Cluster, cherry, dried, in sauce … Rich in lycopene and vitamins, tomatoes have many health benefits, skin, heart and is never to be banished, even in the event of a diet!
In botany, tomato is a fruit (from a flower) just like eggplant or zucchini. In dietetics, its nutritional composition (low sugar content) class among the vegetables.
- With its richness in vitamins A, C and Lycopene (pigment of the carotenoid family) the tomato is a youthful cure on its own.
- These components with the antioxidant effect preserve cells from the deleterious effect of free radicals, and protect them from premature aging as well as from the occurrence of certain cancers.
- Its red pigment (lycopene) is a good-looking ally par excellence, and icing on the cake, it protects our skin from the harmful effects of ultra-violets. Be careful however, it does not protect from sunburn, solar protection is therefore essential!
- Rich in sweet fibers, tomatoes are perfect for regulating intestinal transit and promoting satiety.
Tomatoes and weight loss
Poor in calories and sugar, rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, tomato is undoubtedly a slimming vegetable, which it would be a shame to deprive yourself when you are on diet. However, beware of certain light -like recipes, which are not that much, like the famous tomato/mozzarella sprinkled with olive oil, or tomatoes stuffed with sausage flesh.
With their small 18 calories per 100 g, the tomato is one of the very little calorie vegetables.
| Nutrients | Raw tomato: content for 100 g | Legumes: average food |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 0.86 g | 1.7g |
| Carbohydrates | 2.26 g | 4.4 g |
| – including sugars | 2.25 g | 2.3 g |
| – including starch | 0 g | 0.9 g |
| Dietary fiber | 1.2 g | 2 g |
| Lipids | 0.26 g | 0.6 g |
| – including cholesterol | 0 mg | 0.2 mg |
| – including saturated fatty acids | 0.056 g | 0.1 g |
| – including monounsaturated fatty acids | 0.035 g | 0.2 g |
| – including polyunsaturated fatty acids | 0.12 g | 0.1 g |
| Water | 94.1 g | 90 g |
Dried to the sun, the tomato retains all its nutrients but in increased quantity! Logical, it takes no less than 10 fresh tomatoes, almost a kilo, to produce 30 g of dried tomatoes. The latter therefore become the food The richest in lycopene that we know, by far!
If most of the time, we recommend consuming raw foods rather than cooked, in order to preserve the nutrient qualities as much as possible, this is not entirely the case with tomato. Explanation: Lycopene is an antioxidant whose bioavailability is increased when cooked. The addition of fat also improves the antioxidant activity of Lycopene. A tomato coulis cooked in olive oil is therefore a perfect health recipe!
Cruises, on the other hand, tomatoes keep their vitamin C intact, this antioxidant vitamin being sensitive to high temperatures.
