Health & Life

Tomatoes: Miracle Food or Poison? Check If You’re Using Them Right

Tomatoes are a popular food in Vietnamese cuisine, but they are not always healthy. Do you know how to eat tomatoes correctly?

Administrator

24 January, 2024

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Tomatoes are a common fruit used as a seasoning and in cooking. They are also considered a healthy food. Tomatoes have a sweet and sour taste, cooling properties, and are known to quench thirst, nourish yin and blood, making them suitable for those who lack vitamins, have high blood pressure, fatty liver, and weakened spleen and stomach. Tomatoes are also good for cases of dry mouth, dry lips, dizziness, bleeding gums, bleeding tooth sockets, poor digestion, and gastric ulcers…

When analyzing the nutritional composition, tomatoes are found to be very nutritious. They contain 90% water, 4% carbohydrates, 0.3% protein, 0.3% fat, and a lot of vitamins A, B1, B2, C, PP, E, K, and nicotinic acid. In particular, tomatoes also contain minerals that are good for health, such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, citric acid, malic acid, glucose, fructose, a small amount of sucrose and a keto-heptose. Ripe and nearly ripe tomatoes both contain mainly amino acids, with the exception of tryptophan; unripe tomatoes contain narcotin.

Tomatoes are especially good for cancer patients because they are rich in lycopene. This compound, which is abundant in tomato pulp, can reduce the risk of breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and can also be highly effective against neurodegenerative diseases. Drinking pureed tomato water helps treat symptoms of diabetes and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease…

The benefits of tomatoes:

– Good for the eyes: Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, which can prevent cataracts and improve vision. Recent research has shown that the high vitamin A content in tomatoes can prevent macular degeneration – a serious condition that can lead to blindness. Tomatoes are also believed to reduce the risk of cataracts. They also contain antioxidants such as lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

– Cancer prevention: Studies have shown that people who eat a lot of tomatoes can help fight prostate cancer and reduce the risk of other cancers such as stomach, lung, cervical, throat, colon, rectal, esophageal, and ovarian cancers due to their high antioxidant content, especially thanks to the high levels of lycopene in tomatoes. This activity increases when tomatoes are cooked and combined with olive oil.

– Skin beauty: The lycopene in tomatoes has strong antioxidant properties that protect the skin from sunlight and make your skin less sensitive to ultraviolet rays, one of the causes of wrinkles. You can also use tomatoes as a face mask to regenerate and tighten the skin, helping to tighten pores.

– Diabetes prevention: Tomatoes contain very few carbohydrates, so they help lower blood sugar levels. Some studies have found that the antioxidants in tomatoes protect the blood vessels and kidneys – organs that are often damaged by diabetes.

– Prevent osteoporosis: Tomatoes are rich in vitamin K and calcium, which help keep your bones strong and fight against osteoporosis.

– Prevent cardiovascular disease and stroke: The antioxidant compound lycopene can protect cells in the body from oxidation. The study “Clinical evidence comparing tomato consumption and lycopene supplementation in the prevention of cardiovascular disease” shows that people who consume foods containing lycopene have a lower risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Using tomatoes incorrectly can be harmful

Although tomatoes are good for your health, using them incorrectly can be harmful.

– Causing acid reflux: Tomatoes are very acidic and can cause acid reflux in people with stomach problems such as gastritis and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Therefore, it is important not to abuse tomatoes, and people with stomach problems should be cautious.

– Causing kidney problems: Tomatoes lead to calcium accumulation in the body and they are rich in oxalates, so people with kidney disease should eat less tomatoes. Eating too many tomatoes can cause urinary tract stones. In addition, tomatoes are also rich in potassium, which can impair kidney function. If you have kidney problems, be cautious when eating tomatoes.

– Digestive issues: If you have irritable bowel syndrome, tomatoes can actually trigger symptoms. These symptoms include diarrhea, cramping, bloating, and constipation. The acidity in tomatoes can also irritate the bladder.

If you have urinary incontinence or urinary problems, it is best to avoid or reduce the consumption of these foods.

– Joint pain: Eating too many tomatoes can cause joint pain. This is because tomatoes contain an alkaline compound called solanine, which accumulates calcium in tissues. Excessive accumulation can cause inflammation, pain, and swelling in the joints.

– Additionally, eating unripe tomatoes can also cause poisoning due to the dangerous compound solanine. Eating tomatoes and cucumbers together can also be harmful because cucumbers contain a catabolic enzyme that destroys the vitamin C content in tomatoes. Eating tomatoes together with cucumbers reduces the absorption of vitamin C into the body.

– Hesitate to eat tomato seeds because tomato seeds are indigestible, especially for young children.

– Eating tomatoes on an empty stomach can also be harmful because the pectin and phenolic resin in tomatoes can react with stomach acid, causing nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. This is especially important for people who want to lose weight and should be careful not to eat tomatoes on an empty stomach.

– Tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked. When cooked, vitamins decrease but lycopene increases. When eaten raw, more vitamins are preserved but lycopene does not increase. Therefore, you can combine both cooked and raw tomatoes.

It is recommended to consume an appropriate amount of tomatoes: For a normal person, you can consume 200g of tomatoes per day. They can be washed and eaten raw or blended into smoothies daily. Consuming this amount of tomatoes can meet the body’s daily needs for vitamins A, C, iron, and potassium.