Tomato, one of the healthiest vegetables

The tomato is one of the most consumed in the world, vegetables is a basic product of our food.
This is because it is a very tasty food that can be prepared in multiple ways (fried, sauce, oil, juice, gazpacho, etc.) and also provides numerous properties beneficial to our health.

The tomato has many nutrients and substances with health benefits that later we unearth, but its two main components are water and lycopene.
Its high content in water, accounts for more than 90% of its weight, confers properties depurative, diuretic, helps to regulate intestinal transit and is suitable for any diet, as it has very few calories.

Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant

Lycopene is the pigment responsible for the colour red tomato, but if there is something noteworthy this carotene is its powerful antioxidant action. That is, it does neutralize free radical leaders of the aging of the skin and the body in general, and who also participate in the emergence of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
In addition, lycopene prevents the oxidation of serum lipids, therefore a regular consumption of tomatoes, decreases the levels of LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, helping to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Lycopene is present in many foods, such as watermelon, apricots, carrots, or grapefruit, but its major source is the tomato, as a tomato contains up to 90% of the recommended daily amount. Unlike what happens with other nutrients such as vitamin C, the tomato cooking makes that you release more lycopene.

Other nutrients containing tomato

But not everything in the tomato is lycopene, it contains many other very important nutrients for our food and with interesting properties.
The tomatoes it gives us vitamins A, C and K. Vitamin C added more antioxidant action to the tomato, vitamin K is required for the proper functioning of the system of coagulation of our body and vitamin A already know that it is basic to the maintenance of skin and mucous membranes and for the growth of our bones, in addition to strengthening the immune system, among many other properties.
The tomato is an important source of minerals such as potassium, which is involved in many functions at the level of the heart, muscle, and nervous system, as well as participates in the equilibrium of the water at the cellular level; magnesium, phosphorus or calcium, essential for the majority of the metabolic reactions in our bodies and for the formation of bone, among others.

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