Lycopene, a natural substance found in tomatoes, may be able to stave off heart disease and strokes. Lycopene blocks the "bad" LDL cholesterol that can clog the arteries.
Preliminary trials involving around 150 people with heart disease who took a lycopene supplement found that it reduced the oxidation of harmful fats in the blood to almost zero within eight weeks.
The researchers believed that a lycopene supplement could be much more effective than the statin drugs that are currently used by doctors to treat high cholesterol.
Lycopene is an antioxidant contained in the skin of tomatoes, and it gives them their red color.