The tomato is one of the most used foods in the Mediterranean diet. We consume it daily on breakfast toast and add it to our salads. That mixture of tomato and extra virgin olive oil produces in our body a series of mechanisms that help us reduce cardiovascular diseases and that we enjoy a more careful skinamong many other virtues.
This fruit for botanists or vegetable for culinary experts keeps on its skin and inside some active components, vitamins and minerals that make our body work perfectly. If we accompany it with other fruits and vegetables of all colors, in addition to a healthy diet, we can observe beneficial effects on our body in the short and long term.
Tomato consumption could reduce the risk of several diseases
Less inflammation
We should not confuse inflamed with swollen. Inflammation is one of the mechanisms that our body produces in the face of harmful factors such as a sedentary lifestyle or the consumption of an unhealthy diet. Tomato consumption provides flavonoids that have a great capacity to avoid said inflammation.
A high level of inflammation over time is the main scenario for the occurrence of many failures in our body in the form of diseases. A simile to see it from another perspective is to think that we drive a formula one with loose screws. At any moment something can go wrong.
Tomato intake can also help with acute inflammation which is what occurs after a certain intensity training. This type of inflammation is far removed from chronic inflammation, which is what people with obesity or cardiometabolic disease develop.
Improves cardiovascular function
Carotenoids are a type of antioxidant found in yellow, orange, or red fruits and vegetables. The lycopene and beta carotene are two of those carotenoids that are often known for their relationship with tomato. It is found in red fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes and watermelons.
This antioxidant power protects our cells and tissues eliminating free radicals that are produced in our day to day by oxidative stress. Thanks to this, a large number of cardiovascular functions are improved, such as the prevention of hardening of the arteries or the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular accident.
Cooking unpeeled tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil is interesting because it increases the amount of lycopene and beta-carotene, and provides all the healthy components of olive oil. An example of this is that we prevent the accumulation of plaque in the arteriesdirectly related to blood pressure levels and, therefore, to cardiovascular diseases.
May help reduce cancer risk
Another of the tomato’s virtues is the prevention of certain types of cancer. This disease is influenced by a large number of factors, so the tomato itself will not have a significant influence, but it can contribute to reducing in some aspects the appearance of some of them, such as prostate cancer or breast cancer. .
In a study, they verified how diets rich in tomatoes and other foods high in lycopene can reduce pancreatic cancer by 31%. Prostate cancer, the main cancer developed in men, is another type of cancer that tomato consumption could reduce, according to the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Tomato consumption looks and feels short-term
Clearer vision and protection against eye problems
Just as tomato and lycopene (among other carotenoids) go hand in hand, if there is a vitamin that stands out in this food in vitamin A. Guess what components and vitamins play an essential role in vision? Yes, they are some carotenoids and vitamin A. That is why our vision can be improved with tomato consumption.
A deficiency of vitamin A causes the functioning of the entire network from the eye to the brain that is responsible for vision is not optimal. In turn, some carotenoids such as lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin are responsible for eye health. Therefore, the consumption of tomato can help us to reach the optimal levels of these substances and thus have the vision mechanisms functioning optimally.
an improved skin
Another of the vitamins that tomato has is vitamin C, on which collagen depends. Previously we have highlighted the work of some tomato components as protectors of free radicals that can damage our cells. Knowing that our skin is made up of cells, we could observe an improvement in said skin with the consumption of tomato.
It is due to that source of vitamin C that gives firmness to our skin and helps the renewal cycle of the cells that form it. Consuming tomato also contributes to reaching those adequate levels of vitamin C so that our skin looks good.
Somewhat shorter hangover
The best thing to avoid a hangover is not to drink alcohol, but if it’s too late for that, tomato juice is part of the list of foods that can help alleviate it. You can prepare some recipes with tomato as they are light and They provide hydration, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
The dose makes the poison
Paracelsus already sentenced five centuries ago that all things are poison and nothing is without poison. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison. The best strategy to take advantage of all the benefits of tomato discussed in this article It is not eating more tomato, but making the tomato one more food in our diet.
Each food has active components, vitamins and minerals, necessary for the proper functioning of all our systems. However, focusing solely and exclusively on one food or a group of them is not a good idea.
A excess tomato can cause some side effects such as heartburn or acid reflux due to excess production of gastric acid in the stomach. Intestinal imbalances such as diarrhea or kidney stones may also appear due to an excessive accumulation of calcium.
One of the possible side effects of a high intake of tomato, or foods rich in lycopene, could lead to lycopenoderma: the skin takes on a strong orange tint. Therefore, fill your basket with healthy food where fruits and vegetables of all colors prevail, without forgetting the tomato.
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