Tomatoes offer protection

Both showed a decrease in the reddening of the participants’ skin, because of their ability to quench Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), indicating protection from UV induced damage.

However, the group that ingested synthetic lycopene showed only 25% reduction in redness, where as the groups ingesting Lyc-O-Mato and a Lyc-O-Mato drink showed superior protection with 39% and 50% reduction respectively.

In a second study, carried out at the Institute of Experimental Dermatology, University of Witten/Herdecke, two antioxidant supplement combinations containing different carotenoid mixes, tocopherol and selenium, were tested for their impact on skin structure and health.

Although both antioxidant supplement combinations showed an increase in skin density, thickness, skin softness and reduced scaling, the oral supplement containing lutein and lycopene showed slightly better results, indicating the importance of combining antioxidants inimproving skin health and beauty.