Are Tomatoes Good For You And Should You Eat them?

Are tomatoes good for you? That’s quite the question considering almost all our favorite dishes have tomatoes, be it a pizza, burger, or even a simple salad! So, being such a common ingredient, one might wonder: is tomato good for you?

Well, let’s find out.

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Are tomatoes good for you?

Tomatoes (Photo via Rodion Kutsaiev/Unsplash)

In the simplest terms, the answer to "are tomatoes good for you? " is yes, tomatoes are good for you. They're nutritious and offer several health benefits.

Here are some of the benefits if you eat tomatoes:

Tomatoes have Vitamin C, potassium, and lycopene. Lycopene is a significant antioxidant that can help with reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Vitamin C helps with protection against damage from free radicals while boosting the immune system. Finally, potassium is important for maintaining fluid balance and assisting with healthy blood pressure level.

Apart from that, tomatoes have other nutrients such as Vitamin A, vitamin K, and folate. These compounds along with it being high in fiber can help with improving digestive health and reducing inflammation.

As tomatoes have high amounts of vitamin C, they can help with improving skin health and reducing aging signs.

Being high in Vitamin K makes tomatoes an important element in our diet to improve bone health and make them stronger.

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Are tomatoes good for you: should you eat them?

While tomatoes, like fruits or vegetables, are good for you, have you wondered if you should eat them frequently?

Well, yes you can.

As tomatoes are nutritious and flavourful, there’s no reason to not consume tomatoes. As part of a balanced diet, tomatoes can provide you with some essential elements and nutrients required to improve your health.

However, be aware of any type of condition that you may have that gets triggered by tomatoes such as acid reflux or a particular allergy. In such cases, you should understand the depth of the condition, consult a doctor, and then decide on how many tomatoes you can or cannot add to your diet.

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Are cherry tomatoes good for you?

Cherry tomatoes (Photo via Angèle Kamp/Unsplash)

Like tomatoes, cherry tomatoes are nutritional and are an excellent addition to your balanced diet.

Cherry tomatoes have the same nutritional value as vitamins, potassium, and others like tomatoes do, and similar to tomatoes, they’re low in calories.

As tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are low in calories, you can add a good portion of the same to your balanced diet without having to worry about going overboard with calories.

You can use them in your cooking, or you can use them as a snack, or just an addition to your snacks or food. More often than not, cherry tomatoes are used as decorative elements on dishes such as pasta, salads, and others.

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Are tomatoes good for you: Are tomatoes a fruit or vegetable?

Tomato (Photo via Dani California/Unsplash)

As the discussion is “are tomatoes good for you”, it’s interesting to understand whether it’s a fruit or vegetable.

So, some say tomatoes are a fruit. This is primarily due to tomatoes being the mature ovaries if a plant that gives flowers and tomatoes also contains seeds. Like fruits, tomatoes are sweet and can be eaten raw and can be added to culinary dishes as well.

Meanwhile, as tomatoes have a savory taste and are used in cooking, they’re referred to as vegetables as well. Some of the common dishes where tomatoes are used are sauces, soups, stews, sandwiches, pasta, and others.

So technically, you could consider a tomato to be a fruit if you keep the botanical perspective in mind. However, if you only take the culinary aspect into account, tomatoes can be referred to as vegetables.

In conclusion, you can definitely add tomatoes to your balanced diet, even when you’re on a calorie-controlled diet. In fact, if your diet contains salads, you must have tomatoes on your list.

However, just like everything else, you should moderate the amount of tomatoes you add to your balanced and nutritious diet, and focus on portion control too.