Feb 21, 20225 min read

Tomatoes...A Fruit We Eat Like A Vegetable

Enjoy Tomatoes’ Superpowers All Year Round

Tomatoes are botanically a fruit yet we generally eat and prepare them like a vegetable!

Quite versatile, you can enjoy them right off the vine or prepare them for use in an endless list of recipes. They are added and found in many of our dishes and they empower your health in many ways.

You can incorporate tomatoes into your diet in a number of forms—fresh, dried, or as sauce, salsa, paste and liquid. This also allows you to enjoy tomatoes year-round. You can find tomatoes in various colors, including red, yellow, green, orange, and purple. They are also found in many shapes and sizes, each with a distinct flavor profile. Tomatoes offer many significant health benefits.

Let’s discover some of their best superpowers! A single tomato can provide about 40% of the daily recommendation of vitamin C. Tomatoes are brilliant when it comes to boosting your immunity levels. The vitamin C also helps to control stress hormones, and helps your body to remain collected, energized, and healthy. Tomatoes supply vitamin A, which supports immunity, vision, and skin health. They also add a healthy dose of vitamin K; which is good for your bones! Vitamin K is also essential for controlling bleeding as tomatoes offer a

positive effect on protecting the inner layer of the blood vessels and reduce the chance of blood clotting. Potassium is a key nutrient in tomatoes that benefits heart function, muscle contractions, and maintains a healthy blood pressure and fluid balance.

Healing Your Skin

Tomatoes are a nutrient-dense superfood proven to be a total beauty hero! Tomatoes are about 95% water, which makes them very helpful in maintaining good, healthy, balanced skin. The lycopene in tomatoes supports healthy skin while also protecting and reducing the possibility of the harmful effects of sun damage. The beta-carotenoids in tomatoes aid to shield and relieve sunburns. High levels of lycopene can be found in facial cleansers and creams on the market. The antioxidants present in this fruit boost collagen production while acting as a magic elixir to many skin woes. Tomato juice can offer the needed moisture to dry skin, thus preventing itchiness, flaking, cracking, and other uncomfortable dryness-

related symptoms. Tomatoes directly on your face or as a base in a homemade mask, cream or toner is a game-changer when it comes to harmful effects of tanning, controlling oil production, and brightening up a dull complexion.

Amazing For Your Eyes

Tomatoes contain Vitamin A which is fantastic for improving your vision! Eating tomatoes is one of the best foods to eat to safeguard the optic nerve and improve and prevent the development of night blindness. In addition, lycopene helps reduce symptoms of blurriness, cataracts and help keep eyes functioning optimally into old age. When you age, you are at a high risk of macular degeneration. Foods like tomatoes, which are high in lycopene, beta-carotene, and lutein, are an excellent way to prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. The retina is especially vulnerable during the years due to long-term damage of UV light radiation and oxidative stress. Vitamin A in tomatoes can help to protect the moisture of the eyes for those that experience dry eyes.

Maintain Strong Bones

Tomatoes contain a considerable amount of calcium and vitamin K, both of these nutrients play a role in strengthening and performing minor repairs on the bones as well as the bone tissue. While they contain calcium, lycopene levels are extremely beneficial for preventing oxidative damage to bones. Many people do not consider bone a living tissue, yet while you are alive, so is bone. Lycopene has been linked to better bone health, especially as we mature in age. This is why tomatoes and other lycopene-containing foods are recommended as part of an anti-aging, healthy diet.

Protect Your Heart

Nutrients like chlorine, potassium, fiber, and vitamin C found in tomatoes help to improve the function of your heart. Tomatoes have benefits against inflammation and oxidative stress. They also show a protective effect on the inner layer of blood vessels and may decrease your risk of blood clotting. Heart disease - including heart attacks and strokes are one

of the world’s most common heart conditions. Adding tomatoes to your diet may help your heart be at its most optimal health.

Both Raw And Cooked Tomatoes Contain Powerful Lycopene Antioxidants!

Combat Cancer

Tomatoes contain an antioxidant called lycopene, which is responsible for their red color.

Research suggests that in terms of heart health benefits, it is more effective to eat tomatoes and tomato products than to take lycopene supplements. Consumption of tomatoes and tomato-based products has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and cancers. Lycopene found in tomato nutrition has well-researched beneficial effects when it comes to stalling cancerous tumor growth. Adults with prostate, ovarian, lung, and stomach cancers who have participated in studies commonly show signs of cancer regression and tumor malignancy when consuming and supplementing with high doses of lycopene. Specifically - men who eat more tomatoes are less likely to suffer from prostate cancer. Research has shown that when lycopene supplements are given to men who have existing prostate cancer, they help to reduce the size of the tumors and stop the spreading of cancerous cells. Researchers have known about the immune-enhancing effects of foods containing lycopene for decades. The protective properties of lycopene are most beneficial and absorbable when consumed with a fat-rich food. This is why it’s a great idea to eat tomatoes along with healthy fats like avocado, olive or coconut oil, nuts and seeds, or fatty fish like salmon. Cooked tomatoes produce even more lycopene, so go ahead and cook up a batch of your mom’s famous tomato soup.

Prevent Diabetes

A high content of fiber in your daily diet helps to decrease the risk of diabetes. Tomatoes are considered top of foods rich in fiber and they will aid in managing your insulin levels, lipids, and blood sugar. You can consume 2 grams of fiber in one cup of tomatoes. In folklore medicine and traditional systems of medicine, tomatoes have played a role in detoxification, protecting and stimulating the liver, promoting higher energy levels, supporting the kidneys, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and supporting skin cell replacement. Tomato juice has long been recommended to keep the bloodstream alkaline and help maintain resistance against diseases.

Consuming tomatoes can provide a great boost to health, along with improving the flavor of food. Add fresh tomatoes to omelets, dress on fresh greens or quinoa salads raw, cooked or sundried, drizzle them over broiled fish, chicken, steak, tacos, and rice. They make a great side - served fresh, steamed, grilled or sautéed. Tomatoes are excellent in soups, chillies, and found on pizzas. Tomatoes are a super powerful unique fruit that many love and enjoy eating like a vegetable!

*For entertainment and general information purposes only. Individuals should always consult a health care provider before taking on any of these suggestions. Using your own discretion is the sole responsibility of all individuals.