Tomatoes are considered as vegetables and fruits by both nutritionists and botanists. They both can be consumed both raw and cooked. Tomatoes are rich in beneficial nutrients so that they give a lot of health benefits.
They are packed with natural vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, C, K, B1, B3, B5, B6 and B7, iron, folate, potassium, magnesium and many more. No wonder, you can consume tomatoes during pregnancy. Read health benefits of tomatoes during pregnancy to get deeper understanding about it.
People tend to eat cooked tomatoes instead of the raw ones. Without knowing, raw tomatoes also give amazing health benefits to our body. It is suggested to eat tomatoes with their skin as the skin is very rich in phytochemicals which are very important for our body.
Aren’t you curious of the health benefits of eating raw tomatoes? Let’s check them out!
- Good for Your Skin and Hair
Tomatoes are rich in vitamins, such as vitamin A, C and K. These vitamins are beneficial for eliminating pigmentation and protecting you against harmful UV rays. There are some medical studies that found out that eating raw tomatoes may protect you against sunburn too due to their rich content of lycopene.
As for the hair, eating raw tomatoes may also promote the development and maintenance of collagen. The development of collagen will improve the skin and hair too.
Try some essential oils to maintain your skin and hair health too. Get the idea of using those oils by reading these health benefits of argan oil for your skin and health benefits of rosemary oil for hair.
- Good for Your Bones
Maintaining bone health is not always using milk, you can do it by eating raw tomatoes too! Tomatoes are rich in vitamin K, calcium and lycopene which are very good for repairing bones as well as strengthening and improving bone mass.
You can also drink tomato juice as it can increase the presence of cell-protecting antioxidants.
If you want to maintain bone health, why don’t you try consuming turmeric? You can read more about it in these benefits of turmeric for bones.
- Control Blood Sugar
Blood sugar level needs to be controlled as having too much sugar in the blood may lead to serious problems. However, you don’t have to worry as you can control it by consuming raw tomatoes.
It is because tomatoes are rich in chromium which is helpful to reduce blood sugar level. No wonder, consuming tomatoes is recommended for diabetic patients.
- Boost your Immune System
A strong immune system is essential and important to keep our body healthy. A healthy immune system will keep our body protected from invaders, such as virus from entering our body. Fortunately, tomatoes are able t strengthen and boost our immunity system due to their rich content of vitamin C.
Furthermore, vitamin C in tomatoes can control the increase of stress hormones, so our body will remain energized and healthy.
- Prevent from Several Types of Cancer
Tomatoes, both cooked and raw, are able to prevent several types of cancer. According to some research, the high content of lycopene in tomatoes helps reduce the chances of the development of several types of cancer, such as prostate and stomach cancer.
Cancer is a serious disease and nobody wants to get that. You can prevent this type of disease by consuming some food, such as tempeh. Try eating tempeh and get these powerful benefits of tempeh for cancer.
- Improve Heart Health
Heart disease is one of the top diseases causing death worldwide. Tomatoes, both raw and cooked, are able to improve the heart health. They do that by reducing the amount of bad cholesterol in the body so that the risk of getting heart attack or stroke can be minimized.
Once again, thanks to lycopene and quercetin, the flavonoid antioxidant which have the beneficial effect on the heart.
- Improve Eyesight
Who doesn’t know that tomatoes are good for our eyes? It is all due to the vitamin A found in tomatoes. This vitamin plays an important role in improving your eyesight. You can also prevent yourself from developing night blindness by eating raw tomatoes.
Eating raw tomatoes is good and offers a lot of health benefits. However, eating raw fruits or vegetables needs some concerns.
Before eating raw tomatoes, make sure that you choose the good-quality tomatoes. Then, wash the tomatoes thoroughly and properly.
To eat raw tomatoes, you can simply eat them or juice them. Enjoy the tomatoes along with the amazing health benefits they give.