On the summer table, tomatoes are the undisputed protagonists.
With a sweet and sour taste, edible raw or cooked, and low in calories, almost no one can resist the charm of tomatoes.
Fortunately, tomatoes have not lived up to everyone's love and have made great achievements in maintaining human health.
01
Tomatoes have two major effects
Helps lower blood pressure
In November 2023, a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that consuming more than 110 grams of tomatoes per day was associated with a 36% lower risk of high blood pressure compared to those with the least intake.
The study followed 7,056 participants for three years, and after extensive data analysis, the researchers found that for people with stage 1 hypertension, that is, high blood pressure just above the standard line, adding a tomato to to the daily diet is beneficial for blood pressure control.
Prevent cancer
The anti-cancer effect of tomatoes is due to the rich nutrients it contains, especially the lycopene found in ripe red tomatoes.
It has a strong antioxidant effect and is associated with the prevention of prostate cancer.
Studies have shown that men consuming more than 6.5 mg of lycopene per day in their diet can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by 21% compared to the observation group with the least intake.
In addition, high lycopene intake may also be associated with a reduced risk of esophageal, oral, gastric, colorectal, and lung cancers.
The vitamin C, carotene, and vitamin B6 in tomatoes also have anti-cancer effects.
02
How do you eat tomatoes better?
There is no "most optimal" way to eat tomatoes, and you can choose how to eat them according to your needs or habits.
Because, tomatoes have their own benefits when eaten raw and cooked.
When tomatoes are cooked, the utilization rate of lycopene is relatively high; Eating raw food can get more vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.
However, choosing the right tomatoes is the only way to reap healthy and delicious results compared to how tomatoes are eaten
03
Two kinds of tomatoes can't be eaten!
Tomatoes with dark spots should not be eaten
The dark spots on tomatoes, mainly caused by the bacterium Alternaria, produce a toxin called Alternaria toxin, which increases the risk of cancer.
Within 2 cm of the black spots and decaying parts of tomatoes, mycotoxins, metabolites of fungi, can be detected.
Unripe tomatoes cannot be eaten
Unripe tomatoes contain solanine, which can cause symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and even death when we consume too much.
How to pick ripe tomatoes
▼ Look at the color of the fruit pedicle: red and green is the manifestation of the ripe and falling of the melon, and the ripening tomatoes have almost no green parts on the fruit pedicles, only the red part.
▼Look at the fruit shape: Normal ripe tomatoes, round and smooth fruit shape. If the tomatoes are polyhedral in shape and uneven, they are likely ripe.
▼Look inside: Normal ripe tomatoes, the seeds are yellow, and the flesh is relatively uniform. If the tomato is ripe, the seeds will be yellow with a little green, and there will be a large gap between the flesh and the skin.
Tips:
Tomatoes are a healthy food that can be an important part of your daily food mix, but you can't rely on one nutrient in one food to solve various health problems.
Source: People's Daily Science Popularization