“Cooked Tomatoes” Really Are The Secret Superfoods by: Off The Grid News
You can find tomatoes in the homes of many people. You can eat them raw and add them to your salads and sandwiches. But if you want to get the most out of your tomatoes, cook them first before eating them. Cooked tomatoes really are superfoods, especially if you combine them with healthy fats such as olive oil. Tomatoes truly are superfoods when they are cooked because their lycopene content is increased during the process.
Benefits Of Cooked Tomatoes
Organically grown tomatoes contain 55% more vitamin C and 139% more phenolic content than non-organic ones. Tomatoes really are superfoods because they are rich in vitamin C, lutein and zeaxanthin. They are also rich in vitamin K, vitamin B, copper, potassium, and manganese. Furthermore, tomatoes have cancer-fighting properties like flavanols, rutin, kaempferol and quercetin. They also possess caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and coumaric acid. Lycopene, which is the antioxidant that gives tomatoes their red color, minimizes the risk of cancer and heart disease. Tomatoes really are superfoods because the lycopene inside of them is good for bone health, as well as lung and prostate cancer. If you mix tomatoes with olive oil and take them in the form of tomato paste for 10 weeks, they can reduce sunburn.
Cooked Tomatoes Vs. Raw Tomatoes
This is one of those rare situations where cooked food is much healthier than raw food. Liu published a study on this in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry in 2002. Liu observed that cooking tomatoes for half an hour at 190.4 degrees Fahrenheit increased lycopene by 35%. Notably, the cooking process reduces the vitamin C levels of tomatoes. However, cooking tomatoes increases their antioxidant levels by 62%.
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Lycopene Food Sources
80% of Americans consume their lycopene in the form of processed tomato products. This includes ketchup, tomato juice and pizza sauce. This is according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. However, this is not the best way to get your lycopene since these products have high sugar content.
