Should you eat cooked tomatoes or raw tomatoes?

Tomatoes are a nutritious food with many health benefits that many people love, but is it better to eat tomatoes raw or cooked?

Are tomatoes better eaten raw or cooked?

VietNamNet newspaper quoted physician Bui Dac Sang - Hanoi Oriental Medicine Association as saying that there are many different types of tomatoes depending on where they are grown. For example, the ca kiu plant (Vietnamese tomato) has thin leaves, small, spherical fruit, and is more sour. The large fruit called the western tomato originates from South America, and is now widely grown throughout our country for eating, cooking vinegar soup, making jam, chili sauce, and tomato sauce.

Tomatoes are a daily food, but many people do not know their effects. This fruit contains a lot of lycopene, an antioxidant that is very good for health. Some studies show that this substance helps prevent cardiovascular disease, blood fat, and has the ability to prevent cancer.

100g of tomatoes contain 20% of the daily vitamin A requirement; vitamin C (20-25%) boosts immunity. Therefore, when you are sick or tired, adding tomatoes will boost your resistance. Tomatoes are also rich in vitamin K, which is good for blood vessels and has the ability to prevent blood clotting. Tomatoes contain potassium, which increases salt excretion, which is good for people with high blood pressure.

*Whether tomatoes are better eaten raw or cooked is a concern of many people.*

According to Oriental medicine, tomatoes are sour, sweet, bland, and cool, have the effect of enriching blood, producing body fluids, aiding digestion, and regulating excretion.

Tomato juice can be used in cases of physical weakness, loss of appetite, chronic poisoning, congestion, thick blood (hyperlipidemia), arteriosclerosis, joint pain, gout, high blood urea, urethral stones, gallstones, constipation, enteritis.

Tomatoes can be eaten raw or cooked. Tomatoes contain lycopene, which is more easily absorbed when cooked than when eaten raw. Tomatoes also contain oxalic acid, which can cause kidney stones if eaten in large amounts, but when cooked, this acid can evaporate.

Some studies suggest that cooked tomatoes are better than raw. However, in my opinion, whether you choose to eat them cooked or raw depends on the dish. For example, when making salads or juices, you can eat raw tomatoes like regular fruit. Tomatoes can also be cooked when making sauces, steamed dishes, and soups.

Things to note when using tomatoes

Health & Life Newspaper quoted Dr. Hoang Tuan Linh as saying that tomatoes are good for health, but when eating them, you must pay attention to the following things to be good for your health:

Do not eat tomatoes and cucumbers at the same time: Cucumbers contain a catabolic enzyme that will destroy the vitamin C content in other vegetables. Meanwhile, tomatoes are a vegetable that contains a large amount of vitamin C. If you eat the two foods together, the vitamin C in tomatoes will be decomposed and destroyed by the catabolic enzyme in cucumbers.

Do not eat tomato seeds: Tomato seeds, like guava seeds, are not digested in the intestines. During the process of transporting food in the intestines, people are afraid that it will fall into the appendix, easily causing appendicitis. Children should not eat foods with many seeds, especially seeds with camellia, which can easily cause constipation. Children with many worms can easily develop complications such as intestinal stenosis due to worms, which is not good for health.

Do not eat tomatoes when hungry: Pectin and phenolic resin are abundant in tomatoes. When you eat tomatoes when hungry, these substances can react with acid, greatly affecting the stomach. The stomach consumes these substances, which can cause vomiting and stomach pain. Therefore, you should not eat tomatoes when hungry, especially in cases of losing weight with tomatoes, you need to consider carefully when using them.

Do not use cooked tomatoes for a long time: When using tomatoes that have been cooked for a long time or left for a long time, the nutrients and flavor will be lost. Besides, if you eat tomatoes that no longer have nutrients, it can cause food poisoning, which is not good for your health.

Do not eat green tomatoes: Unripe tomatoes contain a large amount of "alkaloid" elements, if consumed, will easily cause food poisoning. Symptoms of poisoning from eating green tomatoes are often nausea, vomiting, salivation, weakness, fatigue and other symptoms... even severe cases can be life-threatening.

As tomatoes ripen, the toxic substances in tomatoes called "alkaloids" will gradually decrease and will disappear in ripe red tomatoes. Therefore, with unripe green tomatoes, you absolutely should not enjoy them.

Don't eat too many tomatoes: Eating too many tomatoes can lead to the body's intolerance to this food, even in small amounts. If the condition is not treated promptly, it will last for a long time and lead to more serious digestive diseases such as stomach pain and gas.

The symptoms of this phenomenon vary from person to person. If the body cannot absorb potatoes, chili or pepper, it cannot tolerate tomatoes.

Above is information to answer the question "Should I eat cooked tomatoes or raw tomatoes?". Eat tomatoes properly for good health.

Thanh Thanh (Synthesis)

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