Tomatoes Are Nutritious And Delicious

It’s only the middle of July and some of our tomato plants are already over five feet tall and bearing fruit.  The tomatoes are not yet ready to eat, but by this time next week we may very well be enjoying fresh, organic tomatoes again right from our garden.

I refer to the tomato plants as ‘ours’ but I should really say they are my husband Wayne’s babies.  He spends much time with the ‘girls’ making sure they are comfortable and have just the right amount of fresh water to drink.  He gently puts stakes around them to keep them from falling and ties their delicate branches with special ties as not to hurt or damage them.  I think it is all the care he takes with his ‘girls’ is why we have such an abundant harvest of tomatoes every year.  And what an abundance it is! 

Once considered highly toxic (because they are a member of the nightshade family) tomatoes were thought to cause such conditions as cancer, appendicitis, and “brain fever”.  It wasn’t until the early 1800s before tomatoes were eaten in the United States and it was only after an eccentric gentleman from New Jersey brought them back from a trip overseas and shocked his hometown of Salem by eating an entire basket of tomatoes in front of a crowd of spectators.  The spectators expected him to keel over in agony, which he didn’t, and tomatoes have been a staple of the American diet ever since. 

Whether this story is true or not, tomatoes have a long and interesting history, which you can read on the Wikipedia website at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato. 

Considered a vegetable by some and a fruit by others, tomatoes are botanically a fruit, but a vegetable for culinary purposes.  Confused yet?   It has something to do with a United States Supreme Court ruling back in the late 1800s on whether a tomato should be classified as a fruit or vegetable.  Anyways, from what I have read, it is considered a vegetable as it isn’t something you would eat for dessert, whereas fruit is something you would eat for dessert.  Either way, it’s the health benefits tomatoes have to offer is what’s important.

Tomatoes are best known for being rich in lycopene.  Lycopene is the carotenoid that gives tomatoes their red color and acts as a powerful antioxidant against free radicals and cell damage.  In fact it is thought that the antioxidant properties lycopene provides is at least two to three times more potent that that of beta-carotene. 

Lycopene protects against many cancers including cancers of the digestive tract (mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum), as well as cancer of the bladder, cervix, lungs, and pancreas.  Lycopene helps lower the risk of prostate cancer and studies now show that men with the most lycopene in their blood have the lowest risk of prostate cancer. 

The antioxidant properties of lycopene can also help reduce bad cholesterol, protect against infertility, osteoporosis, and eye disease, and may also increase energy.  Tomatoes are the first and foremost food source of lycopene.

Tomatoes are also rich in many vitamins and minerals including vitamin C and potassium, and contain moderate amounts of many B-complex vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folate, essential minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus as well as other important trace elements.  In addition to lycopene, tomatoes contain many other phytochemicals including beta-carotene and are a good source of dietary fibre. 

Although lycopene is plentiful in raw tomatoes, not all of it is available to our body unless the tomatoes have been cooked.  The heat from cooking tomatoes breaks down the tomato’s cell walls, releasing the lycopene.   Cooked tomato products such as tomato juice, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, and salsa are good sources of lycopene.

Green and yellow tomatoes do not contain lycopene although they are abundant in many other important nutrients.

Tomatoes are as versatile as they are delicious and they are even more delicious when grown at home.  Bursting with flavour a fresh tomato is absolutely wonderful eaten on its own, in a salad, or in a sandwich.

Whether you call them a fruit or a vegetable, Tuh-MAY-toh or Tuh-MAH-to, whichever way you slice them, tomatoes are nutritious, delicious, and are incredibly good for us.  Enjoy!