Lycopene Isolated from Tomatoes, the Natural Remedy in the Promotion of Insulin Sensitivity

By Kyle J. Norton

Insulin sensitivity is a term to measure how sensitive the body's cells are in response to insulin. 

Low insulin sensitivity, also known as insulin resistance induces high levels of glucose in the blood. Over the long term insulin resistance ultimately can lead type II diabetes.

Insulin resistance is considered a hallmark of type II diabetes and a condition in the cluster of metabolic syndrome.

There is no single cause of insulin resistance.  Medical conditions, being extreme overweight, ethnicity, genetic proposition, and physical inactivity are some of the prevalent risks of insulin resistance.

Some researchers suggested the widespread obesity over the past few decades in the induction of insulin resistance at the alarming rate may be correlated to the promotion of a high-fat diet in the Western world.

Dr. von Frankenberg AD, the lead scientist wrote, "The rate of glucose disposal (Rd) during low- and high-dose insulin decreased on the HFD but remained unchanged on the LFD" and "Changes in subcutaneous fat were positively associated with changes in insulin sensitivity on the LFD (r = 0.78, p < 0.01) with a trend on the HFD".

And, "A diet very high in fat and saturated fat adversely affects insulin sensitivity and thereby might contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes".

In other words, if you are high-fat diet follower, you are at substantial risk to develop insulin resistance.

Tomato is red, edible fruit, genus Solanum, belongs to family Solanaceae, native to South America. Because of its health benefits, the tomato is grown worldwide for the commercial purpose
and often in the greenhouse.

With an aim to find a potential compound or whole food for the improvement of insulin sensitivity, researchers examined lycopene, one of the major carotenoids in tomatoes, and other whole food in high-fat diet (HFD)-animal model.

Mice selected to the study were fed with different doses of dry tomato peel (DTP) in a high-saturated-fat (HSF) diet and cholesterol-rich diet-induced oxidative stress for the 12-weeks.

Lycopene significantly prevented HFD-induced increase of fasting blood glucose and insulin level and insulin intolerance and a decrease of hepatic glycogen content associated with the production of hepatic insulin.

Furthermore, increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and CRP levels in mice fed HFD involved in the risk of insulin intolerance were also reduced significantly by the presence of lycopene

Moreover, lycopene was also found to suppress the increase of the expression of proteins Srebp-1c, that regulate the glucose and the cluster of conditions of metabolic syndrome in mice fed HFD.

Interestingly, lycopene promoted insulin sensitivity by inducing the STAT3 signaling in reducing fasting blood glucose and insulin level.

In other words, lycopene exerted a strong insulin sensitivity by inhibiting inflammation, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysfunction.

In order to reveal more information about the tomato in the promotion of insulin sensitivity, researchers investigated the effects of different doses of dry tomato peel (DTP) on the levels of oxidative stress in mice fed an HSF and cholesterol-rich diet for 12 weeks.

The study included BALB/c male mice (n=40) (8 weeks old, weighing 22.2±1.0 g) divided into four treatment groups (10 mice/group): (a) high-fat control diet (HF Ctrl), which contains sunflower oil as a sole source of fat; (b) HSF/high-cholesterol (HC) diet; (c) HSF/HC diet supplemented with 9% DTP and (d) HSF/HC diet supplemented with 17% DTP.

According to the observation of the tested assays, HSF/HC diet mice significantly increased adipose tissue weight, fasting plasma glucose, fasting plasma insulin, and lipid peroxidation.

Administration of lycopene DTP increased plasma lycopene concentration and reduced the development of indicators of metabolic syndrome, with no consistent effect of the DTP dose.

Dr. Zidani S, the lead scientists after taking into account co and confounders said, "Among mice fed the HSF/HC diet, DTP supplementation appears to have a beneficial effect on insulin resistance, which confirms the antiatherogenic effect of DTP".

Taken altogether, tomatoes processed high amounts of bioactive compound lycopene may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of insulin intolerance, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Lycopene Improves Insulin Sensitivity through Inhibition of STAT3/Srebp-1c-Mediated Lipid Accumulation and Inflammation in Mice fed a High-Fat Diet by Zeng Z1, He W2, Jia Z2, Hao S. (PubMed)
(2) Effect of dry tomato peel supplementation on glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and hepatic markers in mice fed high-saturated-fat/high-cholesterol diets by Zidani S1, Benakmoum A2, Ammouche A3, Benali Y4, Bouhadef A4, Abbeddou S. (PubMed)
(3) A high-fat, high-saturated fat diet decreases insulin sensitivity without changing intra-abdominal fat in weight-stable overweight and obese adults by von Frankenberg AD1,2,3, Marina A4, Song X5,6, Callahan HS7, Kratz M4,5,6, Utzschneider KM. (PubMed)