Tomatoes - useful properties and contraindications

Tomato is a beloved vegetable by many, which we with pleasure buy in the market or grow on personal plots. Any summer salad is complete without juicy red tomatoes. Thanks to its good taste, for many years, it is an integral part of a huge number of recipes and is popular in almost all cuisines of the world. But in addition to excellent taste, tomatoes have many more properties that are beneficial to our body.

Where did the tomato come from in our kitchen? What is this vegetable useful for? What is the composition of the product? Are there any contraindications for use? Where is it used? We will try to answer these questions.

Some historical moments

It is believed that the tomato cultivated and began to grow the Aztec and Inca peoples, they added it to their dishes, used to make sauces. The Spanish conquerors, in addition to countless treasures, brought to Europe seeds of outlandish "Peruvian apples", but experts in botany of that time recognized the unknown fruits as dangerous for human consumption, due to the content of toxic substances. About three centuries, tomatoes were the decoration of flower beds, greenhouses, they were grown in pots on window sills.

The first to try tomatoes were Portuguese. And the American Colonel Johnson completely debunked the myth of the harmfulness of this vegetable in 1822, when in the presence of a large public, he demonstratively ate a whole tomato. Since then, its popularity has begun to grow, and now this vegetable is indispensable in good nutrition.

What is included

The bulk of the tomato's chemical composition is water (about 95%) and organic fibers called fiber. Although the product is considered dietary and low-calorie (approximately 20 kcal per 100 g), it contains many vitamins, nutrients and compounds. Tomatoes contain:

• vitamins A, C, group B, E, K, PP, beta-carotene;
• mineral elements - manganese and magnesium, phosphorus and sodium, chromium and iron, iodine and copper, zinc and others;
• organic acids - malic, citric, tartaric, ascorbic;
• glucose and fructose;
• pectins, starch, volatile production;
• lycopene.

All these components take an active part in physiological processes, positively affect the life of the body and human health. Fiber promotes normal digestion, improves bowel function and removes harmful toxins, waste and free radicals. B vitamins, calcium and potassium strengthen the heart muscle, make blood vessels stronger, and lower blood pressure. Iron is actively involved in the process of hematopoiesis and the supply of blood cells with oxygen. Magnesium is an antidepressant, calms the nervous system, normalizes sleep.

Due to the high content of lycopene (a pigment dye), which is the strongest natural antioxidant, the risk of cancer and diseases associated with the cardiovascular system is many times lower. Moreover, during heat treatment, it does not lose positive qualities, but, on the contrary, in dishes and sauces from tomatoes, they increase. The remaining minerals and substances, although not so obvious, but also bring certain benefits.

What are the benefits of tomatoes

The healing properties of tomatoes have long been known and are widely used in traditional and traditional medicine. Nutritionists and doctors recommend using this product more in such cases:

1. To strengthen the immune system. Volatile and vitamin C contained in tomatoes have anti-inflammatory effects, actively inhibit the growth and spread of fungal infections, fight bacteria, and resist pathogens such as salmonella and pneumococci.
2. To improve the activity of the digestive tract and metabolism. Tomatoes normalize intestinal motility, help with constipation, low acidity, lack of appetite. For overweight people, diets are very useful, where the main component is this product, since chromium contributes to fast and long-term saturation.
3. Tomatoes have a good diuretic and choleretic effect, which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the genitourinary system, is an anti-edematous drug, and helps men with prostate disease.
4. As the prevention of cancer. According to a number of studies conducted by famous scientists, some elements contained in tomatoes prevent the formation of cancer cells.
5. Tomatoes contain a blood thinner that prevents blood clots. Thanks to the pectins that bind cholesterol and remove it from the body, it is useful, as a preventative measure against atherosclerosis, to eat a few tomatoes a day or drink a glass of freshly squeezed juice.
6. Tomatoes are excellent antidepressants, serotonin, or as it is also called the “hormone of happiness” contained in them, contributes to the normal functioning of the nervous system, improves mood and energy, replenishes lost energy.
7. The high content of vitamin A improves vision, helps with glaucoma, reducing intraocular pressure. The presence of B2 and riboflavin protects against the appearance of age-related cataracts.
8. Tomatoes can help smokers. Organic acids such as chlorogenic and coumaric remove toxic substances from tobacco smoke from the body.

To get the most benefit from eating tomatoes, try to eat them together with the skin, since most of the useful elements are there.

Despite a significant list of advantages, do not abuse this product. Experts advise to adhere to the norm and eat no more than 200-300 g daily, breaking into 3-4 doses. Adherents of healthy food can take note that it is not recommended to eat tomatoes with eggs, fish and meat dishes, this slows down the digestion process and can lead to bloating and a feeling of heaviness in the stomach. Also, with separate nutrition, it is better not to eat tomatoes with bread, and drink juice half an hour after eating.

Contraindications and harm

Like any plant product, tomatoes have contraindications for consumption, failure to observe which can lead to various exacerbations and harm the body. It is necessary to treat tomatoes with caution or completely exclude them from the diet when:

1. Propensities to allergies or personal intolerance.
2. Some diseases of the liver and gall bladder. Oxalic acid can aggravate acute kidney disease and gout. As a strong choleretic agent, it can provoke the release of stones;
3. Joint diseases, arthritis and osteochondrosis. The acids contained in tomatoes disrupt the water and salt balance in the body, which with these ailments can lead to a serious exacerbation;
4. Hypertension and gastritis, it is necessary to abandon canned and salted tomatoes, mainly because of salt and vinegar, which are added to the workpiece.

Pediatricians do not recommend introducing tomatoes into the diet of children under 2 years old.A small organism may not be able to cope with such an abundance of minerals and vitamins, so the product must be accustomed gradually, adding heat-treated vegetables in small portions. To give tomato juice to children better diluted.

Caution! Eating green, unripe tomatoes is hazardous to health! They contain solanine, and this substance is poisonous. When salting and canning, the poison is neutralized.

The use of tomato in cooking

The framework for the culinary use of tomatoes is wide and multifaceted. First of all, fresh, they are added to various salads, make delicious juice, and they just eat whole food with pleasure. And tomatoes are canned, salted, stewed, fried, stuffed with other vegetables or mushrooms, make all kinds of mashed potatoes, sauces, pastas. Their addition gives the dishes a pleasant sweet and sour taste, making them more perfect, in the culinary sense of the word. In addition, good housewives, in order to preserve most of the nutrients, dried, dried and frozen tomatoes. In winter, during a period of lack of vitamins, such food additives are very useful.

The use of tomato in cosmetology

A mask of tomatoes is very easy to make. Freshly squeezed juice of 1-2 tomatoes is applied to cleansed skin, left for 20-30 minutes and washed off with warm water.

To get rid of acne or furunculosis, you can add 1 tbsp. l chopped oatmeal and a few drops of lemon juice. By the way, such a mask can be applied to the hair roots, this saturates them with useful substances and activates growth.

All of the above allows us to safely classify tomatoes among the most useful products, and the availability of this vegetable can also be considered a great advantage for our fellow citizens. So if you have no contraindications, then try to find a decent place for tomatoes in your diet and in general in life.

Video: what is useful tomato