Tomatoes equal good health

One of the greatest things about summer is that it’s fresh tomato season.

In addition to being delicious and incredibly versatile players in all sorts of dishes and cuisines, tomatoes are nutritional powerhouses that give trendy imported and obscure super-foods like a�a� and goji berries a run for their money—without costing you a ton of cash.

Check out the nutritional profile for cherry tomatoes from our sister site Nutrition Data, and you’ll learn that one cup of the candy-sweet vegetable (which is, yes, botanically a fruit) supplies 32 percent of the daily value for vitamin C and 25 percent for vitamin A.

"Tomatoes are high in several antioxidants, including vitamin C and several important nutrients from the vitamin A family, known as carotenoids," explains Nutrition Data’s Monica Reinagel, chief nutritionist for Nutrition Data and the author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan. (Antioxidants help protect the body from free-radical damage: cell damage that is linked to cancer, heart disease, and a host of other illnesses.)

"The nutritional superstar is, of course, lycopene, a carotenoid that supports heart health by reducing the tendency of blood to form clots and also helps promote healthy cholesterol levels. It’s also been found to be a potent hedge against many kinds of cancer, in particular, prostate."

Nutrition Data also lists tomatoes as a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin K, and manganese, and a good source of vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.

Tomatoes Fight Prostate Cancer

As noted above, the lycopene in tomatoes is a potent cancer-fighter and seems to be particularly helpful in the prevention of prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society reports that eating actual tomatoes seems to be more protective than taking a lycopene supplement (see its article Tomatoes Beat Lycopene Alone for Prostate Cancer Protection for details).

"Organic tomato products have been found to have more lycopene than nonorganic," adds Reinagel, "and the lycopene is better absorbed from cooked tomatoes, such as tomato sauce and paste."

Lycopene is fat-soluble, so cooking the tomatoes with a bit of oil, as in the recipes below, further increases the body’s absorption of the nutrient.

Tomatoes Aid Heart Health

"In addition to lycopene, tomatoes provide numerous other heart-healthy nutrients such as beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, dietary fiber, and vitamin B6," writes George Mateljan in The World’s Healthiest Food. You can boost the health benefit by combining tomatoes with other heart-protecting foods, such as fish, nuts, olive oil, and avocados.

Tomatoes Help You Absorb More Nutrients Meals

The vitamin C in tomatoes helps the body absorb other important nutrients, including iron and calcium.

So pair tomatoes with calcium-rich foods like cheese and ingredients such as meat and spinach that are good sources of iron to get more from the whole meal.

Tomatoes Are Low in Calories

A whole medium tomato has only 22 calories, according to Nutrition Data, so tomatoes make great "filler," adding volume, moisture, and, of course, flavor to salads, sandwiches, stews, and other meals.

Start your meal with a filling but low-cal tomato soup such as gazpacho or a tomato-based salad, and you’re less likely to eat too much of the main course.

An Excellent Source of Fiber

It prevents constipation; lowers the risk of digestive problems; lowers blood cholesterol; controls blood sugar levels; and aids in weight loss.

One cup of chopped or sliced tomatoes has nine percent of the daily value for fiber, according to Nutrition Data.

So add tomatoes to otherwise fiber-poor meals, or combine them with other vegetables, whole grains, and legumes for extra fiber.

Anti-Inflammatory Properties

As we explained in The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, chronic low-grade inflammation in the body has been linked to increased risk of disease (including heart disease and stroke), as well as difficulty losing weight.

Some researchers believe that eating "anti-inflammatory" foods—and avoiding "inflammatory" ones—can make weight loss easier, slow down the aging process, and prevent disease.

Tomatoes are considered anti-inflammatory and combine well with other anti-inflammatory foods, including olive oil, fish, spinach, carrots, garlic, and chili peppers.

Tomatoes Match Wonderfully with Other Seasonal Produce

There’s some evidence that fresh-picked local seasonal produce packs a greater nutritional punch than stuff that was shipped around the world and has been sitting in storage.

There’s even more evidence that it tastes better—tomatoes, in particular, are difficult to ship ripe and therefore are normally shipped green and treated with ethylene gas so they turn red (but not really ripe like the ones picked when they’re already red).

Good bets include corn, chiles, green and red peppers, shell beans, summer squash and zucchini, eggplant, and fresh herbs such as basil, parsley, and mint.