Tomato juice: lycopene that gets in, and salt that comes with it

In a meta-analysis of 21 intervention trials in adults, tomato products lowered LDL cholesterol by 8.5 mg/dL (0.22 mmol/L) and improved flow-mediated dilation, a measure of how well arteries widen, by 2.53 percent. That pooled result mixes juice with other tomato products and does not separate the juice. The trials of juice alone are small and short. In healthy volunteers, two weeks of tomato juice with 20.6 mg lycopene a day moved total cholesterol from 157.6 to 153.2 mg/dl, a change within the group, with no water arm to compare against. In an open-label crossover trial in 28 older adults at high cardiovascular risk, 200 or 14 fl oz (400 mL) a day for 4 weeks lowered two markers of vessel inflammation, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, against water. The lycopene clearly reaches the blood. In a small 4-week crossover trial in 15 adults, plasma lycopene rose by 0.24 micromol/L on juice, the same rise as on supplements carrying 70 to 75 mg lycopene.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Across 8 USDA samples of shelf-stable tomato juice, vitamin C ranged from 36.3 to 75.2 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), a median of 44.35 mg. — 8 Foundation Foods samples, tomato juice with added ingredients, from concentrate, shelf stable (n = 8) Evidence E source
  Vitamin C 36.3-75.2 mg/100 g, mean 49.8, median 44.35
• UK CoFID lists 8 mg vitamin C per 3.5 oz (100 g) of tomato juice, while the USDA shelf-stable record averages 49.8 mg, likely reflecting added ascorbic acid. — CoFID 2021 code 13-382 vs USDA FDC 2003596 (n = -) Evidence E source
  Vitamin C 8 vs 49.8 mg/100 g
• Sodium in 8 USDA tomato juice samples ranged from 149 to 276 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g), and UK CoFID lists 230 mg. — 8 Foundation Foods samples; CoFID 13-382 (n = 8) Evidence E source
  Sodium 149-276 mg/100 g, median 237; CoFID 230 mg

What a real portion looks like

• A default 8.7 oz (248 g) serving of regular tomato juice carries about 585 mg sodium, against about 144 mg for low sodium tomato juice. — FNDDS default portion (quantity not specified, 248 g) (n = -) Evidence E source
  585.3 vs 143.8 mg sodium per 248 g

What your body absorbs

• In a crossover trial in 11 healthy adults, adding refined olive oil to 26 oz (750 g) of unheated tomato juice raised all plasma lycopene isomers, peaking at 24 hours. — Healthy volunteers, single intake of 750 g tomato juice per 70 kg with or without 10% refined olive oil (n = 11) Evidence B source
  All lycopene isomers increased significantly with oil, maximum at 24 h
• In a 4-week crossover trial in 15 adults, plasma lycopene rose by 0.24 micromol/L on tomato juice, the same as on lycopene supplements with 70-75 mg lycopene. — Healthy volunteers, 4 weeks per product, self-selected diets (n = 15) Evidence B source
  Plasma lycopene +0.24 +/- 0.07 micromol/L (juice) vs +0.23 (oleoresin) vs +0.24 (beadlets), not different
• In a randomized trial, 12.5 mg lycopene a day for 4 weeks from tomatoes, tomato juice or puree raised plasma lycopene but did not change plasma vitamin C or tocopherols. — Volunteers after a 2-week depletion phase, 4 weeks of tomato products (n = not stated in abstract) Evidence B source
  Plasma lycopene increased significantly; tocopherols and ascorbic acid unchanged

What cooking and storage change

• No trial in the corpus compares heated and unheated tomato juice for nutrient loss, and no study links tomato juice to drug interactions or kidney stones. — PubMed corpus search for tomato juice with processing, warfarin, oxalate, kidney stone terms (n = 0) Evidence E source
  No studies found

What it does to your health

• In a meta-analysis of 21 intervention trials, tomato product supplementation lowered LDL cholesterol by 8.5 mg/dL (0.22 mmol/L) and improved flow-mediated dilation by 2.53%. — Adults over 18 in 21 intervention trials of tomato products or lycopene (n = 21 trials) Evidence A source
  LDL-C -8.5 mg/dL (-0.22 mmol/L) (p=0.006); FMD +2.53% (p=0.01); IL-6 SMD -0.25
• In a randomized trial with two juice arms and no water control, total cholesterol fell from 157.6 to 153.2 mg/dl and CRP from 315.6 to 262.3 microg/l within the group after 2 weeks of tomato juice with 20.6 mg lycopene a day. — Healthy volunteers after a 2-week carotenoid depletion phase, 2 weeks of tomato juice (n = not stated in abstract) Evidence B source
  Total cholesterol 157.6 to 153.2 mg/dl (P=0.008); CRP 315.6 to 262.3 microg/l (P=0.017)
• In a randomized trial in overweight and obese women, 11 fl oz (330 ml) of tomato juice a day for 20 days raised plasma antioxidant capacity and lowered serum MDA versus water, in the overweight but not the obese women. — Overweight or obese female students (BMI 25 or higher), Shiraz, 20 days (n = 64) Evidence B source
  TAC and erythrocyte SOD, GPx, CAT increased, MDA decreased vs control (p<0.05); seen in overweight, not obese
• In a crossover trial in 21 young women, 7.1 oz (200 g) of tomato juice with lemon and perilla oil before rice gave a 30-minute glucose of 103.1 mg/dL versus 127.8 mg/dL after water. — Young healthy women (age 21.1, HbA1c 5.2%), preload 10 min before 200 g white rice (n = 21) Evidence B source
  30-min glucose 103.1 vs 127.8 mg/dL (p<0.001); plain juice 113.9 mg/dL
• Observational data from the PLCO cohort of 101,683 people found no link between tomato juice intake and bladder cancer over 12.5 years. — PLCO screening trial participants, median follow-up 12.5 years, 774 bladder cancer cases (n = 101683) Evidence C source
  Tomato juice not associated with bladder cancer (P for trend > 0.05)

Safety, limits and interactions

• In randomized crossover trials, tin(II) chloride added to 8.5 fl oz (250 ml) of tomato juice caused dose-related gut symptoms, while canned tin up to 267 mg/kg caused none. — Healthy adult volunteers, 20 (tomato juice with tin chloride) and 24 (canned tomato soup) (n = 44) Evidence B source
  Dose-response for adverse effects only with tin(II) chloride in juice; no adverse effects up to 267 mg/kg migrated tin
• A single case report describes oral allergy syndrome with dyspnea from tomato juice in a man with Japanese cedar pollen allergy. — One 42-year-old man with Japanese cedar pollinosis (n = 1) Evidence D source
  Symptoms on each tomato juice intake, confirmed by challenge, resolved on avoidance

What people believe that the data does not support

• The EU did not authorize the claim that lycopenes from tomato juice protect cells from oxidative damage and strengthen the immune system. — EU health claims register (n = -) Evidence E source
  Claim non-authorized
• The EU did not authorize the claim that tomato juice has a positive influence on blood sugar. — EU health claims register (n = -) Evidence E source
  Claim non-authorized

Who this works differently for

• In a crossover trial in 28 older adults at high cardiovascular risk, 200 or 14 fl oz (400 mL) of tomato juice a day for 4 weeks lowered ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 versus water. — Adults mean age 69.7, mean BMI 31.5, high cardiovascular risk, 4 weeks per arm (n = 28) Evidence B source
  ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 significantly lower vs control (p < 0.001)
• In an uncontrolled one-year study of 481 Japanese residents, unsalted tomato juice was followed by lower blood pressure in 94 untreated people with prehypertension or hypertension. — Kuriyama residents, 184 men and 297 women, about 6.8 fl oz (200 ml) unsalted juice a day for one year (n = 481) Evidence C source
  Systolic BP 141.2 to 137.0 mmHg (p=0.003) in 94 untreated; LDL-C 155.0 to 149.9 mg/dl in 125

What is still unknown

• In a randomized trial in 75 overweight or obese women, 11 fl oz (330 ml) of tomato juice a day for 20 days did not change antioxidant capacity or enzymes. — Overweight or obese female students, Tehran, 20 days (n = 75) Evidence B source
  No effect on total antioxidant capacity, SOD, GPx, catalase

The bottom line

The number to check on the carton is sodium. A 248 g glass of regular tomato juice carries about 585 mg, a figure recalculated from the 100 g value, against about 144 mg for the low sodium version. Across 8 USDA samples of shelf-stable juice made from concentrate, sodium ran from 149 to 276 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g). Vitamin C swings even more between records. The USDA shelf-stable record averages 49.8 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) and the UK table lists 8 mg, a gap that probably reflects added ascorbic acid, though neither table says so. In a single-dose crossover trial in 11 healthy adults, unheated juice drunk with refined olive oil raised every plasma lycopene isomer, with the peak at 24 hours. Blood sugar is where the claims run ahead of the data. In 21 young healthy women, 7.1 oz (200 g) of juice fortified with lemon and perilla oil before a bowl of white rice gave a 30-minute glucose of 103.1 mg/dL against 127.8 after water. That was one meal, and plain juice only tended to be lower, at 113.9. The EU did not authorize the claim that tomato juice has a positive influence on blood sugar. It also rejected the claim that lycopenes from the juice protect cells from oxidative damage and strengthen the immune system. The antioxidant trials disagree with each other. Two 20-day trials in overweight and obese women used the same 11 fl oz (330 ml) a day. One found higher antioxidant capacity and lower MDA against water, in the overweight but not the obese women, and the other found no change at all. A one-year study of 481 Japanese residents drinking about 6.8 fl oz (200 ml) of unsalted juice a day saw systolic pressure fall from 141.2 to 137.0 mmHg in 94 untreated people with raised blood pressure. It had no control group, so the fall cannot be pinned on the juice. Observational data from the PLCO cohort of 101,683 people found no link between tomato juice and bladder cancer over 12.5 years. Two cautions are real. In randomized crossover trials in healthy adults, tin(II) chloride added to 8.5 fl oz (250 ml) of tomato juice caused dose-related gut symptoms, while tin that had migrated from cans into tomato soup, up to 267 mg/kg, caused none. That finding matters for juice stored in unlacquered tin cans. A single case report describes oral allergy syndrome with breathlessness from tomato juice in a man with Japanese cedar pollen allergy. We found no study linking tomato juice to drug interactions or kidney stones, and no trial comparing heated and unheated juice for nutrient loss.

Sources

1. tjc-r8-15 · dataset
   Tomato juice, with added ingredients, from concentrate, shelf stable (FDC 2003596, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30): Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid 49.8 MG, range 36.3-75.2 (median 44.35), samples 8
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, FDC 2003596 · checked 2026-09-29
2. tjc-r8-16 · dataset
   CoFID 2021 13-382 Tomato juice: Vitamin C (mg) 8; Sodium (mg) 230; Potassium (mg) 230. USDA FDC 2003596: vitamin C 49.8 mg per 100 g
   CoFID 2021, Public Health England, code 13-382 (OGL v3.0) · checked 2026-09-29
3. tjc-r8-17 · dataset
   Tomato juice, with added ingredients, from concentrate, shelf stable (FDC 2003596): Sodium, Na 235.6 MG, range 149.0-276.0 (median 237.0), samples 8; CoFID 2021 13-382 Sodium (mg) 230
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, FDC 2003596 · checked 2026-09-29
4. tjc-r8-18 · dataset
   FNDDS 74301100 Tomato juice, 100% (fdc_id 2709728): Sodium 236 MG per 100 g, Quantity not specified 248 g = 585.3 MG; FNDDS 74301150 Tomato juice, 100%, low sodium (fdc_id 2709729): Sodium 58 MG per 100 g, 248 g = 143.8 MG
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food codes 74301100 and 74301150 · checked 2026-09-29
5. tjc-r8-03 · RCT (crossover)
   In a randomized, controlled, crossover feeding trial, eleven healthy volunteers were assigned to receive a single ingestion of 750g of tomato juice (TJ) containing 10% of refined olive oil/70kg body weight (BW) and 750g of TJ without oil/70kg BW on two different days. All lycopene isomers increased significantly in subjects consuming TJ with oil, reaching the maximum concentration at 24h.
   Food Chem, 2015 · checked 2026-09-29
6. tjc-r8-04 · RCT (crossover)
   Mean (+/-SEM) increases in plasma lycopene at week 4 of tomato juice, oleoresin, and lycopene beadlet ingestion were not significantly different: 0.24 +/- 0.07, 0.23 +/- 0.05, and 0.24 +/- 0.06 micromol/L, respectively.
   Am J Clin Nutr, 1998 · checked 2026-09-29
7. tjc-r8-05 · RCT
   Following intervention, plasma lycopene concentration increased significantly. Conversely, supplementation did not significantly affect levels of tocopherols and ascorbic acid in plasma.
   Br J Nutr, 2006 · checked 2026-09-29
8. tjc-r8-20 · search result
   corpus_search.py ("tomato juice") AND (warfarin OR anticoagulant OR "drug interaction" OR cytochrome OR oxalate OR "kidney stone" OR nephrolithiasis): found 0; retention_search.py tomato juice: table does not name the product, group factors only; claims_search.py tomato juice: nothing in 21 CFR 101
   Bioma corpus search log, PubMed snapshot 469217, 2026-09-29 · checked 2026-09-29
9. tjc-r8-01 · meta-analysis
   Overall, interventions supplementing tomato were associated with significant reductions in LDL-cholesterol (-0.22 mmol/L; p = 0.006), IL-6 (standardised mean difference -0.25; p = 0.03), and improvements in FMD (2.53%; p = 0.01); while lycopene supplementation reduced systolic-BP (-5.66 mmHg; p = 0.002).
   Atherosclerosis, 2017 · checked 2026-09-29
10. tjc-r8-02 · RCT
    The consumption of tomato juice led to a reduction in total cholesterol levels (L: 157.6 v. 153.2 mg/dl, P = 0.008; LC: 153.4 v. 147.4 mg/dl, P = 0.002) and that of CRP (L: 315.6 v. 262.3 microg/l, P = 0.017; LC: 319.2 v. 247.1 microg/l, P = 0.001) in both groups.
    Br J Nutr, 2008 · checked 2026-09-29
11. tjc-r8-06 · RCT
    Subjects randomly received tomato juice (n = 32, 330 ml/d) or water (n = 28) for 20 days.
    Clin Nutr, 2015 · checked 2026-09-29
12. tjc-r8-08 · RCT (crossover)
    The plasma glucose at 30 min in tomato juice with lemon/n-3 PUFA-rich oil was significantly lower than that of water (103.1±3.4 mg/dL vs. 127.8±4.0 mg/dL, p<0.001, mean±SE) and tended to be lower than that of tomato juice (113.9±4.9 mg/dL, p=0.078).
    J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo), 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
13. tjc-r8-10 · cohort
    Dietary intakes of tomato catsup, tomato salsa and tomato juice were also not associated with the risk of bladder cancer (all P for trend > 0.05).
    Aging (Albany NY), 2021 · checked 2026-09-29
14. tjc-r8-11 · RCT (crossover)
    A clear dose-response relationship was only observed when tin was added as tin(II) chloride in tomato juice.
    Food Chem Toxicol, 2003 · checked 2026-09-29
15. tjc-r8-12 · case report
    Since tomato juice was involved in the development of the symptoms, a diagnosis of oral allergy syndrome induced by tomato juice was made.
    Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai Zasshi, 2003 · checked 2026-09-29
16. tjc-r8-13 · regulatory register
    POL-HC-7533 Lycopenes from tomato juice (Lycopenes from) tomato juice: - plays an important antioxidative function - protect cells against oxidative damages - strengthen the immune system - strengthen the body's defences Non-authorised
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-7533, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29
17. tjc-r8-14 · regulatory register
    POL-HC-8038 Tomato juice Tomato juice has a positive Influence on blood sugar level Non-authorised
    EU Register on nutrition and health claims, claim POL-HC-8038, snapshot 2026-09-21 · checked 2026-09-29
18. tjc-r8-09 · RCT (crossover)
    An open, prospective, randomized, cross-over, and controlled clinical trial was carried out with 28 volunteers (mean age 69.7 ± 3.1 years; mean BMI 31.5 ± 3.6 kg/m2 ) at high cardiovascular risk, which were assigned to consume daily for 4 weeks in random order: 200 mL (LD) or 400 mL (HD) of TJ, or water as a control (C), with a 21-day wash-out period between each intervention.
    Mol Nutr Food Res, 2017 · checked 2026-09-29
19. tjc-r8-19 · uncontrolled before-after study
    Unsalted tomato juice intake improved systolic and diastolic BP and serum LDL-C level in local Japanese residents at risk of cardiovascular conditions.
    Food Sci Nutr 2019 · checked 2026-09-29
20. tjc-r8-07 · RCT
    Lycopene consumption had no effect on these aforementioned variables.
    Women Health, 2015 · checked 2026-09-29