Daily consumption of about two tablespoons of tomato paste is linked to slightly higher scores in attention, processing speed, and associative memory, according to a small trial published earlier this year in the journal Antioxidants. Researchers in Spain tracked 42 healthy adults aged 40 to 55 who consumed roughly 35 grams of tomato paste daily for three months.
Clinical Trial Design and Cognitive Scoring
The trial utilized a randomized crossover design where participants served as their own comparisons across two distinct dietary phases, separated by a one-month washout period. During the tomato paste phase, participants ingested 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. When following the control diet, participants maintained their usual eating habits while strictly avoiding foods containing tomatoes.
Following the three-month tomato paste intervention, participants scored an average of 7.2 points higher for concentration, 8.3 points higher for processing speed, and 0.8 points higher on a test matching faces with names, compared to the low-lycopene phase. Blood tests administered during the study revealed a borderline increase in BDNF, a protein associated with brain-cell growth and adaptability. Brain scans of a small subset of participants also displayed changes in resting connectivity, illustrating how different brain regions operate during unfocused states.
Expert Analysis on Lycopene Restriction
Dr. John Showalter, an internal medicine physician based in Pennsylvania and chief operating officer of Linus Health, stated that while the trial size was small, it aligns with broader research emphasizing the necessity of naturally red foods in human diets. Showalter noted that the low-lycopene phase may represent the study’s most revealing comparison. Rather than establishing tomato paste as a standalone cognitive enhancer, the results suggest that restricting lycopene-rich foods can impair baseline brain function.
“We know that people that have low lycopene levels have a higher mortality rate, they have more cardiovascular events and there’s been increasing literature that low lycopene is bad for your brain,” Showalter said. He added that watermelon, papaya, and red peppers also contain lycopene, though cooked and concentrated tomato foods such as ketchup and sun-dried tomatoes provide particularly high concentrations.
Study Limitations and Future Research
The study authors cautioned that the observed patterns in brain connectivity do not definitively prove a meaningful cognitive benefit due to the small sample size. The findings also do not demonstrate that tomato paste actively prevents cognitive decline or disease. Investigators described the results as preliminary and emphasized that larger studies are required to clarify whether lycopene-rich foods may support cognitive health.
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