Vegetable or fruit: are raw tomatoes high in calories?
In the botanical sense of the term, tomato is a fruit, because it is the edible organ of a flowering plant, of which it is the product. According to this botanical definition, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber or pumpkin are also fruits.
Despite this, in the dietary sense of the termthese plants they are all vegetablesfor although it comes from a flower, its low carbohydrate content makes them comparable to vegetables and not to fruits.
Thus, raw tomatoes provide only 20 calories and 2.5 g of carbohydrates per 100 g, which makes them a not very sweet vegetable, since on average vegetables provide 30 calories and 3 g of carbohydrates per 100 g.
What about cherry tomatoes?
Cherry tomatoes are smaller and more concentrated in nutrients, and therefore in carbohydrates.
Therefore, they are slightly higher in calories than regular tomatoes and provide on average 34 calories and 5.6 g of carbohydrates per 100 g. But cherry tomatoes remain moderately caloric vegetables, full of micronutrients and therefore essential foods for a balanced diet and to meet our nutritional needs.
Is it good to eat tomatoes as part of a weight loss diet?
Like all vegetables, be they more or less sweet, tomatoes are food essential as part of a weight loss diet. They provide minerals, fibers, vitamins, antioxidant pigments, they contributes to satiety and they give color and flavor to the dish.
How many tomatoes can we eat a day and can we eat every day?
The fruit and vegetables they are foods that must be present every day, and even ideally at every meal, as part of a balanced diet. Although it is recommended to vary the menus as much as possible to cover all vitamin and mineral needs, it is not recommended to eat tomatoes every dayas long as they are associated with other vegetables.
A person who loves tomatoes in salads can consume completely without restrictions, tomato salad every day at the beginning of a meal. However, we recommend that he Vary as much as possible the vegetables you will eat elsewhere.
Fibers, vitamins, antioxidants: what are the virtues and health benefits of tomatoes?
This star vegetable of the vegetable garden, in addition to delighting our taste buds, is full of health benefits.
First, remember that you do low caloric density but high nutrient density. Translation: she brings few calories But many valuable micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and trace elements), which makes it a food of choice, both for health and weight loss.
In terms of vitamins, tomatoes are an excellent source of provitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E, all three antioxidants. And at the mineral level, it contains an important dose of magnesium, potassium, manganese and phosphorus.
Seve fiber and water content making it an effective ally to boost slow transits, without causing intestinal disorders. However, more sensitive people can peel and seed the tomato before eating it, in order to digest it better.
But the great specificity of the tomato lies in its very high content of lycopene, the pigment responsible for its beautiful red color.
Lycopene is said to be one of the most powerful antioxidants and belongs to the carotenoid family. Therefore, it helps protect our body’s cells against damage caused by free radicals, which are responsible for premature aging and many related diseases.
Several studies have thus studied the protective effect of this antioxidant pigment in cancers, and in particular in prostate cancer (1 and 2). A 2013 meta-analysis (3) also revealed that a higher intake of carotenoids, including β-carotene, α-carotene, lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin, reduced the risk of esophageal cancer.
Keep in mind, however, that to take advantage of the anti-cancer properties of lycopene, it is best to taste the cooked tomato, which makes it easier for the body to assimilate and strengthens its action. Therefore, it would be enough to cook for about thirty minutes for the absorption of lycopene to be optimal. However, cooking deteriorates certain vitamins, including precious vitamin C: the ideal is, therefore, to alternate the consumption of raw and cooked tomatoes.
Tomato sauces, stuffed tomatoes: are they fattening?
When we talk about « sauce », we often think of « calories » and « fat ». But unlike most sauces (bearnaise, mayonnaise, pesto, hollandaise, aioli, etc…), Tomato sauce can easily be light and low in calories, if you don’t have too heavy a hand with the oil.
You just have to prepare it yourself, with onion, garlic, herbs (oregano, basil) and just a little drizzle of olive oil.
Industrial tomato sauces can be good alternatives, as long as they are not too fat. It is enough to ensure that they have a lipid content of less than 5 g per 100 g.
Stuffed tomatoes, on the other hand, are more often prepared with a mixture of minced meat and sausage meat, that is, a filling rich in fat. To make this dish healthier and compatible with a diet to lose weightit is preferable to prepare it with a lean meat ground beef, such as ground beef with less than 10% MF. Accompanied by a starch glycemic index low, such as semi-wholesome basmati rice or al dente pasta, these homemade stuffed tomatoes become a real slimming dish.
