Tomatoes health benefits for human body have proven evidence in medical industries. Is tomato a fruit or vegetable? Perhaps you ever asked that question once while most people never realize that the question exists until they hear it themselves. Well, it’s kind of confusing actually but don’t be because tomato botanically considered as berry-type so it is widely known as fruit though some still considered it as vegetable because it is mostly consumed in raw along with other vegetables.
Actually, it doesn’t matter whether tomato is fruit or vegetable because this juicy berry is so delicious as part of food and even beverages. You could find a lot of kinds of dishes made from tomatoes in your dining table like pasta sauce, tomato soup, salad mix, pizza topping, tomato juice and many more. Some people prefer to consume in simply raw and round tomato because of the taste which is juicy, sweet and a bit trace of sour flavor.
There are more than 100 varieties of tomatoes and almost each country has its own favorite of tomato. Actually, no matter what kind of variety your favorite is tomato is so rich of nutrients and all of them are very beneficial for healthy diet. Below are simple explanations of nutrients contained in tomato:
Nutrients Breakdown of Tomatoes:
| Water | 95% | In one medium size tomato (around 100 gram) consists of 95% water and the 5% are carbohydrate and fiber. |
| Carbohydrate & Fiber | 5% | |
| Serving: 100 gram | ||
| General Nutrients | ||
| Protein | 0.9 g | Tomato is one of the excellent choices for vegetarian who is looking for additional protein for their daily diet because it is not easy to find plant based protein. |
| Carbohydrate | 3.9 g | In 3.9 g carbohydrate contained fiber and sugar. The moderate amount of sugar in 100 gram tomato is not in dangerous level to be consumed by diabetic patients. |
| Fat | 0.2 g | Fat contained are saturated fat (mono and poly) and omega 6. Relatively low in fat content, of course tomato is healthy choice for daily diet, especially those who are currently in specific diet program like weight loss. |
| Amino Acid | There are around 17 types of amino acid found in tomatoes with glutamic and aspartic acid dominated. That’s why people with specific stomach condition should limit consuming tomato due to the acidic fluid content. | |
| Vitamins | DV | |
| Vitamin C | 15% | 100 gram of tomato also consists of Vitamin E, B complex, folate and choline but the DV is just aound 1-4% per serving. |
| Vitamin K | 7% | |
| Vitamin B6 | 6% | |
| Vitamin A | 5% | |
| Minerals | DV | |
| Copper | 7% | Tomato is relatively high in potassium as well as copper with 0% of sodium. So, tomato is good for blood pressure and cholesterol. |
| Potassium | 5% | |
| Manganese | 5% | |
| Iron | 3% | |
| Magnesium | 3% | |
| Phosphorous | 3% | |
| Zinc | 2% | |
| Calcium | 1% | |
As mentioned above, tomato is not only delicious but also beneficial for health. Below are 15 health benefits of tomatoes that you should know, so you cannot just enjoy the delicious flavor of tomato but also get all the benefits that tomato could give for the sake of your healthy life, especially you who are currently in a specific diet program.
Health Benefits of Tomatoes:
Tomatoes are powerful antioxidant. Lycopene, one of the types of antioxidant, is found in high amount in tomatoes. Antioxidant has prominent role in protecting the development of healthy cells and reducing the development of cancerous cells. Recent studies proven that lycopene is found more in cooked tomatoes than in raw tomatoes. However, there is one more thing to note, cooking the tomatoes could reduce the vitamin C contained, so cook it wisely to get all the benefits.
Tomato Health Benefits for bone strength must be the best choices. The essential nutrients that could help in maintaining the strength of bones and teeth are vitamin K and calcium. Tomatoes contained adequate amount of those two substances.
Potassium is like natural enemy to fight sodium in blood. Since tomatoes are so high of potassium, it could help in reducing sodium that is the main cause of the increasing of blood pressure level.
All foods that are rich of potassium will be considered to be good for heart because it could help in maintaining the blood pressure level, so heart don’t need to work hard just to produce and regulate blood. Besides that, cholesterol level could be under control as well. Good level of cholesterol means healthy heart.
It is true that the high potassium amount could be dangerous for those who have kidney condition, however tomatoes has ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease that considered to be one of the major cases in patient with kidney condition. Besides, the ability of tomatoes to remove the excess sodium in the body is good for kidney.
There is no doubt that all foods which are rich of vitamin A are good for eye. Furthermore, tomatoes are not only rich of vitamin A but also vitamin B complex and thiamine. Thiamine has important role in improving vision because those who is suffering thiamine deficiency will have higher risk of blindness.
Tomatoes are rich of Vitamin A, E, C and iron. They are recommended to be put in daily menu of diabetes type 2 patients. Nutrients contained could help in reducing the cardiovascular issue and at the same time improve the production of HDL instead of LDL, since heart condition always closely associated with diabetes patients.
As high in fiber of course tomatoes is good for digestion. Besides that tomatoes is so juicy that could provide liquid to ease digestive system inside intestine. Tomato is such a delicious way to provide enough fiber and water for your body.
Stress could happen to anybody due to some factors. It is true that tomato is not magical food that could fight all kinds of diseases but stress that caused by your daily activity might be reduced just by consuming a glass of tomato juice. It is because of potassium found in tomatoes is effective to reduce the bad effect stress and at the same time relief the anxiety caused by acute stress condition.
Are you in a specific weight loss diet program? Do you find tomatoes in your daily menu? Of course you are, since tomatoes are high in fiber that will make you feel full faster. Tomatoes are also rich of nutrients that are good for health but will not increase your weight since it is fat-free.
As powerful antioxidant, lycopene has amazing role, not only functioning as cell protector but also could repair damaged cells.
It is not easy to find protein in vegetables or fruits but tomatoes contained moderate amount of protein which could help in maintain the muscle mass, especially for those who are currently in special diet like muscle building, tomato could be a good supply for plant based protein.
Speaking of pregnancy, every pregnant woman will always ask the same question “Is it safe to eat?” Well no matter how rich nutrients of tomatoes are, still there is no exception for pregnant women to ask this question, just to be careful. However, tomatoes are totally safe to be consumed by pregnant women.
Tomatoes contained properties which are good for the mother and the baby, like iron and vitamin C which could help maintaining bone, teeth and muscle building in fetal as well as maintain the stamina of the mother during pregnancy. Vitamin A is good for vision and the hair growth of the baby.
No one will argue that tomatoes are rich of antioxidant, especially lycopene. Antioxidants are very beneficial to fight free radical that could cause several health conditions and at the same time maintaining the healthy cell and repairing the damaged cells.
Perhaps it is not a common knowledge that consuming tomatoes daily could help male in increasing their sperm count as well as improve the quality. In other words, tomatoes also have ability to deal with any kinds of impotency problem.
Tomato might be good to fight or prevent chronic diseases like blood pressure, heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes even cancers but do you know that tomato is also good to maintain your beauty? Tomato is not only good to be consumed but also able to use as skin and hair mask. To find out more, some points below might answer some of your questions.
Tomatoes for Beauty:
Glowing skin means healthy skin. Lycopene, one type of antioxidant, found in tomatoes could help providing your skin more oxygen which causes your skin looks glowing. Natural astringent contained in tomatoes also has significant role in making the skin wrinkle free. Tomatoes are also rich of vitamin C that has function to make your skin fairer and brighten by maintaining the collagen intake.
Tomatoes are the home remedy solution to fight acne. Acne might be common skin issue but it could be a nightmare sometimes and in some people get rid of it is not as easy as you think. However, tomatoes could help you in dealing with this skin condition a bit easier. Since tomatoes could balance the skin’s PH level, fighting acne with tomatoes is able to be done. Tomatoes are also acidic which is good to treat rashes caused by infection.
Health benefits of tomatoes for excess oil production in our skin is important to preventing skin problems. Tomatoes contained natural acid that could help in restoring the skin’s oil balance. Once your oil production in your skin is under control, dealing with acne will be much easier.
Tomatoes could be used as natural sunscreen due to lycopene contained in tomatoes that could help protecting your skin from harmful effect of the sun. And in opposite tomatoes could act as home remedy to deal with sunburn as well.
The other super power of lycopene contained in tomatoes could make your skin as smooth as baby skin. Iron and potassium contained in tomatoes are also very beneficial to reduce scar caused by acnes or other skin conditions, so your skin will look smoother.
Tomatoes are also good to be used as mask to remove dead skin. Besides that, it also unclogs pores that will prevent bacteria, oil and dirt to enter the pores so the development of acne could be reduced.
Tomatoes are excellent home remedy to deal with hair loss. What you need to do is just making a tomato pulp to be applied in your scalp. It will help stimulating the scalp and the growth of strong hair.
Tomatoes are rich of vitamin A, B, C and E which has been proven to be effective in maintaining the healthy hair.
Dry hair means your hair needed to be moisturized and tomatoes are the excellent solution. You don’t need to pay expensive hair mask treatment because you could make puree made from tomatoes and use it like hair mask. You just need to make sure to wash it off completely after more or less than 20 minutes.
So, could tomatoes fight dandruff? Of course, tomatoes are so high of vitamin C which could fight dandruff naturally.
Something that is too much is never been good is and old saying that is widely known but most people didn’t take it for granted. Simple example is like consuming too much tomato, no matter how much studies conducted to prove how powerful tomato in maintaining your health, some properties contained in tomatoes still could endanger your body if they are entering your system in high amount. Below are some examples of tomato’s side effects:
Bad Effects of Tomatoes
Speaking of chemical substances contamination, tomatoes are not the only one. All non organic products will be easily contaminated during cultivation process. That’s why it is the time for people to aware of this issue by choosing organic products only for their family. The problem is most people prefer to consume raw potatoes, if the washing process is not done properly, all those dangerous chemicals will easily enter your body.
As mentioned above, tomatoes are one of the good options for people with kidney problem due to its ability to deal with the cardiovascular condition. Unfortunately, potassium contained in tomatoes could be bad for kidney if it is consumed in high dosage. However, consuming moderate amount of tomatoes daily is still safe. But once a person has been diagnosed with chronic kidney condition, consulting this matter with the doctor is recommended in case they said otherwise because if kidney is no longer able to remove potassium from the body the risk of formulation of kidney stone is higher.
Since tomatoes contained acidic properties that could be fatal for people with specific stomach condition and heartburn is the first symptom that might appear. If you feel uncomfortable in your stomach after consuming tomatoes, perhaps you should start consulting it with your doctor to find out whether you have specific stomach condition or not.
The previous point said that the acidic fluid contained in tomatoes could increase the heartburn. In the other words, too much tomato could cause digestive trouble as well. Excess acid fluid content in your intestine system is never been good for your stomach. That is why consuming tomatoes wisely is highly recommended.
Tomato is not only just nutritious foods but also delicious beverages. In other words, putting tomato as part of your daily menu for your family is highly recommended due to all the health benefits as mentioned above. Besides, tomato can be turned into several delish dishes, so you would never running of idea about what to cook today.
However, you have to be careful when it comes to processed product made from tomatoes, like tomato ketchup or canned tomatoes. Though tomato ketchup has its own health benefits if compared to fresh tomato product but still sodium contained in processed food could be dangerous for patient with diabetes or hypertension history as well as canned tomatoes. If possible, just avoid canned tomato and choose fresh product instead.
Storage tips:
One important thing to note; it is better to cook fresh tomato and if possible don’t store it in the refrigerator because it could change the flavor. Keep them in room temperature is much more recommended but you have to make sure to keep it away from sun light. Well, it will be much easier if you have your own tomato plants in your back yard. By planting it yourself you could make sure that you only provide fresh and organic product for your family besides you don’t need to worry about how to store them.