Tomatoes - The Healthy Edible Food Item That Is A Part Of Our Life

By Author: Mark Bennett
Total Articles: 109
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Do you know how much important and good tomatoes are for your health? This reddish fruit which is similar to apple is an important constituent of our daily diet. Log on to your internet service provider like XFINITY Internet and you will see that majority of the dishes have tomato as their main or one of the sub-main ingredient. Let us see how much worth the tomato is in our life.

The tomato was once considered as a poisonous food and fortunately it regained its popularity in the late nineteenth century. Do you know what gives the tomato the deep reddish color? Well the reddish color is due to the presences of lycopene. This lycopene is a carotenoid pigment that as per a recent study shows that it is a powerful antioxidant as beta-carotene. Besides that the lycopene from orange and tangerine colored tomatoes may be better absorbed than the lycopene from the red tomatoes.

During the 1980s, as per a research it was found that people who ate large amounts of tomatoes were far less likely to die from all forms of cancer compared to those who ate little or no tomatoes. Besides that, in a sense, it is not only cancer ...
... that the lycopene in tomatoes help to mitigate. Lycopene is an important part of the antioxidant defense system in the skin. Dietary lycopene by itself or in combination with other nutrients can raise the sun protection factor (SPF) of the skin. In the other words, you can say that eating tomatoes whether they are cooked or processed, you are enhancing your skin's ability to withstand the assault from the damaging rays of the sun. Almost like an internal sunblock.

Usually lycopene is rare in the food and tomatoes are the one of the only few fruits that are rich in this powerful antioxidant. Also ketchup, tomato juice and pizza sauce account for more than 80 percent of the total lycopene intake of a majority of the Americans. Also the intakes of tomatoes have been long linked to heart. Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower the total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. In addition to that, tomato extracts have been shown to help unwanted clumping together of platelet cells in the blood. This is a factor that is especially important in lowering the risk of heart problems like atherosclerosis. But it was in the recent researches that the exact usage and how tomatoes helped in giving heart-protective benefits were found out.

Besides all these features, tomatoes are also a good source of potassium, niacin, vitamin B6 and other great healthy ingredients. Potassium rich foods play a positive role in cardiovascular health, being especially effective in helping to achieve optimal blood pressure. Niacin is also another important substance that is commonly used to lower elevated blood and cholesterol levels. Also the combination of vitamin B6 and folate effectively reduces the levels of homocysteine in the blood. Elevated levels of homocysteine are associated with a higher risk of heart disease.

Do you know that the US is the second largest producer of tomatoes? Among the countries that produce and export, China is the first, followed by the US and India. Besides that tomatoes are one of the most common garden fruits in the United States and along with zucchini, have a reputation for out producing the needs of the grower. Also one of the varieties; that is plum or processing tomatoes, California accounts for 90% of the United States’ production and 35% of the world's production.

So, you can say that tomatoes are one of the healthiest and common fruit that forms a part of the daily diet. Even though it is consumed in various forms, the nutrient value of the tomato is never lost.

Being a freelance writer and active blogger, Mike likes to share his thoughts with the rest of the world and to source out some great deals on home services like the one offered by XFINITY Internet