Tomato fruits contain pectin, sugars, mineral salts, nitrogenous substances, organic acids, alkaloids, vitamins B1, C, K and PP, pantothenic acid and carotene (provitamin A). Tomato juice is rich in provitamin A, vitamin C, aromatic and coloring substances. The stem and leaves of the plant contain essential oil, rutin, tannins; roots - tomatidine, from which the steroid testosterone is obtained. Fatty oil (up to 25%) is obtained from tomato seeds by pressing or extraction methods, which includes stearic, palmitic, linoleic and linolenic acids.
Medicinal properties.
Except for the beautiful palatability Tomato has a whole range of useful and healing properties. Tomato fruits are full of minerals and vitamins that are so necessary for the body.
Tomatoes contain lycopene, a substance with powerful therapeutic properties.
This substance can stop DNA mutations and tumor cell division, protect women from cervical cancer, and men from prostate cancer. Lycopene gives tomato fruits an intense red color, is a strong natural antioxidant - its antioxidant properties are stronger than those of vitamins C and E.
An interesting fact is that processed tomatoes contain even more lycopene than raw ones. The absorption of lycopene is higher if tomatoes are consumed along with fats. For example, tomato salad with vegetable oil. It is also useful to eat boiled tomatoes. Tomatoes have diuretic properties and are used in diseases Bladder and kidneys. Fruits contain serotonin (hormone of joy) because of which they improve mood. Just like garlic and onions, tomato contains phytoncides (substances that destroy or inhibit the growth and development of bacteria), which determines its antibacterial properties.
The low calorie content of tomatoes allows them to be included in the diet for those who are struggling with being overweight.
It is impossible not to note the significant cosmetic properties of the tomato, which is manifested in the restoration of skin elasticity and tone, the return of its freshness and youth.
The constant use of tomatoes reduces the risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system, stops changes in the retina, leading to loss of vision in retirement age.
In addition, tomatoes protect the body from the harmful effects of solar radiation.
Each vegetable has its own unique composition. In this article I will write about the chemical composition of fresh and pickled tomatoes. From what useful substances are contained in a vegetable, its beneficial properties depend.
Fresh tomato composition
I want to note right away that the data given in this article are taken from I.M. Skurikhin.
The composition of 100g of tomato includes 92g of water, 1.10g of protein, 0.20g of fat, 4.6g of carbohydrates, 0.8g of fiber. Energy value 23kcal. These vegetables are low in calories. The fact that tomatoes contain fiber and a lot of water suggests that you can lose weight on tomatoes.
Which ?
100 g tomato contains:
- Carotene 1.2 mg,
- Thiamine 0.06 mg,
- Riboflavin 0.04mg,
- Niacin 0.53mg,
- Vitamin C 25mg,
- Vitamin E 0.39mg,
- Vitamin B6 0.10mg,
- Biotin 1.2mg
- Pantothenic acid 0.25mg
- Folacin 11 mcg.
I think it is difficult for an ordinary person to figure out whether 1.2 mg of carotene is a lot or a little, because you need to compare this figure with the daily need for these substances. It's easier to say this: 300g of tomato contains the daily requirement of carotene and vitamin C, there are less other substances.
Minerals in tomatoes.
100g tomato contains potassium 290mg, calcium 14mg, 20mg, sodium 40mg, phosphorus 26mg, iron 900mcg, iodine 2mcg, manganese 140mcg, fluorine 60mcg, chromium 15mcg, zinc 200mcg.
Chemical composition pickled tomato.
In pickled tomatoes, the content of water, protein, fat, carbohydrates and dietary fiber does not change compared to fresh ones.
But as for the mineral composition of pickled tomatoes, the sodium content is greatly increased here up to 480 mg. This is due to the fact that edible salt is added when canning tomatoes. It is a preservative, in a certain way it acts on bacteria and they die. That is why our canned food has a long shelf life. But potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron, when pickled, the tomato migrates into the solution.
Tomatoes, which are popularly called tomatoes, are present on the table of every person. Most often they are introduced into the menu in the summer - this is natural, because it is during this period of the year that the tomato plant produces its tasty and very healthy fruits.
Both scientists and doctors argue about the benefits and harms of tomatoes - this product contains a lot of substances important for the normal functioning of the body, but in some cases, tomatoes may be contraindicated for use. Therefore, it is recommended to know all the features of the product in question - even the most delicious dishes may become harmful to health.
Chemical composition, nutritional value and calorie content of tomatoes
Nutritional value of 100 g:
- Calories: 19.9 kcal
- Proteins: 0.6 gr
- Fats: 0.2 gr
- Carbohydrates: 4.2 gr
- Dietary fiber: 0.8 gr
- Organic acids: 0.5 gr
- Water: 93.5 gr
- Mono- and disaccharides: 3.5 g
- Starch: 0.3 gr
- Ash: 0.7 gr
Macronutrients:
- Calcium: 14 mg
- Magnesium: 20 mg
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Potassium: 290 mg
- Phosphorus: 26 mg
- Chlorine: 57 mg
- Sulfur: 12 mg
Vitamins:
- Vitamin PP: 0.5 mg
- Beta-carotene: 1.2 mg
- Vitamin A (RE): 200 mcg
- Vitamin B1 (thiamine): 0.06 mg
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 0.04 mg
- Vitamin B5 (pantothenic): 0.3 mg
- Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine): 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B9 (folic): 11 mcg
- Vitamin C: 25 mg
- Vitamin E (TE): 0.4 mg
- Vitamin H (biotin): 1.2 mcg
- Vitamin K (phylloquinone): 7.9 mcg
- Vitamin PP (Niacin equivalent): 0.5996 mg
- Choline: 6.7 mg
Trace elements:
- Iron: 0.9 mg
- Zinc: 0.2 mg
- Iodine: 2 mcg
- Copper: 110 mcg
- Manganese: 0.14 mg
- Selenium: 0.4 mcg
- Chromium: 5 mcg
- Fluorine: 20 mcg
- Molybdenum: 7 mcg
- Boron: 115 mcg
- Cobalt: 6 mcg
- Nickel: 13 mcg
- Rubidium: 153 mcg
Tomatoes are very low in calories - they can be safely consumed by obese people in unlimited quantities (if there are no contraindications). But at the same time, tomatoes contain in their composition a lot of vitamins - B6, B9, (very rare for products). They also contain acids - for example, oxalic. Interestingly, the vegetable in question has a very low sugar content - for example, onions have 2 times more sugar, so tomatoes are ideal for diabetics.
Tomatoes contain a large amount of potassium, copper, and this is what makes them very useful for various diseases.
There are very few fats in the composition of tomatoes, carbohydrates are present, but they belong to the group of easily digestible ones, so they do not cause any harm to the figure.
Useful properties of tomatoes
The benefits of tomatoes for the human body are simply enormous - this is confirmed by both scientific research and the statistics of doctors. First of all, it is worth noting the ability of the vegetable in question to positively influence the structure of the blood - this not only improves overall health, but also helps to normalize the functioning of the liver, strengthen the walls of blood vessels, stabilize the functioning of the heart muscle, “works” as a prevention of education.
Tomatoes, thanks to the oxalic acids they contain, normalize metabolic processes in the body - in particular, they positively affect the quality of water-salt metabolism.
The vegetable in question also has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the male reproductive system - those who regularly consume fresh tomatoes are not threatened with a weakening of potency. And the antioxidant lycopene contained in tomatoes is a direct prevention of prostate cancer.
Tomatoes can also help smokers - they are able to break down nicotine resin and toxins, remove them from the lungs, get rid of the dark plaque characteristic of smokers on the teeth and make the breath fresher.
Tomatoes contain oncoprotector alpha-tomatine - this is a truly unique substance! It is able to kill already existing in the human body, the best results have been shown in breast cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer.
In addition, the beneficial properties of tomatoes (tomatoes) are as follows:
- have a weak anti-inflammatory effect;
- stimulate the intestines, improve its peristalsis;
- serve as prevention of chronic constipation;
- have the property - this fact indicates the ability of tomatoes to prevent the formation of blood clots in large and small vessels;
- normalize arterial pressure;
- have choleretic properties.
It is also surprising that tomatoes remain useful in cooked form - tomato juice, for example, contains a large amount of anti-cancer substances, and it also has a directed effect on blood pressure. It is very rare when a cooked product not only does not lose its useful properties, but also becomes more useful!
Harmful properties of tomatoes (tomatoes)
Despite the fact that the product in question has a huge amount useful properties, there are specific contraindications / restrictions in its use. For example, it is strictly forbidden to introduce tomatoes into the diet when diagnosed - the vegetable provokes bile liquefaction, improves its movement through the ducts, which can lead to a shift of stones, blockage of the ducts. This condition requires immediate surgical intervention.
Oxalic acid is present in tomatoes - it can provoke a worsening of the condition in diseases of the kidneys and urinary system, so permission to introduce this product into the menu must be obtained from the attending physician.
Canned and boiled tomatoes can provoke the formation and growth, and salted tomatoes are strictly forbidden for people with diagnosed (persistently high blood pressure).
It is strictly forbidden to use tomatoes and people with hypersensitivity and / or individual intolerance to this product. If we talk about the introduction of a vegetable into the diet of young children, then this should be done very carefully, starting with literally a few grams - it is necessary to exclude an allergy to tomatoes.
Harm of unripe tomatoes
Note: all representatives of nightshade, including tomatoes, in an unripe form contain a dangerous poison - solanine.
When poisoning with solanine, a person begins to experience nausea, weakness, drowsiness, headache and breathlessness. For a child, even a small amount of green tomatoes can be deadly: in children, the number of red blood cells decreases sharply and malfunctions in the kidneys are observed.
In addition, unripe tomatoes in any form (fresh, baked, salted, etc.) are contraindicated in the presence of pancreatic pathologies. They are forbidden to eat with cholecystitis, pancreatitis, stones in gallbladder etc.
It would seem, well, what can be special about eating tomatoes - eat them even in their natural form, even in salads, even in casseroles and soups - the benefits of even boiled tomatoes have been proven. But in fact, scientists and doctors in the course of research made the following conclusions:
Tomatoes are considered a storehouse of vitamins and nutrients, but they must be used with great care - first exclude possible contraindications and hypersensitivity / individual intolerance. In general, tomatoes and fresh, both salted and even boiled will be useful for people of all age categories - enjoy their taste and get a portion of health!
In the fight against excess weight, tomatoes can make their contribution - a low-calorie product, rich in vitamins and extremely healthy. Tomato calories per 100 grams is quite low, does not exceed 20 kcal. A certain amount of calories is spent on its processing, which reduces the already small energy value. delicious vegetable. So gaining weight by leaning on tomatoes will not work.
The birthplace of tomatoes is Central America, 2.5 thousand years ago, the Incas and Aztecs cultivated the sacred fruits - "tomatl", which means "large berry". Under this name they were brought in the 16th century. to Europe, where tomatoes were at first considered poisonous, they were used only to decorate gardens and window sills. But already in the XVIII century. cheerful Italians ate with appetite "golden apples" - "pomi d'oro" - seasoning them with oil and pepper. From Italy they got on the table to Catherine II. The taste of bright vegetables fascinated the Empress, with her light hand, “golden apples” began to be grown in Russia for human consumption.
Ripe tomatoes are a pharmacy containing vitamins, trace elements, antioxidants, which we often lack. Such as:
- Most of all, carotene in tomatoes - 400-500 grams of red fruits cover the daily norm of a substance that is useful for the eyes.
- Ascorbic acid, B vitamins contribute to normal metabolism, increase immunity, improve skin condition.
- Vitamin C varieties of pink color are the richest, they also contain selenium, which increases immunity and mental activity.
- Tomatoes have a lot of potassium and magnesium, which makes them a valuable product for the core, potassium helps to remove excess fluid, reduces swelling.
- It is useful to eat tomatoes for the prevention of anemia, because they contain iron and copper, without which hemoglobin synthesis is impossible.
- Seeds of ripe vegetables with flavonoids surrounding them reduce blood viscosity and prevent the formation of blood clots.
- "Golden apples" in abundance contain a valuable dye - lycopene - the most powerful natural antioxidant. It not only has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart, but also prevents the formation of cancer cells. Especially a lot of lycopene contain yellow varieties.
- Tomatoes - berries of joy - their use increases the level of serotonin in the blood, which improves mood, helps to overcome depression.
For the digestive tract, tomatoes are a real balm. The watery structure of the vegetable facilitates its digestion in the stomach, the skin promotes peristalsis of the intestinal walls, keeps it “in good shape”. Tomato diets are popular among those who lose weight, because due to the chromium content, these vegetables reduce appetite and cause a long-lasting feeling of satiety.
Does a tomato have a negative calorie content?
As for the calorie content of a tomato, it should be noted right away that it is not negative.
Please note: The only proven zero calorie food is pure water. It does not contain proteins, fats and carbohydrates, but the body will have to spend several calories to cool or heat water to body temperature - a negative calorie effect will result.
Any food product (except water) consists of proteins, fats, carbohydrates. For their assimilation, 10-15% of the calories that they supply to the body are required.
The composition of BJU in a fresh tomato looks like this:
- Proteins - 0.6 g / 100 g;
- Fats - 0.2 g / 100 g;
- Carbohydrates - 4.2 g / 100 g.
Fiber (0.8 g / 100 g) and water (93.5 g / 100 g) must be added to tomato BJU - these nutrients do not contain calories. A fresh tomato has a calorie content of about 20 kcal per 100 grams, 3-4 kcal will be spent on its absorption, a small remainder will replenish the calorie reserves in the body. The energy value of the tomato is not negative, but low enough that it can be used in weight loss diets.
The dependence of calories on the method of preparation
When figuring out how many calories are in a tomato, you need to consider how it is cooked.
Table: calorie content of tomatoes with various processing
- As can be seen from the table, salted vegetables have the lowest calorie content, while they retain the entire vitamin composition and trace elements of fresh fruits.
- Pickled tomatoes after cooking lose the lion's share of vitamins, but remain a low-calorie product, useful for weight loss. At the bottom there is a high content of lycopene and essential trace elements (potassium, manganese, iron).
- A miniature cherry variety quickly gained popularity: small tomatoes are much sweeter and tastier than their large counterparts, they can perfectly decorate any dish.
- The value of tomato juice is that it contains more lycopene than fresh vegetables. 1 piece of a large fruit weighing 100 g contains 1.5 mg of lycopene, while 100 ml of tomato juice contains 7-8 mg. Two glasses of juice a day will cover the body's daily need for this powerful natural antioxidant.
- Properly cooked stewed and baked tomatoes contain more calories, but they are superior in lycopene content to fresh fruits. 100 g of the dish contains less water, but a higher percentage of lycopene and trace elements.
- Some meat dishes have fewer calories than canned sun-dried tomatoes, richly flavored. olive oil. In home preparations, they are cooked in dryers for 5 hours at t ° = 80 ° with a lot of salt. Deprived of moisture, sun-dried tomatoes have the maximum content of vitamins and all other useful nutrients and are a concentrated medicinal product.
Tomatoes for weight loss
Despite the low calorie content, tomatoes are not a product that can be regularly used with mono-diets. By eating only vegetables with a minimum content of BJU, you can bring your body to exhaustion, disrupt metabolism, and upset your health. In addition, tomatoes increase the acidity of gastric juice, and such a mono-diet often ends with gastritis. Oxalic acid, which is rich in bright red vegetables, accelerates the formation of oxalate stones in the kidneys. Tomatoes work effectively when losing weight, if you replace them with one meal of high-calorie foods in your daily diet. Instead of an abundance of calories, the body will receive an excellent vitamin supplement that stimulates the digestive tract, maintaining a feeling of satiety for a long time.
Top 10 Vegetables for Weight Loss
Vegetables for weight loss are not only food with a small amount of calories, but also a source of vitamins, valuable substances necessary for health promotion.
Together with tomatoes, it is useful to involve in the fight against excess weight:
- Eggplant - 4 kcal / 100 g;
- Cucumbers - 14 kcal;
- Zucchini - 23 kcal;
- White cabbage - 27 kcal;
- Sweet pepper - 27 kcal;
- Carrots - 34 kcal;
- Greens - 30-50 kcal;
- Onion - 41 kcal;
- Young potatoes - 30 kcal.
The listed vegetables give unlimited scope for culinary creativity and will allow you to lose weight with taste, without harming your health. However, it does not hurt to take into account some of the comments of nutritionists.
Tomatoes and cucumbers - the effect of joint use
Many people love tomato and cucumber salad, but are these vegetables healthy when eaten together?
- Tomatoes create an acidic environment, cucumbers create an alkaline one; the interaction of these substances leads to the formation of salts, which in the kidneys and gallbladder can become stones.
- Vitamin C, which is so rich in tomatoes, is neutralized by enzymes from cucumbers. When used together, the body will not receive ascorbic acid, no matter how many tomatoes we eat.
- The liver and pancreas secrete enzymes to digest food. Not a single enzyme needed by cucumbers matches those that are released during the assimilation of tomatoes. While one vegetable is being digested, another will begin to ferment in the stomach, creating a load on the liver, which protects the body from fermentation products.
Of course, one festive cucumber-tomato salad will not create serious problems, but it is better to eat these vegetables separately on a regular basis.
Tomato (tomato) is the fruit of the herbaceous plant of the same name, one of the most popular crops in the world. There are a huge number of varieties of this vegetable, differing mainly in shape (from spherical to cylindrical), weight (from 30 to 800 grams), skin color and pulp (various shades of yellow and red).
calories
100 grams of tomatoes contain about 18 kcal.
Compound
The chemical composition of tomatoes is characterized by a high content of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins (A, B9, C), macro- (potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus) and microelements (cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, fluorine).
How to cook and serve
Tomatoes are eaten, both separately and together with other foods as part of a huge number of dishes. Moreover, this vegetable is used not only fresh, but also in pickled, salted, dried and dried form. The popularity of tomatoes in cooking is largely due to the characteristic sour taste of their flesh. When mixed with other ingredients during the cooking process, they are given a rich taste and wonderful aroma.
How to choose
There are many factors to consider when choosing tomatoes. One of the main ones is the color of the skin, allergy sufferers should avoid red vegetables. In addition, you should pay attention to the shape of the tomato, the most ribbed fruits have a large number of small internal chambers have a more attractive taste. Another factor of choice is the thickness and elasticity of the skin. Thick and hard skin is indicative of overuse chemical substances when growing. Also, when choosing tomatoes, it is necessary to take into account the aroma, which is one of the indicators of the freshness and maturity of these vegetables.
Storage
Tomatoes can be stored at room temperature for no more than 3 days, and in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The most preferred storage conditions for these vegetables are between 8 and 12 degrees Celsius, good air circulation and low humidity levels.
Beneficial features
Regular consumption of tomatoes has a tonic, immunostimulating, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, diuretic effect. In addition, tomatoes stimulate brain activity, reduce nervous excitability, and normalize work. gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and liver, and also help to reduce the level of so-called “bad” cholesterol in the blood.
Use restrictions
Individual intolerance, tendency to allergic reactions, cholelithiasis. Excessive consumption of tomatoes increases the likelihood of gallbladder spasms and the formation of kidney stones.
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