Tomatoes are good for you for all kinds of reasons - and one of the main ones is they're rich in lycopene which gives tomatoes their red colour. It's an antioxidant and is thought to protect against cancer, in particular prostate cancer.

番茄有益人体健康，原因多样--主要是因为番茄富含番茄红素，所以呈现出红色。番茄红素是一种抗氧化剂，人们认为它可以预防癌症，尤其是前列腺癌。

Interestingly lycopene can be more readily utilised by the body if the tomatoes are cooked and especially if they're concentrated, like when you make a pasta sauce, or in the form of ketchup¹！

有意思的是，若番茄处于煮熟的，尤其是浓缩的状态（比如做意大利面酱或番茄酱的时候），番茄红素更容易被人体吸收。

Spanish scientists found cooked tomato sauce boosts the levels of healthy bacteria in the gut² and tomatoes have a better probiotic effect when fried into a sauce. Scientists at the Universitat ?Politècnica de València studied how digestion³ affects the antioxidants - substances which help protect cells from damage - in tomato sauce.

西班牙科学家发现，煮熟的番茄酱能增加肠道中有益菌的水平，带来更多的益生菌。巴仑西亚理工大学的科学家研究了消化系统对番茄酱中抗氧化剂的影响--保护细胞免受伤害的物质。

They found cooked tomato sauce was better than raw tomatoes because cooking preserves the lycopene and also makes it more concentrated. This is important because it means more of the lycopene survives the digestive process and goes on to be absorbed by the body.

他们发现，煮熟的番茄酱的效果比生番茄的效果更好，因为烹饪的过程保留了番茄红素，并使其更为聚集。这一点很重要，因为这意味着在消化过程中，更多的番茄红素得以存活，进而被身体吸收。

This boosts the probiotic effect of tomatoes - encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. The researchers also examined lactobacillus reuteri - one of the most important bacteria for a healthy gut - which occurs naturally in the body.

这增强了番茄的益生菌效果--促进肠道中有益菌的生长。研究员还对罗伊式乳杆菌展开了研究--对于健康肠道而言，这是最为重要的细菌之一--罗伊式乳杆菌由身体自然形成。

Although the L. reuteri stops some antioxidants being absorbed from the tomato, those antioxidants help the bacteria to be more effective in the gut. These positive effects of the boosted L. reuteri outweigh⁴ the fact that it stops antioxidants being absorbed, the team concluded. We know tomatoes are healthy, and previous research has claimed that eating them helps to slow stomach cancer - probably because they inhibit⁵ cell growth.

该研究团队总结道，尽管罗伊式乳杆菌阻碍了人体对番茄中某些抗氧化剂的吸收（这些抗氧化剂有助于促进肠道细菌的健康），但增加的罗伊式乳杆菌含量所带来的积极影响远甚于其阻碍抗氧化剂被人体吸收的事实。我们知道番茄有益健康，先前的研究也声称吃番茄有助于缓解胃癌--可能是因为它们抑制了细胞的生长。

The researchers analysed whole tomato extracts for their effect on gastric⁶ cancer. The results revealed they put the brakes on a cancer cell's ability to spread and develop, as well as leading to their death.

研究员分析了整个番茄提取物对胃癌的影响。结果显示，它们能抑制癌细胞的扩散和发展，而且还可以导致癌细胞死亡。

Study author Italian cancer specialist Daniela Barone said the effect of eating tomatoes "seem not related to specific components⁷, such as lycopene, but rather suggest that tomatoes should be considered in their entirety."

Daniela Barone是本研究的作者，也是一位意大利癌症专家，她表示：吃番茄的效果"似乎与番茄红素等特定成分无关，而是受整体成分的影响。"