It Is a Vegetable; No It Is a Fruit
Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
I’m talking about the amazing tomato. It’s a veggie I love and have always consumed directly off the vine whenever we grow our own. I’m definitely a major fan of tomatoes.
All my life I’ve been a fruity kind of gal. Did I say I was “fruity”? Oh well, I love all kinds of fruit and am totally over the top nuts about raspberries. For years, I’ve never wavered from the wonderful fresh fruit selections that we can get in the wonderful USA year around, even out of season. So, it stands to reason that I also gravitate to the tomato – I mean it’s been declared a fruit (or a vegetable). There you have it. My tastebuds knew it was a fruit a long time ago and no wonder I enjoy the tomato.
Tomatoes punctuate we’re in high summer as they ripen, loving hot weather and lots of sun and modest moisture, and no shade if at all possible. Not many pests assail it except perhaps the ugliest caterpillar that exists in creation. Fortunately I haven’t seen too many of them. The plants are also prone to a mysterious blight or fungus that’s been around for about three years. But other than these nasties targeting tomatoes, the plants are relatively robust.
Researchers in Japan’s Kyoto University have discovered that tomatoes contain an acid (9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid) that purportedly lowers fat from the bloodstream AND cholesterol. We all know these are major-league dangerous for us, and keeping them in check can protect from Type 2 Diabetes and Arteriosclerosis and other lets-not-get diseases. That goodness alone makes me enjoy tomatoes even more.
Another preliminary study even claims that bone mass is linked to lycopene, a potent antioxident that can neutralize free radicals, and which is abundant in the tomato. Eating foods high in lycopene also protects against many cancers, including lung, breast and prostate cancers. The more I learn about tomatoes, the more I am going to enjoy them. Right along with apples . . .Oh, just to highlight how much of a percentage of cholesterol can be lowered by consuming tomatoes as a veggie, as a fruit, or in tomato juice (does a Bloody Mary count?), I learned that it’s 13%. For some of us this can certainly help in our fight with cholesterol.
So, I hope with this little information about tomatoes, you’ll be as interested as I am to add them to your diet. It’s a veggie – it’s a fruit – and it’s certainly good for us.
Of course, I will continue to enjoy the taste and benefits of the fabulous vegetable tomato fruit, and know that eating anything to excess is never a good thing. Optimally, eat a large tomato or several small ones three times a week. Then you’ll be good to go, beating up on your free radicals.
The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com in addition to SearchWarp and her blog sites.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I have been waiting to hear the key cholesterol/fat lowering statistic. I will eat them even more than I do now. I LOVE tomatoes. With salt. And don't say anything about salt. Great stuff.I also love tomatoes. Always have (even before I knew they were fruits). I love just about every fruit there is so it's easy for me to love tomatoes. Anyway, I am crazy about summer so the tomato means a lot to me. It is really good for you. One other thing that it does and I did not mention in the article is that it gets the bladder going. Tomatoes have a tremendous water content.
My grandma used to sprinkle them with sugar (ugh) even when they were right out of the garden! Thanks for this informative article! What do your horses think they are (fruit or veggie?)You know Marijo, I've never even offered them a tomato. Will have to try Patrick on a little cherry tomato - those really sweet ones that you can just pop into your mouth are the best kind. Love 'em. I was surveying our tomatoes just this morning and I saw a bunch of lovely reds smiling and beckoning me. We also use sugar when we cook tomatoes because it cuts down the acid. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to write a note.
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