• Posted January 12, 2026

Want To Protect Your Gum Health? Eat More Tomatoes, Study Suggests

Worried about your oral health?

Eat more tomatoes, a new study suggests.

Insufficient intake of lycopene — a nutrient found in tomatoes and other red fruits — is associated with a significantly higher risk of gum disease in older adults.

Seniors who get enough lycopene are 67% less likely to develop severe gum disease, researchers report in the February issue of The Journal of nutrition, health and aging.

“Overall, insufficient lycopene intake was a risk factor for periodontal disease development,” concluded the research team led by Katherine Kwong, an assistant professor of human development at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.

For the new study, researchers analyzed data for more than 1,200 seniors who took part in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey between 2009 and 2014. Respondents ranged in age from 65 to 79.

They underwent a dental examination and filled out a dietary questionnaire.

Researchers defined sufficient lycopene intake as more 8,000 or more micrograms daily. One cup of cooked tomatoes contains about 7,300 micrograms of lycopene, according to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Other lycopene-rich foods include red peppers, watermelon, persimmons and grapefruit, according to Northwell Health.

Nearly half of the participants (49%) had some level of gum disease, and about 78% did not get enough lycopene in their diet.

Men were 73% more likely than women to develop gum disease, and this was linked to a lack of lycopene intake, researchers found.

The study also found that Black seniors had a nearly tripled risk of severe gum disease compared to white seniors, more than 2.8 times higher.

A lack of lycopene might explain this racial disparity regarding gum disease, researchers wrote.

“Lycopene intake is significantly higher in non-Hispanic White individuals, while severe periodontal disease prevalence is lower,” researchers wrote.

All told, results suggest that lycopene could be an important factor for preventing gum disease.

“Our results suggest that future periodontal disease prevention strategies should consider targeted race- and sex-specific dietary interventions,” researchers wrote.

However, the study could not say why lycopene might help oral health, or whether lycopene taken as a supplement would be as effective as when the nutrient is eaten in food, researchers said.

Clinical trials are needed to confirm that lycopene can protect gum health, researchers said.

More information

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has more on the health effects of tomatoes.

SOURCES: Connecticut College, news release, Jan. 7, 2026: The Journal of nutrition, health and aging, February 2026