Study finds special tomato drink may reduce inflammation in adults with obesity

Tomatoes and soy have long been praised for their health benefits. Now, a small new study suggests that combining compounds from both into a specially formulated beverage may help reduce inflammation in adults with obesity.

Researchers at Ohio State University found that adults who drank two 6-ounce servings of a tomato-soy beverage each day for four weeks experienced significant reductions in several markers of systemic inflammation, according to a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.

The beverage wasn't ordinary tomato juice. It was made with tomatoes bred to contain high levels of lycopene — a powerful antioxidant that gives tomatoes their red color — and fortified with soy isoflavones, naturally occurring plant compounds found in soybeans.

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Researchers compared the fortified drink with a standard tomato juice and found only the specialized beverage significantly lowered three proteins linked to chronic inflammation.

The findings add to growing research into whether certain foods and plant compounds can help combat inflammation, but experts caution consumers not to expect the same results from grocery store tomato juice.

"This study adds to a growing body of research suggesting that bioactive compounds in foods may help influence inflammation, but it's important to keep the findings in perspective," Florida-based registered dietitian Jamie Lee McIntyre, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.

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"Researchers tested a specially formulated tomato-soy juice that contained concentrated amounts of lycopene and soy isoflavones — not a beverage consumers can easily recreate at home. While the results are promising, larger studies are needed before we can make broad dietary recommendations."

The study included just 12 adults with obesity over four weeks, making it too small to draw broad conclusions about long-term health effects, McIntyre said.

"That's enough to generate an interesting hypothesis but not enough to conclude that this beverage will reduce inflammation or improve health outcomes for the general population," she said.

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Instead of looking for a single "anti-inflammatory" food, people should focus on an overall healthy eating pattern, McIntyre said.

"The exciting part of nutrition research is seeing how foods may support health in new ways, but one small study shouldn't outweigh decades of evidence," she said.

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"For most people, the biggest payoff still comes from consistently eating a colorful, varied diet rather than chasing the latest nutrition headline."

Researchers said they hope to build on the findings with larger studies to better understand how food-based interventions could help manage chronic inflammation.