There are a lot of superfoods out there, but how do you know which one is the best? Well, it depends on what benefits you are looking to gain. That’s why we are going to focus on one superfood at a time. The superstar of the show today is the tomato. Below are some benefits found from medicalnewstoday.com and organicfacts.net.
Benefits:
- Protects your skin by helping block harmful UV rays.
- Linked to heart health because of the fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and choline
- Contain lycopene. An antioxidant that isn’t easily found in other foods.
- Could potentially protect the skin against harmful UV rays, prevent certain cancers, and lower cholesterol.
- Contain high amounts of potassium, fiber, and vitamin C.
- Attribute to eye health: the source of lycopene, lutein, and beta-carotene
- Folic acid may help with depression
Fun Fact:
The scientific name for tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum which means wolf peach.
Best Way to Cook:
The number one rule is to avoid aluminum cookware, according to this article on Cook’s illustrated, the interaction between the metal and high acid content in tomatoes may cause the aluminum to leech onto your food. As for cooking the tomatoes, keep the seeds! The seeds contain nutrients such as flavonoids and phytonutrients. Tomato seeds can help with blood circulation, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, and more. Using the tomato skin also has health benefits. An article on Web MD states, “The tomato skin also holds most of the flavanols as well...” According to Food Navigator, a research done by Cornell University determined that cooking a tomato increases lycopene (antioxidant), but may reduce the amount of vitamin C. Check out these other benefits and cooking tips.
Here are also some tips on the best ways to pressure cook a tomato.
For a chart showing the amount of nutrients in tomatoes click here.
Sources
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science/Tomatoes-cooked-better-than-raw
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/273031.php
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/tomatoes.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/tomatoes#section2
http://www.diyhealthremedy.com/top-7-health-benefits-of-tomato-seeds/
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6390-cooking-with-aluminum-pans-controversy
https://greatist.com/health/healthy-cooking-methods
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/health-properties-tomatoes#1
