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<pre>The recent paper(*) published by Dr. Chopra's group at the Northern Ireland
Centre for Diet and Health, University of Ulster has some interesting
conclusions.

Health benefits from lycopene in tomato products have been suggested to be
related to its antioxidant activity. Dietary fat may influence the
absorption and hence the plasma levels and antioxidant activity of lycopene.
The study compared the effect of consumption of tomato products with
extra-virgin olive oil versus sunflower oil.

In short, the different oils did not affect the absorption of the lycopene
into the body, but the tomato/olive oil combination generated increased
plasma antioxidant activity by around 20%.

Therefore it would seem that consumption of tomato products with olive oil,
but not with sunflower oil, improves the antioxidant activity of the plasma.

Of course the next question that should be asked is: is it the tomato/olive
oil together doing something synergistically, or are the beneficial
antioxidant effects caused by olive oil alone?


* Lee,A.; Thurnham, D.I.; Chopra, C. Consumption of Tomato Products with
Olive Oil but not Sunflower Oil increases the Antioxidant Activity of
Plasma. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 29:1051-1055; 2000 [Nov. 15th, 2000
issue]

Sent in by: Anthony Newman (a.newman@elsevier.nl)
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<pre>Dear all

Tomatoes and olive oil are a very common combination in the
Mediterranean Diet. Regarding importance to some, tomato is more
important tha olive oil. However this is a new world combination,
because if you read the bible the tomato does not get a mention, bcause
it originated from the Americas.

Getting to the point all fruit and vegetables have phenolics ie
antioxidants. With tomato the concentration increases through cooking
and concentration. When virgin olive oil is added you effectively
increase the antioxidant levels. Sunflower and other seed oils generally
lack antioxidants because they have been removed through extractin and
processing. The only way that antioxidants can be in seed oils is by
using coldpress methods or by adding them later. Vitamin E is slipped in
as a preservative. But it is an antioxidant. A more subtle way that
antioxidants have been introduced into seed oils is by mixing them with
olive oil. Here the strategy by the oil merchants is to not only try and
capture market share on the olive oil's coat tails, but to also to get
some real benefits. This is my personal view.

Now to make a godd past sauce, that does not take 4 hours in the
microwave! You take a stainless steel saucepan (so things don't stick).
Put in a generous amount of olive oil even up to 100 mls ( watch out
with the $100 a litre olive- its cost you $10 already). Allow the oil to
heat but not smoking, then add two reasonably sized brown onions. The
minute the onions hit the oil, the aroma is so maddening that the
salivary juices start flowing (Crusty read, olive oil and a glass of red
wine can help at this point). When the onopns have browned. Add one can
of Triple Concentrato olive paste and stir around. If a little dry add a
small amount of water. Add salt and cracked black pepper to taste. ans
allow to simmer for a about 5 minutes. Then add the meat - lately we
have been using goats meat. If you wish to go vegetarian, then add
peeled tomatoes, zucchini, aubergone and green peas. While this is
happening of couse you have had the macaroni, spaghetti or taliateli
boiling away. You should be consuming this concoction within 30-40
minutes. Who says you have to be over the stove all day! Any way just
think about those antioxidants as you are taking in each mouthful.

Stan Kailis
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