Minus one

Forgetfulness may be cured by regularly consuming tomato paste.

Spanish researchers have found that the concentrated tomato puree used in cooking can improve concentration and memory based on the result of their clinical trial published in the international journal Antioxidants in May.

The team of researchers from the University of Barcelona in Spain had 42 healthy adults alternately consume 35 grams of concentrated tomato products and a low lycopene diet daily for three months.

After the three months, they tested the participants’ blood and detected high levels of lycopene, an anti-oxidant that helps reduce neuro-inflammation in the brain. The researchers then subjected the participants to standardized cognitive function tests and they showed significant improvements in selective attention, associative memory, and processing speed, The Standard (TS) reports.

The participants’ brains were also scanned through MRI and the resulting images showed that the consumption of tomato paste prompted functional reorganization across multiple large-scale neural networks, according to TS.

“High lycopene levels helped the brain prune redundant, inefficient cross-network signal connections — like a system reboot — greatly improving overall neural network transmission efficiency and adaptability, similar to positive neural changes seen after working memory training,” the researchers said in the study, TS reports.

If tomato paste can really improve memory, an Indian family should try it to prevent another mental lapse during a trip.

The family from Uttar Pradesh state recently went on a pilgrimage to Shaktipeeths in Himachal Pradesh. While en route, they stopped at a roadside restaurant for breakfast and tea.

Soon, the family was back on the road aboard their van. Some 80 kilometers away from where they stopped in Amb to eat, the driver received a call from a police officer.

“The family was informed that their child had been left at the dhaba (roadside eatery). They then realized their mistake and returned to get him,” deputy superintendent for police Anil Patiyal said, tribuneindia.com reports.

Vishal Thakur, a local resident who was at the eatery, told tribuneindia.com that he saw the child sitting alone and later crying so he called the police.

When the police arrived, they took custody of the boy and checked CCTV footage of the eatery and the nearby area to see the vehicles that had left. They were able to identify the family’s vehicle, a Tempo Traveller, through its registration number and called its owner to reach the driver.

Patiyal said the boy was safely handed over to his parents after the necessary paperwork and legal formalities were completed, according to tribuneindia.com.