What tomatoes are good for
Tomatoes are among the most popular vegetables - and for good reason.
"Tomato" goes back to the Aztec name of the plant "tomatl".
Tomato is one of the most popular ingredients in vegetable salads. However, stewed and canned tomatoes and tomato juice are no less delicious and useful. The unique property of tomatoes is to retain their qualities even after processing. In addition, the caloric content of the product is only 20 kcal per 100 g, which makes it even more attractive.
Tomatoes are useful for the body, as they contain many vitamins and minerals:
Magnesium is useful for the work of the heart and blood vessels. It is also involved in building muscle tissue.
Calcium is necessary for both adults and children. It is involved in the construction of bone tissue. Strengthens the heart muscle, as a result, the likelihood of myocardial diseases is reduced.
Iodine is required in large quantities by the endocrine system, which synthesizes a huge number of hormones that regulate the entire body.
Fluoride is a trace element that neutralizes harmful substances. In addition, is a component of tooth enamel.
Potassium is involved in the excretory and cardiovascular system, is part of the bones, muscle tissue.
Copper normalizes the nervous system and the state of the joints.
Iron improves the exchange of oxygen in the body and resists the appearance of anemia.
Vitamin C. Tomatoes surpass citrus fruits in vitamin C content.
Vitamin A. It participates in cellular metabolism, maintains the youthfulness of the skin, and is also necessary for the visual apparatus. Its deficiency leads to impaired vision.
Vitamin B2. The trace element takes part in almost all processes of the body, including supporting the nervous system.
Vitamin B3. Allows you to maintain the health of the skin, and is also a constituent element of hair. Contributes to strengthening the immune system and maintaining the nervous system.
What you need to know about tomatoes
- The most delicious tomatoes are those that are ripe on the bed, not ripe after picking.
- The best dressing for salad with tomatoes - vegetable oil, sour cream or natural yogurt.
- After using tomatoes, you should not eat protein or starchy food, since the acids contained in them do not combine well with such products.
- It is enough to drink a glass of tomato juice per day. The juice should be without salt, sugar, preservatives. For better digestion, you can add a little unrefined vegetable oil.
- The redder the tomato, the more useful substance lycopene in it.
In what diseases can not eat tomatoes
Pancreatitis. It is allowed to use fresh ripe tomatoes, vegetables in stewed form, as well as freshly squeezed tomato juice. It is not recommended to eat green tomatoes, ketchup or canned food (including homemade). With an exacerbation of pancreatitis, it is forbidden to eat tomatoes.
Gout. It is allowed to use a moderate amount of fresh tomatoes in the diet. This product perfectly copes with the reduction of acidity in the body. However, at the time of exacerbation, it is better to exclude tomatoes.
Gastritis. It is allowed to use non-acidic and ripe, pre-cleaned from the skin of tomatoes. During an exacerbation with increased acidity is allowed no more than 100 g per day, if the acidity is reduced - up to 300 g.
Diabetes mellitus. It is allowed to use up to 300 g per day. It is necessary to choose local tomatoes, and better - grown independently. The diet should include not only ripe fruits, but also tomato juice.
Gallstone disease. Consumption of tomatoes is strictly prohibited, since stones of oxalate or phosphate nature can increase in size and begin to move.
Liver disease. Consumption is prohibited, since tomatoes can provoke the formation and development of hepatosis.
After removal of the gallbladder. It is allowed to use in the diet stewed or pre-scalded with boiling water fruits without skin. The amount of the product should not exceed 300 g per day.
What to pay attention to when buying
If tomatoes are sold with a branch, look at it: if the branch is elastic, has a uniform green color, it means that tomatoes were torn not so long ago, and they are fresh. And if the branch is dry, uneven, then the fruit is most likely stale.
By quality, tomatoes are divided into three classes: extra, first and second; by shape into types: rounded, flat, elongated, cherry-shaped. In terms of appearance, the fruit should be fresh, whole, clean, healthy, dense, typical for the botanical variety shape, with or without stalk, not damaged by agricultural pests, not overripe, without mechanical damage and sunburn.
Fruits with minor defects in shape and color, with light pressure from the container, minor wrinkling and scarred cracks are allowed for the first class not more than 1%, the second - not more than 3%.
The degree of maturity should be red, pink; for the first and second class brown fruits are allowed, which are sold separately. The size of fruits is standardized (extra - not less than 4 cm, first and second - not less than 3 cm).
Tomato fruits with unhealed cracks, green, crumpled, overripe, rotten, affected by diseases, damaged by agricultural pests, wilted, frosted, with sticking soil are not allowed.
