COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 23 (Nationwide Times) — A four-week Ohio State study suggests a specially designed tomato-soy drink may change blood markers tied to long-term inflammation in adults with obesity. For everyday readers, the main takeaway is narrow: the drink was not regular tomato juice, the trial involved only 12 adults, and the paper does not show long-term health benefits.
What did the researchers test?
In a study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research and indexed by PubMed, researchers gave 12 adults with obesity either a tomato-soy beverage or a low-carotenoid tomato juice control. Participants drank two 6-ounce servings a day for four weeks, then went through a washout period — a break meant to let the first drink’s effects fade — before the study switched treatments in a crossover design. That setup lets researchers compare changes within the same people.
What changed in the blood?
After the tomato-soy drink, the study found significant drops in three immune proteins tied to inflammation: IL-5, IL-12p70 and GM-CSF. Another protein, TNF-α, moved downward but did not reach standard statistical significance. The study also reported that plasma lycopene rose 2.48-fold, showing the body absorbed more of the tomato pigment during the trial.
Why was this drink special?
The beverage was made from tomatoes bred to contain high levels of lycopene and was fortified with soy isoflavones. In other words, the researchers were testing a custom formula, not a product most people would already have at home.
Did the study suggest anything else?
Yes. The paper reported shared changes in the urine metabolome after both interventions, which hints that some tomato-related effects may happen beyond lycopene alone.
What does this mean for daily eating?
The study does not prove that ordinary tomato juice does the same thing, and it does not show whether the blood changes lead to better health over time. With only 12 participants, the result is best seen as early evidence, not a broad rule for diet choices.
Has tomato juice been studied before?
A separate randomized study published in PubMed in 2013 found that tomato juice lowered some inflammatory markers in overweight or obese female students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. In that study, IL-8 and TNF-α fell in the intervention group, and IL-6 dropped in obese participants. Because it was a different trial in a different group, it adds context but does not turn tomato drinks into a proven fix.
For now, the study is best understood as a clue that tomato-based drinks can affect inflammation markers in some people — not as a reason to expect the same results from a normal glass of juice.
