8 BENEFITS OF TOMATO FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH - NUTRITION - 2025

The benefits and properties of tomato are extensive: it is an antioxidant, it prevents cardiovascular diseases, it prevents cancer, it reduces asthma symptoms… It is one of the most cultivated and consumed vegetables around the world, but of which we do not fully know the scope of its healthy properties.

The tomato, whose scientific name is Solanum lycopersicon, is a vegetable (although many doubt whether it is a fruit or vegetable) belonging to the Solanaceae family. It is an annual crop plant, and it grows at ground level or even erect.

In terms of production volume, it is considered the main fruit vegetable in the world and widely consumed either as a fresh or processed product, as a paste, juice, dehydrated and an infinity of other commercial presentations.

Chile is ranked number 13 in this field, and it is grown throughout its entire territory (very extensive and with different climates), with a preferential production for fresh consumption, mostly internal, close to 300 thousand tons per year.

Tomato characteristics

In health research lines, its characteristics and in particular the healthy properties of one of its main components have been deeply studied; lycopene.

This is because the frequent consumption of tomatoes has been associated with a decreased risk of developing chronic degenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and others). This could be due to the abundant presence of different types of antioxidant compounds, such as carotenoids and in particular the aforementioned lycopene.

What is Lycopene?

It is neither more nor less than the lipophilic pigment that gives the characteristic red color of tomatoes and in less quantity to other fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon, pink grapefruit, papaya and apricot. This pigment is very stable in tomato, but extracted and purified it tends to be quite unstable (for example its presentation in capsules).

The fresh tomato provides 90% of the lycopene necessary for the body, since it is a micronutrient not synthesized by the human body, so it must be obtained from food.

Lycopene concentration in tomatoes

In general, lycopene accumulates in tomato fruits from their immature state, increasing significantly as their maturation progresses. Lycopene content may also differ depending on the variety, growing conditions, and harvest factors.

Lycopene toxicity?

The toxicity of carotenoids (including tomato lycopene) observed in some studies is mainly due to the very high doses used experimentally. In turn, those incredibly high concentrations of one carotenoid interfere with the availability of another, as occurs between beta carotene and lycopene.

11 health benefits of tomato

1- Antioxidant properties

From the start we must know what is an antioxidant? In simple words, it is a compound that prevents the harmful effect of free radicals in our body.

The lycopene in the tomato works by activating enzymes that are important for the elimination of foreign substances and generally harmful to health. Great point in favor of tomato consumption.

2- Prevention of cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases include for example; arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arteriosclerosis or heart failure.

Tomato, and specifically its regular consumption, has a very important role in its prevention through its anti-platelet activity (prevents clots from forming), protection of the walls of blood vessels (prevents their thickness or rigidity from being excessive) and resistance to oxidation of the known "bad cholesterol" LDL.

3- Cancer prevention

Cancer is a disease of high incidence and prevalence worldwide, characterized by the disproportionate proliferation of some cells in our body that begin to divide without stopping and spread to other tissues.

Tomato, and specifically lycopene, can contribute to reduce the levels of cell proliferation by activating the process called apoptosis, responsible for the death or selective elimination of cells that must be discarded due to their danger.

Among the many types of cancer that have been studied in relation to tomato consumption as a preventive measure, the best results have been obtained in bladder, prostate and stomach cancer. You will understand that a lot of research is still being done about it, due to the enormous contingency of the subject.

4- Reduce asthma symptoms

Do you suffer from asthma? Or someone from your family? This disease is characterized in its genesis by a chronic difficulty in releasing the inspired air, which many times triggers respiratory crises, especially in winter or associated with environmental emergencies.

In this sense, it has been shown that lycopene from tomatoes reduces acute inflammation of the respiratory tract, through intensive treatments with this product, which improve respiratory function to a certain extent.

5- Antifungal effect

What relationship will they have? Among the multiple associations that have been found, it is included that of the antifungal effects of tomato (especially lycopene), which may be able to favor the treatment of infections through the selective destruction of the cell membrane.

Consequently, the consumption of tomato can kill various species of fungi that usually colonize humans (for example, candida albicans) and that are usually quite resistant to some conventional treatments, depending on their nature.

6- The cooked tomato

It is good to consume it in salads and snacks, but cooked tomato is also very functional, as lycopene has its highest bioavailability (it is better used by our body).

When it is subjected to high cooking temperatures, it exerts its healthy effects better, fulfilling its properties as an antioxidant and anti-cancer. Roasted tomato is a good option or better yet a baked fish with tomato.

7- Tomato peel

Although this vegetable is usually peeled, there is no scientifically proven reason that suggests or promotes avoiding the consumption of the peel, so this should only be at personal discretion (there is nothing written in taste).

In fact, the peel has a large part of the nutritional properties of the pulp and is very important for some culinary preparations such as tomato stuffed with tuna.

As a tip, if you are not going to use the shell, you can classify it in the trash or use it

8- Tomato powder

As in many foods, the tomato has not escaped being transformed into its powdered version (dehydrated tomato). The benefits of a powder product are mainly conservation (they last much longer than natural), transport (it is cheaper) and practicality to be able to use it at any time or circumstance.

Heat treatment of tomato can affect some of its nutrients, but not significantly. According to my perspective, if you complement it with the consumption of natural tomato, there is no problem in its regular use.

References

1. Palomo, Iván et al. Tomato consumption prevents the development of cardiovascular events and cancer: epidemiologic antecedents and action mechanism, Idesia. 2010, vol.28, n.3
2. Popkin, BM 2002. An overview on the nutrition transition and its health implications: the Bellagio meeting. Public Health Nutr, 5: 93-103.
3. Assunta Raiola, Gian Carlo Tenore, Amalia Barone, Luigi Frusciante and Maria Manuela Rigano, Vitamin E Content and Composition in Tomato Fruits: Beneficial Roles and Bio-Fortification Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16, 29250–29264.
4. Raiola, A.; Rigano, MM; Calafiore, R.; Frusciante, L.; Barone, A. Enhancing the health promoting effects of tomato fruit for biofortified food. Mediat. Inflamm. 2014.