether may leave the brain working less efficiently.
“We know that people that have low lycopene levels have a higher mortality rate, they have more cardiovascular events and there’s been increasing literature that low lycopene is bad for your brain,” Showalter said.
He noted that lycopene is also found in watermelon, papaya and red peppers, though cooked and concentrated tomato products such as ketchup and sun-dried tomatoes tend to deliver especially high amounts.
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to the study’s researchers for comment.
