Welcome to my new regular feature of what’s in my fridge and why. A nutritional round up of everyday foods – with a continued focus on what’s available right now.
Bringing some sunshine this week – it’s tomatoes of which there are over 1,000 different varieties that vary in shape, size and colour.
Tomato Health Benefits
Tomatoes are a low calorie food that packs a punch in the nutrition department, especially when they are fully ripe. Whether raw in salads, blended in cold soups or cooked many famous sauces tomatoes are a great addition to your diet. . Here’s a few reasons to encourage you to include tomatoes regularly in your diet.
- Excellent source of carotenes (especially lycopene) where studies have shown a higher dietary intake of carotenes offers protection against certain cancers such as lung, skin, breast and colon cancer.
- Carotenes can also offer antioxidant protection against heart disease and cataracts by neutralising the harmful oxygen free radicals before they can do damage to our cells.
- Eating lycopene with oil, for example olive oil can improve its absorption into the body – this is one of the reasons why the Mediterranean diet has so many healthy properties.