Health in a pill. It's the old miracle cure that so many people wish for. The newest cure-in-a-pill is the tomato pill, which is said to help beat heart disease. More testing and trials are needed to determine the efficacy of this pill, but the main ingredient -- lycopene -- is a naturally-occurring antioxidant with many health benefits.

Lycopene is thought to help reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), and it might also be beneficial for diabetes, osteoporosis, eye health and even male infertility. In addition, lycopene may help reduce the risk of certain cancers.

Rather than popping a pill, why not include plenty of lycopene-rich foods in your diet? When looking for lycopene, just see red; lycopene is the natural pigment that gives many red fruits and vegetables their color. Tomatoes are a great source of lycopene, but guava, red bell peppers, watermelon and pink grapefruit are too.

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Tomatoes are abundant right now -- trust me. I have three large bags full of them from our CSA Farm, and some fresh tomato sauce simmering on the stove as I type.

Needless to say, I've been scouring the internet looking for some new tomato recipes to try that take advantage of the healthy tomato, bursting with vitamin C and lycopene. So I checked out the top 25 tomato recipes on Cooking Light, and what do you suppose I found?

Well, good and bag things, really. Here's a breakdown of the recipes that ... caught my eye, let's say, and what you might decide to substitute for a healthier choice.

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Fried green tomatoes, step aside: there's a healthier dish in town. Full of flavor and nutritious goodies, green tomato rice may become the new "in" side dish using the popular unripe fruit.

We don't want the trans fats that frying gives us, and bread crumbs have almost no nutritional value. And we certainly don't want the calories in fried green tomatoes -- 312 calories in just one tomato! Brown rice, on the other hand, supplies B vitamins and fiber, and garlic, thyme and jalepeno all have their heart-smart health benefits.

To get the most from green tomato rice, be sure to use brown rice (and increase the broth slightly) and nitrite-free turkey bacon; then enjoy your new green tomato staple side dish!

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The perfect food to fuel your body is just a shopping trip away. It's sweet, crisp, and full of important nutrients. Can you guess what it is?

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• Watermelon juice beat out tomato juice on the lycopene front in a recent study. Research suggests that lycopene may be a cancer killer.
• A compound in watermelon can help with your skin's healing and regenerative processes.
• Watermelon is practically calorie-free. It contains less than 50 calories per cup which makes it a grand way to satisfy a sweet tooth.
• Eating watermelon is a great way to hydrate. There's 141 grams of water per each cubed cup.

'Tis the season for ripe watermelons. Head on out and get yourself one. And get this: whole watermelons stored at room temperature deliver more cell-protecting antioxidants. You'd be wise then to eat this melon as soon as you cut it up for maximum benefits. Then chill the rest.

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When things get hectic and crazed around my house, my old stand-by dinner is invariably whole-wheat spaghetti and marinara sauce with added veggies. It's quick, easy, always a hit with my son, and passable nutrition-wise. It turns out my "old faithful" dinner also has benefits for the skin.

Researchers have determined that antioxidants in tomatoes help protect the skin against UV rays. Lycopene, one of the antioxidants found in tomatoes, has previously been linked to a reduction in prostate cancer risk. The skin benefits are just the icing on the cake... or the sauce on the spaghetti. Participants in the study ate up to 55 grams of tomato paste daily. In addition to the UV protection, lycopene may also be linked with anti-aging properties.

Lycopene is found in many other red fruits and vegetables including watermelon, guava, and pink grapefruit.

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Many people are making more of a push to go natural with their food these days. Organic brands are starting to fill up shopping carts in grocery stores around the country, but not everyone is sold on the idea just yet. For some, eating the way they do it's just a matter of choice, which, of course, is their prerogative. For others, they may want to make the switch to natural foods, but are unsure where to even start.

To help that lot along, this month's issue of Women's Health magazine offers some helpful tips, starting with knowing the truth behind some common foods.

Milk. A 2005 USDA study found pesticides in 27 percent of conventional milk samples.

Potatoes. The same 2005 USDA study found that 81 percent of non-organic spuds contain pesticides -- even after washing and peeling.

Peanut Butter. Non-organic brands use fungicides to combat peanut mold. The same fungicides have been shown to decrease fertility in mice.

Ketchup. Organic brands have 57 percent more lycopene than non-organic brands. This healthy antioxidant is a known fighter of cancer and heart disease.

Apples. Non-organics use pesticides that have been linked to developmental problems in children and altered hormone levels in adults.

How and what you choose to eat is entirely up to you and, quite frankly, is not deserving of judgment. But, it's still worth knowing the facts, isn't it?

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Last Christmas, we had sort of a misfit's Christmas -- we invited a few people who didn't have family in town to celebrate with our small family. And the thing I remember most about that Christmas was that one of the guests poured ketchup over everything we served for Christmas dinner -- the turkey, the stuffing, the broccoli and cheese, you name it. The only thing he didn't have ketchup with was dessert.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, he might be on to something -- we should all be putting ketchup on everything, according to this article from the Daily Mail. Eating ketchup every day can significantly improve your heart health, according to recent studies. In fact, volunteers who ate ketchup with every meal of the day were shown to have lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels than those who didn't. It's all down to the tomatoes, or rather, the lycopene in the tomatoes. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and for some reason, it's more prevalent in ketchup than it is in regular tomatoes.

I think it should be pointed out, however, that what you put ketchup on is important too. Slathering it on your French fries doesn't make them healthy, but go ahead and have it with your egg-white omelet.

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For everyone who's been popping vitamins to keep them healthy and strong, Reader's Digest recently published 'The Vitamin Hoax - What Not to Take' in their November 2007 issue.

To my friends (myself included), who have been popping pills like Vitamin A and E everyday by only following a beauty columnist's advice on how to make your skin glow (yes, I'm trying to get rid of wrinkles), the Reader's Digest article claims that studies show:

• Taking antioxidant vitamins increases a person's risk of dying by 16%.
• High doses of Vitamin E taken over 10 years slightly elevated cancer risk in smokers.
• Too much Vitamin A increases the risk of liver and lung cancer.

There's so much more to quote in the recent issue, and that doesn't mean I agree or disagree with the article. I just want to share it with you. Everyone should take the time to read it and decide for themselves about what it says because what we learn about vitamins and supplements seems to change daily.

If you are wondering, yes, I take vitamins (as do my children), and will continue to do so -- but that said -- people should stop depending on supplements and instead get their vitamins from a balanced diet consisting of real food (rather than processed). The problem: Only 3 percent of us actually eat that well, so it's much easier said than done ... and supplements can be a good option if you're not getting what you need from your diet.

Here is the list of 10 Vitamins that Reader's Digest suggests that we do not need to take and their reasons why:

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August and September are prime time for garden fresh tomatoes, which have a much richer flavor than supermarket versions. Not only are tomatoes sweet and juicy, they also contribute to your RDA of vitamins A and C, fiber, potassium, as well as important antioxidants and flavanoids. If that wasn't reason enough to make yourself a juicy tomato sandwich or homemade tomato sauce, consider these five reasons to enjoy a tomato:

1. Tomatoes may help you lower your blood pressure.
2. They may boost your immunity against cold and flu.
3. Lycopene -- which is found in tomatoes -- may reduce your risk of sunburn.
4. Tomatoes can lower raise good cholesterol and lower bad.
5. When tomatoes are cooked or eaten with oil, they can prevent signs of aging.

Whether you grow them in your own backyard, search out heirloom varieties at the farmer's market, or throw them in your shopping cart at the supermarket, tomatoes are a welcome addition to a balanced and varied diet.

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Each week, we'll be offering original recipes and unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Watermelon conjures images of summers past . . . the juice dripping down my chin, watermelon seed spitting contests with my siblings and the ever-present watermelon poolside, next to the corn on the cob on my plate and served by the giant slice for dessert.

This trip down memory lane rejuvenates my fondness for watermelon, but did you know that it is nutritious, too?

Fellow blogger Bethany writes about room temperature watermelon having more antioxidants than refrigerated melon. WebMD tells us of watermelon's high lycopene content, that watermelons are ninety-two percent water and that they are actually not a fruit at all, but a vegetable.

As if that is not enough, how about the high content of vitamins C ad A? Seems to me we should all be eating lots of watermelon.

Big, round, juicy, and in season, watermelons are cropping up all over. I recently bought a giant-sized one for $3.00 at my local market and we've been eating on it for three days. A great source of lycopene and beta carotene, watermelons are also a sweet summertime thirst quencher. To get the most out of this juicy fruit, let it ripen on your counter top for a day or two, instead of in the fridge. Studies have found that when watermelons were stored at room temperature, their antioxidant levels rose by 20-100%. Mmmmmmm.....enjoy!

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Recently, the FDA concluded that tomatoes, which are rich in the antioxidant lycopene, don't appear to prevent cancer after all, at least in their opinion. Some studies had linked lycopene to a reduced risk of prostate, colon, and breast cancers, but after a review of 107 studies, the agency says that it can't find enough evidence to definitively say that lycopene prevents disease.

The American Cancer Society barely blinked at the news, saying that they stay away from recommending any one food for the prevention of disease. Instead, they recommend people eat a diet rich in fresh produce and encourage people to eat a variety of richly colored vegetables. Not only is a diet rich in fruits and vegetables linked to a lower risk of cancer, it can also help to prevent weight gain which is tied to a higher risk of several diseases.

No one is giving up on the good old tomato. Health experts say that lycopene may indeed have a role in preventing cancer, and that future studies may provide more definitive evidence. In addition to lycopene, tomatoes are a great source of vitamins C, A, and B6, as well as niacin, folate, and potassium.

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Did you know that sauteing your veggies with some olive oil is better than steaming them because you get more antioxidants that way? Yeah, me neither. I always assumed that the cooking method that involved the least fat was the most healthy. That's just one of the cooking tips I've learned from this article by Prevention Magazine. Here are some suggestions, in a nutshell:

• Cook or heat up tomatoes to up the amount of heart-healthy lycopene
  
• Let Garlic stand for 10-15 minutes before using it in cooking
• Heat acidic foods in cast iron to add more iron
• Add healthy fats like Avocado, Nuts and seeds to improve the nutrient content of your salad
• Add lemon juice to homemade chicken soup -- it increases the calcium in your soup
• Marinate -- the chance of picking up carcinogens from your barbecue is significantly decreased if you marinate your meat and veggies beforehand
• Save time and valuable nutrients by cutting bigger slices of veggies
• Don't peel -- the skin on many veggies is where the good stuff is
• Add fresh spices and and herbs to your meals

Great tips -- check out the article for a more in-depth explanation. What tips do you have?

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