It’s officially that time of year where all the garden growers are beginning to see their tomatoes SPROUTING 🍅 🌱
With 80% of lycopene in the American diet deriving from tomatoes 🤭, let’s dig into the NUTRITION of these fruit vegetables:
➡️ “Fruit vegetables” are botanically classified as fruits, but due to how they are prepared and/or their lack of sweetness, they are commonly considered vegetables.
➡️ Tomatoes contain the phytochemical lycopene.
➡️ They are fat-soluble and are therefore are best absorbed in the body when consumed with a source of fat, such as olive oil added to tomato sauce 🫒
➡️ Adding this fruit vegetable regularly to your diet also boosts your vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, AND potassium intake!
How can tomato consumption benefit you?
EYE HEALTH 👀 → Tomatoes function as antioxidants in the body and protects against cellular damage from free radical stress, such as prevention of cataracts or macular degeneration.
CANCER PREVENTION 🛡 → It has shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer-causing oxidative stress, as well as breast cancer.
SKIN BENEFITS ✨ → Tomato consumption has shown to protect the skin in protecting it against damage & make it less sensitive to UV rays.
BONE HEALTH 🦴→ The vitamin K and lycopene in tomatoes help to strengthen, repair, and improve bone mass & strength.
BLOOD SUGAR REGULATION 🧬 → Components in tomatoes also can help prevent the onset of diabetes through blood sugar regulation.
BLOOD PRESSURE REGULATION 🩸 → Tomatoes have also been shown to decrease cardiovascular risk from the potassium properties that lower both blood pressure AND cholesterol.
Stay tuned for the perfect recipe packed with these disease-fighting tomatoes in our next post!
Until Next Time,
Your Fuel Good RD Experts🍍