Pigment found in tomatoes and watermelon can help cure depression – but there is a catch

Red Alert!

Lycopene – a natural extract of plants that gives colors red and pink vegetables such as tomatoes, watermelons and papaya – can relieve symptoms of depression by increasing the community of brain cells, found a new study.

“Compared to synthetic medicines, natural herbal extracts offer the advantages of being suitable for long -term consumption that have less side effects and being safer,” writes researchers from Chongqing Medical University recently in Food Magazine Science & Nutrition.

“While research has advanced, herbal extracts such as lycopene and curcumin have been proven to have neuroprotective effects, with the second lycopene on its powerful antioxidant property and extensive availability,” the report continued.

Scientists were able to promote depressive behavior at 60 mice for the study. Anxious rats were divided into two groups – one group got 20 milligrams of lycopene per kilo of their body weight while the other hand a placebo with corn oil.

Compared to the placebo group, participants who consumed lycopene socialized more with other mice and expressed greater interest in a mixture of sugar water aimed at causing joy.

The researchers determined that the stress of mice damages their synaptic plasticity, an essential mechanism for learning and memory formation, allowing the brain to store information and adapt to new experiences.

Treatment of lycopene helped restore impaired synaptic plasticity and return depressive behavior a particular signaling pathway in the nervous system.

There were some restrictions on the study, to be safe. Researchers used only mice and focused solely on the effects on the hippocampus, the part of the brain mainly responsible for learning and memory.

“Moreover, given that depression is a chronic disease, its pathological mechanisms often take a long time to appear completely,” the researchers write. “Therefore, the extension of behavioral observation time after lycopene interference can provide a more comprehensive assessment of its efficiency.”

A large capture is that rats were given 20 milligrams of lyrics per kilo of body weight, with a human dose approximately equivalent to 1.62 milligrams per kilo.

For a person with 200 pounds, this is about a daily dose of 147 milligrams.

Some research shows that only up to 75 milligrams a day lycopene are safe. A study that came out in June reported that there is no damage to up to 100 milligrams.

Where can you find the lycopene

• Sun -dried tomatoes boast the highest concentration of lycopene among tomato products, with 45.9 milligrams of lycopene per 100 grams.
• A 130 grams of fresh tomatoes contains 4 to 10 milligrams.
• Ketchup has 3.3 milligrams of tablespoons.
• Tomato paste includes about 16 milligrams of lycopene per 100 grams.
• Watermelon contains 4.5 milligrams of lycopene per 100 grams.
• Papaya contains 1.8 milligrams of lycopene per 100 grams.
• The pink grapefruit has 1.1 milligrams of lycopene per 100 grams.