Why Tinned Tomatoes May Be Better For Your Heart Than Fresh

Processed food is often treated as an unhealthy monolith, though a doctor previously told HuffPost UK that yeast extracts, tinned beans, ready-to-eat oats, and fortified plant-based milks have their role in a healthy diet.

And “processing” – which can include canning, smoking, freezing, milling, and pasteurising – isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. It can sometimes make elements of certain foods healthier.

For instance, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) writes that, “You might think canned tomatoes are less healthy than fresh ones.

“But your body can absorb more of a heart-healthy nutrient called lycopene from tinned varieties than it can from fresh, uncooked tomatoes.”

Lycopene is an antioxidant (meaning it helps to stop free radicals from damaging DNA and some cells). It helps to give fruits like tomatoes and pink grapefruits their colour.

Some experts think it could help to lower inflammation, control cholesterol, reduce the risk of blood clots, and improve the immune system.

It has also been linked to lower blood pressure and may even reduce some cancer risks.

But so far, the seemingly most established benefit of lycopene is its ability to improve our vascular function and potentially reduce our risk of cardiovascular disorders.

In one study, for instance, men with the highest lycopene consumption had a 55% lower stroke risk.

A 2022 review of studies concluded that lycopene “plays a critical role in human health, particularly in preventing cardiovascular risks”.

In Western countries, tomatoes account for about 80% of lycopene consumption.

If tomatoes contain lycopene in all their forms (which they do), why tinned tomatoes over fresh ones?

Well, that 2022 review said, “Several factors influence the lycopene content of fruits and vegetables, such as environmental conditions (temperature, irrigation, light, climate, location of plantation), fruit variety, degree of ripeness, processing and storage conditions”.

That’s partly because processing tomatoes breaks down their cell walls, making their lycopene more available to us.

Tomato paste, for instance, has 1827% more lycopene than fresh tomatoes (though you likely eat less of it than canned kinds).

Crushed and canned tomatoes have 5106µg per 100g, vs cooked fresh tomatoes’ 3041µg per 100g.

Cooked fresh tomatoes have more lycopene than fresh raw ones.

Eating tinned tomatoes with olive oil might increase how much lycopene your body absorbs from them, too.

As Michael Mosley told the BBC, “That means tomato sauce from fresh or tinned tomatoes, and even ketchup can actually provide more lycopene than fresh tomatoes”.

Of course, there are other things to consider with e.g. ketchup or premade tomato sauces: added sugars and salt may make any lycopene benefits redundant.

But if you turn to unsalted, sugar-free tinned tomatoes far more often than you stew fresh ones yourself, you might be doing your heart (as well as your taste buds) a favour.