Health Benefits Of Tomatoes

Health benefits of tomatoes have long been known to human race. Many of us think it is a vegetable but actually tomato is a fruit.  This fruit when used imparts a nice flavor to dishes. Besides making the salads and recipes tasty, it has various useful health benefits. Though they are not too sweet; they have a mixed taste. Mild sweetness and the subtle acidic and bitter taste of the tomatoes make it very different from other fruits. You will be surprised to know the tomatoes health benefits are several.

Antioxidants: Of all the health benefits of tomatoes this one is considered very useful. It is a rich source of the lycopene which is an antioxidant highly beneficial to treat cancer. You can obtain this benefit even from products like ketchup where the tomatoes are heated. Tomatoes help to fight many forms of cancer specifically stomach cancer, rectum cancer, esophageal cancer, cervical and prostate cancer. Further Harvard school of public Health studies reveals that tomatoes protects women from breast cancer and also helpful to treat cancer of mouth.

Vitamin C: It is a good source of Vitamin C which is again an antioxidant very effective to fight against cancer by neutralizing the harmful free radicals found in the blood. These free radicals can cause damage to the cells.  Choose dark red tomatoes to get the benefit of Vitamin C as they contain more beta carotene than light red colored tomatoes. Try to include raw tomatoes in your diet as large amount of Vitamin C is destroyed while cooking.

Helpful for smokers: One of the health benefits of tomatoes very useful for smokers.  Cigarette smoking leads to production of nitrosamines; chlorogenic acid and coumaric acid present in tomatoes fight against this nitrosamines considerably.

Gut friendly: Tomatoes support healthy digestive system by controlling diarrhea and constipation. It is also protects from jaundice and flushes out the toxins from the body.

Some other Health benefits of tomatoes include diabetes control, healthy skin maintenance, vision improvement and Bone care. In addition to these tomatoes health benefits it is a blood purifier and contains various essential nutrients helpful for our body.