Technically, you could call it fruit juice.
While tomato juice often shoulders the burden of brunch beverages and soup additives, it’s rarely a drink we reach for without purpose. Now, new research from scientists at Ohio State University points to tomato juice — with a hint of soy — as a potential panacea for inflammation. Specifically, the kind that occurs in overweight adults.
It’s important to note that this wasn’t any ordinary tomato juice.
Scientists were inspired by previous research that showed diets rich in soy and tomato products were linked to a lower chance of prostate cancer. They prepared the study’s beverage using added plant compounds from soy, creating a beverage that was richer in lycopene and other nutrients than a tomato juice without those enhancements. Lycopene is commonly found in red vegetables and is known for its antioxidant properties.
Participants drank six ounces of the juice twice a day for four weeks. Then, after a washout period, they repeated the behavior with a low-lycopene tomato juice. Scientists analyzed blood and urine samples after each beverage trial, finding fewer markers of inflammation after the tomato-soy juice.
Researchers said they wanted to see if they could treat inflammation with a food-based intervention. Next steps will include testing the juice in people with pancreatitis, a condition where the pancreas is inflamed. It can be acute or chronic, but causes discomfort in either iteration. Ideally, this juice would improve their quality of life.
Special or not, tomato juice isn’t for everyone. But for benefits like these? Hopefully science will eventually show it should be bottoms up.