番茄汁的妙用：每天喝两杯防骨病

　　科学家称，喝标准番茄汁和喝番茄红素含量超标的番茄汁效果一样好。国际骨质疏松杂志因此得出结论，每天喝两杯含15毫克番茄红素的番茄汁足以强韧骨质，防止骨质疏松。

　　接下来的四个月中，这些妇女分别每天喝一份含15毫克番茄红素的标准番茄汁，一份含35毫克番茄红素的超标番茄汁，吃番茄素胶囊或者假胶囊(即不含番茄素的胶囊)。结果发现喝番茄汁和服用番茄红素胶囊的人体内氮末端胜键的含量大大降低，而吃假胶囊的人没有任何效果。

　　加拿大多伦多大学的科学家让60名年龄在50到60岁之间的绝经期妇女一个月戒食所有的番茄食品，结果发现她们血液中的氮末端胜键，一种骨折时释放到血液中的化学物质，含量显著提高。

　　科学家最新研究表明，每天喝两杯番茄汁可以增强骨质，预防骨质疏松症。起关键作用的成分是番茄红素，这种抗氧化剂已被确定可降低男性患前列腺癌和心脏病的风险。

　　Standard supermarket juice was just as good as the lycopene-enriched one, said researchers. Two glasses a day of tomato juice containing 15mg of lycopene could be enough to strengthen brittle bones, the journal Osteoporosis International reported。

　　Then, for four months, the women were given a daily dose of standard tomato juice containing 15mg of lycopene, an enriched version with 35mg of lycopene, lycopene capsules or dummy capsules. This led to a significant drop in levels of N-telopeptide in women drinking either type of juice or taking the capsules. But there was no benefit in women taking the dummy capsules。

　　Researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada asked 60 post-menopausal women, aged 50 to 60, to cut out all tomato products from their diet for a month. This led to a significant increase in blood levels of N-telopeptide, a chemical released into the bloodstream when bone is being broken down。

　　Two glasses of tomato juice a day strengthens bones and can ward off osteoporosis, say scientists. The key ingredient is thought to be the lycopene, the antioxidant already credited with cutting the risk of prostate cancer in men and protecting against heart disease。