Thursday, October 20, 2011

Food Worship #2: The Tomato

It's hard for me to imagine a food with as many benefits as the humble tomato.  Is is a fruit?  A vegetable?  Something else?  I'll tell you what it really is, A SUPERFOOD!



I absolutely love tomatoes.  I chomp into whole ones like apples, and I pop cherry tomatoes like grapes.  At the salad bar at school, I'll finish my dinner, and my salad, then I'll head back to the salad bar and grab a good five or six more cherry tomatoes just to finish off that great meal I just had.  They are undeniable one of my favorite foods of all time, and will always be a staple in my diet.

I implore you to try to fit more tomatoes into your diet.  There are so many reasons to love them, and at the end of this article I plan to reveal a secret about tomatoes that I bet will convince you to have a few more in your salad today.

Tomato Benefits:

Tomatoes are extremely nutrient rich.  They are very high in beta carotene, a nutrient that helps keep you healthy by keeping that immune system running top notch.  It'll also keep your skin healthy, as well as other inner body tissues.  This decreases risk of infection and will help to fight off any new bugs you might come in contact with this winter.

Tomatoes have large amounts of Vitamin E and C, which will help keep your heart in great condition.  In fact consuming a few more tomatoes may help in decreasing your risk for heart disease, and might also decrease blood pressure.  Believe me, you really want your heart to stay healthy.  I know I want mine to stay ticking away, considering I demand so much of it in the gym every day.

Vitamin C will also help you to absorb other nutrients from your meal more effectively.  So basically, tomatoes not only help your body, they help those other foods you've eaten to help your body.  That's a win-win situation if I've ever seen one.

Guys, tomatoes are one of the best foods you can eat if you want to keep your prostate healthy.  And believe me, you DEFINITELY WANT that.  Tomatoes can help stave off prostate cancer (as well as other kinds of cancer).  Not many foods can claim to be so proactive in preventing cancerous growths as tomatoes can.  Eat a few more and feel a little better about your future.



Tomatoes taste amazing and are also very low in sugar and simple, starchy carbs.  This means they are low on the GI scale, and will not spike your insulin levels very much at all.  In fact, Tomatoes, like sweet potatoes, can help regulate your blood sugar, and keep your metabolism running quickly and efficiently.

Tomatoes are also very high in fiber.  That'll keep your digestive tract healthy.  And all of those gym rats on a bulk, a high fiber diet in compliment with your high protein meals will keep you from putting on excess fat because it slows digestion and allows your body to more easily metabolize the food you've eaten.  Lean muscle, that's what I'm talking about.

To finish up, tomatoes are very low in sodium, high in chromium, and contain no saturated fat.

Phew!!!!!  That's a good food, if there ever was one.

But I promised you a special secret about tomatoes.  We all know a good sized tomato is about the size of a large apple.  The apple will have around 100-150 calories.  The tomato?  Only 30!!!!!  Wow!  Talk about a healthy, filling snack that will barely even register on your daily calorie count.  Even cherry tomatoes only have about one calorie per tomato.  That's just plain awesome in my book, and definitely puts them on the podium to be worshipped as the super food they are.

I plan on posting a bunch of tomato related recipes at a later time.

Bite into a few, and try not get any on your shirt.  Good luck!

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