Eat Tomatoes And Avail The Wealth Of Key Benefits

Posted on April 1, 2008 - Filed Under Health and Fitness

The eye catching and tempting tomatoes are a hub of vitamins and treasure trove of antioxidants. Their inclusion in daily dietary habit is instrumental in alleviating cancers particularly of the digestive tract, boosting immunity, wards off many diseases and reduces risk of heart stroke in multifold. Its rich red color is no coincidental. It is attributed to the presence of lycopene-an unsaturated open chain carotenoid. Lycopene is one of the very effective antioxidants whose absorption in the body cells is the maximum. It had help give vigor to the functioning of lungs, liver, colon, pancreas and the prostrate glands. Antioxidants maintain youthfulness by way of maintaining the integrity of cells. They do so by capturing free oxygen radicals liberated from the oxidized food in the cell. Free oxygen radicals are capable of ensuing damage to the neighbor cells.

It is not only the tomatoes but also tomato based foods such as sauces, ketchups and juices that are of much nutritional value. In fact the beta carotene and antioxidants are multiplied in case of tomato ketchup/sauces and juices due to the concentrated lycopene in them.

Addition of tomatoes while cooking vegetables enhances absorption of nutrients therein considering beta carotenoid is fat-soluble.

Tomatoes are natural astringent and help reduce blood cholesterol and serum triglycerides. They contain Vitamin K and help avert hemorrhages and blood clotting. It helps thinning of blood. Besides this tomatoes are enriched with Vitamins of the type A, C, thiamine, niacin, folic acid, calcium, iron, potassium and various flavonoids.

Tomatoes are rich in calories and help its users in weight reduction.

Lycopene prevents the occurrence of heart strokes and keeps the structure of capillaries intact. This open chained unsaturated compound prevents the oxidation of low density lipoprotein in diet, also referred to as LDL or the bad cholesterol that manifests itself externally in the form of plaque. The latter is deposited along the inner walls of the arteries making them narrow, stiff thereby hindering the free flow of blood and thus causing stroke.

Research studies point those women who included tomatoes and thus high lycopene in their regular diet had much lower risk to incidents of cervical cancer than those with low lycopene levels.

Consumption and application of these gives skin its flush of freshness and health to limp hair. Skin color and texture improves with the regular drinking of tomato juice or adding fresh tomatoes in salad. For beauty purpose add tomato purry/juice with curd and apply on hair and skin for at least half an hour to give the desired effect. The results can be enhanced with the addition of beaten egg to the mixture. For consumption add tomatoes in while preparing vegetables and curries besides of courses eaten raw in salads and as juice. For maximum effects vegetables/curries should always be cooked over low flame to ensure the proteins and vitamins contained in them are not altered by high heat. Food should be prepared as much required and eaten fresh making the possibility of preservation and refrigeration minimum.

Being the most potent antioxidant it helps keep eyes off major disorders particularly those pertaining to age such as cataract, macular degeneration, night blindness and several others of the type that lead to lessened vision. Lycopene in tomatoes are excellent blood purifiers.

Unauthenticated research says for people trying to quit smoking should increase much consumption of tomatoes. They contain nicotinic acid and should be able to complement for the nicotinic acid which become unavailable following quitting smoke. Nicotine rich foods such as tomatoes help improve moods and enhance concentration. Nicotine is known to have considerable impact on the functioning of neurotransmitters. So instead of availing health benefits of nicotine from addictives as the fatally harmful cigarettes, it is much economical and worthwhile to extract advantage from veggies and fruits as tomatoes, chilly, tea, eggplant, cauliflower etc.

Rosy Vohra works for Online books India

Tags: anti-cancer foods, online books india, Tomatoes

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