The Health Benefits of Tomato

the health benefits of tomato

When we talk about tomatoes, lycopene immediately pops out on our minds, right? Did you know that tomato is a good source of essential nutrients aside from lycopene? Tomatoes are known for their high vitamin C content, but also contain significant quantity of vitamins like vitamin A and B vitamins including niacin, folate and riboflavin; and electrolytes like potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, and calcium. Tomatoes are also a good source of chromium, and fiber.

Lycopene is a nutrient found in abundance in tomatoes. Many studies have been done on this phytochemical.  Tomato lycopene has been on headlines because of its disease fighting abilities, it is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the cells of our bodies from damage. It has been shown to help prevent heart disease and may slow the progress of cataracts and macular degeneration – an age related vision problem that can lead to blindness.

Researchers agree that tomato lycopene protects against a variety of cancers including breast, lung, endometrial, pancreatic, bladder, cervical and skin cancers and most especially on prostate cancer. You can get greater lycopene benefits when tomatoes are heated or homogenized compared to raw tomatoes.

Speaking of raw tomatoes, do not forget to include it in your salad. Maybe you can only get limited amount of lycopene on raw tomatoes compared to tomato sauce, tomato soup and other tomato recipe but raw tomato is good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C will enhance iron absorption in your body. Tomato is poor in calories; it consist of 90% water; and is diuretic, which making it the perfect vegetable for those who want to slim down. Fresh tomatoes help eliminate toxins while they are on diet.

Another advantage of tomato salad or eating raw tomato, tomatoes are an alkaline food that may help your body fight against acidosis. Acidosis can lead to many ailments such as headaches, fatigue, insomnia, absorption problems, arteriosclerosis, muscular aches, and loss of calcium from the bones. Many people rely on anti acid but there are lots of alkaline food that would help you to do the same work and tomatoes are one of them.

Tomato is certainly an excellent food for the family to be enjoyed as often as possible. You may serve it as tomato salad either alone or mixed with other vegetables, as appetizer, include it in your kids favorite sandwich, as tomato juice or cook it with your favorite vegetables or use tomato sauce or tomato paste in your favorite tomato soup and, or other tomato recipe to enjoy its lycopene benefits.

Tags: acidosis, alkaline food, antioxidant, arteriosclerosis, cancer, electrolytes, essential nutrients, fiber, heart disease, Insomnia, lycopene, lycopene benefits, phytochemical, raw tomatoes, tomato, tomato lycopene, tomato paste, tomato recipe, tomato salad, tomato sauce, tomato soup, tomatoes, toxins, vitamins

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