Natural Cook Studio of Bend

“There are two things that money can’t buy…true love and home grown tomatoes.”  I just picked my first tomato, so for me it is officially… tomato season is upon us.  After potatoes and iceberg lettuce, tomatoes are the most commonly consumed vegetable in the United States.  A remarkable about-face considering 80 years ago most Americans regarded this South American food as an oddity. The name that this fruit was given in various languages reflects some of the history and mystery surrounding it. Lycopersicon means “wolf peach” in Latin and refers to the former belief that, like a wolf, this fruit was dangerous. The French call it pomme d’amour, meaning “love apple,” since they believed it to have aphrodisiacal qualities, while the Italians call it pomodoro or “golden apple,” owing to the fact that the first known species with which they were familiar may have been yellow in color.
Tomatoes are an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin K. They are also a very good source of molybdenum, potassium, manganese, dietary fiber, chromium, and vitamin B1. But the hottest nutrient topic being researched on the tomato today is lycopene. Lycopene is an important intermediate in the biosynthesis of many carotenoids, including beta carotene.  When absorbed from the stomach, lycopene is transported in the blood by various lipoproteins and accumulate in the liver, adrenal glands, and testes. Of all the carotenoids, lycopene is one of the most potent antioxidants with the ability to a destroy singlet oxygen and free radicals, both of which are thought to be responsible for damaging DNA in a process which can lead to the initiation of cancer. Lycopene has been shown to help protect not only against prostate, but breast, pancreatic and intestinal cancers, especially when consumed with fat-rich foods, such as avocado, olive oil or nuts. (This is because carotenoids are fat-soluble, meaning they are absorbed into the body along with fats.) Prevention of heart disease has been shown to be another antioxidant role played by lycopene. The synergy of all the nutrients together in the tomato, meaning eating the whole food just like mother nature intended seams to show the best results.

Caution: Tomatoes upsets calcium metabolism and should be avoided in cases of arthritis or osteoporosis.

In Health,

Lisa