TOMATOES

TOMATOES

 

Tomatoes!  They’re sweet, juicy, and delicious.  Everyone knows they are good.  Tomatoes also have a relatively high water content, which makes them a filling food.  In general eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, confers protection against high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes, and heart disease.

Tomato is considered both a fruit and vegetable.  Tomatoes are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content.  Researchers have recently found an important connection its antioxidant properties, and bone health.

There are literally hundreds of different tomato varieties.  While all tomatoes showed good antioxidant capacity, and while the differences were not huge, the following four varieties of tomatoes turned out to have a higher average antioxidant capacity regardless of whether they were grown conventionally or organically: New Girl, Jet Star, Fantastic, and First Lady.

Intake of tomatoes has long been linked to heart health.  Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.  Tomatoes are a treasure of riches when it comes to their antioxidant benefits.  Tomatoes provide an excellent amount of vitamin C and beta-carotene; a very good amount of the mineral manganese; and a good amount of vitamin E.

Reduced risk of heart disease is an area of health benefits in which tomatoes truly excel.  There are two basic lines of research that have repeatedly linked tomatoes to heart health.  The first line of research involves antioxidant support, and the second line of research involves regulation of fats in the bloodstream.  Bone health is another area of growing interest in tomato research.

Although tomatoes are fruits in a botanical sense, they don't have the dessert quality sweetness of other fruits.  Instead they have a subtle sweetness that is complemented by a slightly bitter and acidic taste.

Health benefits of tomato include eye sight, good gut health, low hypertension, diabetes, skin problems and urinary tract infections.  Some of the other health benefits of tomato are as follows:

• Abundant Source of Antioxidants
• Reduces Cholesterol and Protects Heart
• Rich Source of Vitamins and Minerals
• Counters the Effect of Cigarette Smoke
• Improves Vision
• Keeps Gut Healthy
• Lowers Hypertension
• Alleviates Diabetes
• For Healthy Skin
• Prevents Urinary Tract Infections
• Prevents Gallstones

9 Surprising Health Benefits of Tomatoes:

1. make your skin look great
2. build strong bones
3. natural cancer fighter
4. keep your blood sugar in balance
5. improve your vision
6. make your hair look better
7. help prevent kidney stones and gallstones
8. reduce chronic pain
9. help you lose weight

REFERENCS

1.         http://www.whfoods.com/

2.         http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/health-benefits-of-tomato.html1     

3.         http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/9-Surprising-Health-Benefits-of-Tomatoes