In salads, in sauces, roasts or in soups…
The tomato is usually a kind of wild card in the kitchen that goes with almost anything and enhances the flavor of any dish.
Easy to get, and relatively cheap, it solves more than one meal for us.
But, in addition, the tomato provides us with a series of health benefits, whether we eat it raw as cooked.
Although we eat it as a vegetable, from the point of view of botany, the tomato is a fruit.
There are about 10,000 varieties of tomatoes that differ in their size, shape and color, but the one that predominates is the red.
color matter
And it is precisely this color that makes it a very nutritionally interestingas explained by Gemma Chiva-Blanch, Professor of Nutrition at the Open University of Catalonia, in an article recently published in The Conversation.
“The chromatism of vegetables is given by some substances, the polyphenols and carotenoidswhich cover the spectrum from yellow (of lemon) to purple (of eggplant, for example)”.
“Tomatoes are red because they contain a large amount of these compounds, although there are different varieties with different colors that have different mixes of polyphenols and carotenoids,” says Chiva-Blanch.
These bioactive compounds have a antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect.
Cardiovascular diseases
To give us an idea, a serving of 80 grams of tomato contains about 5% of the potassium that an adult needs per day.
Eating foods rich in potassium is associated with a lower risk of strokes and may also be associated with a lower rate of coronary heart disease.
Tomatoes also contain a compound called lycopene which, in addition to having an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect, has the potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseaseaccording to several studies.
Chiva-Blanch points out that lycopene is “one of the few compounds in food that is better absorbed if our protagonist (the tomato) is shredded“, as in the case of the Spanish cold soup known as gazpacho or another version called salmorejo, typical of southern Spain, or cocido.
And while it is true that, like other fruits and vegetables, tomatoes lose vitamins and minerals when subjected to high temperatures, various studies suggest that the Lycopene, on the other hand, intensifies its antioxidant potential with heat..
It is also recommended to consume tomato cooked with olive oilwhich contributes to better assimilation of its compounds.
According to the magazine Good Food from the BBC, much of the carotenoid content is in the tomato skinTherefore, if possible, it is advisable not to peel it to obtain maximum benefit.
more benefits
Other benefits of the phytochemicals contained in tomato is that they maintain the eye health and may have a protective effect against age-related macular degeneration and other eye diseases.
Chiva-Blanch also points out that people with diabetes, who are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases, who consume more tomatoes “have a less scleral load and therefore, a lower cardiovascular risk”.
As a guide, 80 grams of tomato represents one of the five servings of fruits and vegetables per day that the World Health Organization recommends as part of a healthy diet.
80 grams of tomato is approximately equivalent to a traditional tomato or 7 seven cherry tomatoes.
Keep reading:
* Influencer starves to death after five years consuming a strict raw vegan diet
* Global meat intake increases: United States leads chicken consumption
* Virus resistant tomatoes: the latest challenge for researchers
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