Are Tomatoes Good For You?

Tomatoes are the unicorns of the food world. They’re technically a fruit, but they function as a vegetable. They’re versatile because they can be eaten anyway, whether raw, mixed in with salads, used as a base for healthy homemade pasta, roasted, or as an added flavor to a dish, and they’re very nutritious. So yes, tomatoes are good for you.

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What are the Health Benefits of Tomatoes?

Tomatoes are often overlooked, even if they play a significant part in everyday cooking and food preparation. Here are a few health benefits that we get from tomatoes.

1. Tomatoes are rich in potassium, thus lowering one’s risk for stroke and heart disease. In addition, lycopene, the compound that gives tomatoes their red color, also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
2. Tomatoes have carotenoids, also known as phytochemicals, including beta carotene, lycopene, and lutein, which protect the eyes from macular degeneration, a common disease for fifty people above. It’s a disorder that causes blurred vision, and consuming tomatoes helps to prevent it.
3. The carotenoids found in tomatoes may prevent ultraviolet damage to the skin. It’s not fast-acting, meaning if you eat tomatoes, you won’t burn in the sun, but research says that skin sensitivity lowers with tomato consumption.
4. Tomatoes have Vitamin K, which promotes wound healing and blood clotting. It could also be beneficial to bones.
5. A study was done on a group of women aged forty to sixty in 2015. They drank pure tomato juice two times a day for eight weeks, and their menopausal symptoms such as heart and anxiety were drastically lessened. However short the trial was, it yielded encouraging results.
6. Aside from Vitamin K, tomatoes also contain Vitamin C, which promotes quick tissue repair, and Vitamin A, responsible for healthy skin and vision.
7. Tomatoes are good for constipation. Since it is fibrous, it helps clean the stomach and allows better bowel movement. However, cooked tomatoes are acidic, so that indigestion might worsen.

Are Tomatoes Good for Weight Loss?

If you’re feeling bloated, eat a tomato or two. If you want to lose weight, add tomatoes to your diet. Tomatoes help reduce water retention and lose fat. If you’re going to burn calories and consume fewer carbohydrates, tomatoes are an excellent addition to your meals. They also work as an appetite suppressant since they consist of air, water, and fiber.

What Happens If You Eat A Lot Of Tomatoes?

Anything in excess might be bad, even if they have healthy properties. Eating a lot of tomatoes can also be detrimental to your body. Here are a few things which might occur if you consume a lot of tomatoes.

1. Tomatoes have histamine, which could trigger allergic reactions and rashes.
2. Tomatoes are full of an alkaloid known as solanine, responsible for building calcium in body tissue. Excess solanine can cause joint pain and inflammation.
3. Since tomatoes are naturally acidic, they could also cause acid reflux.
4. As good as they are for the stomach, tomatoes can also worsen IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) when consumed in excess.

The key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to consume food in moderation, especially if those foods have properties that might worsen pre-existing health conditions.

What Is Lycopene Good For?

Top 10 Foods Highest in Lycopene

As mentioned briefly earlier, lycopene is a compound that gives tomatoes their red color. However, that’s not its only job. It’s also good for protecting the heart from vascular diseases, protecting the mouth from oral problems, reducing high blood pressure, and maintaining good bones. It’s not called a super compound for nothing. Here are ten foods that are high in lycopene:

 

1. Watermelons

2. Papayas

3. Red Carrots

4. Grapefruits

5. Guavas

6. Red Peppers

7. Asparagus

8. Red Cabbages

9. Mangoes

10. Red Grapes

 

So, are tomatoes good for you? Indeed, they are. As long as they are eaten in moderation, tomatoes can remain an essential part of your daily diet and help keep you healthy for a long time.

Here at Healthy Foodie, we have a great recipe for pasta sauce that is easy to make. It’s perfect for my homemade lasagna rollups or Rainbow Vegetable Pasta! We promote good health by way of proper dieting and eating food that is good for you.