Compared with the general vegetables, tomatoes are rich in natural antioxidants, in addition to vitamin C, but also contains lycopene. Vitamin C is very familiar to everyone, it can prevent colds, treat colds and scurvy. Lycopene is a kind of natural pigment that makes tomatoes red. It acts like carotene in the human body and is a strong antioxidant. Experiments have proved that lycopene has a good anti-atherosclerosis, antioxidant damage and protection of vascular endothelial function, the higher the lycopene content in human plasma, the lower the incidence of coronary heart disease. Lycopene also has a good anti-cancer, anti-cancer effect, its powerful antioxidant activity can destroy the free radicals that promote the growth of cancer cells, to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Studies have found that women with uterine fibroids and cervical cancer have lower levels of lycopene in their serum than normal women. With higher levels of lycopene in the serum, the body is less likely to develop stomach and digestive tract cancers.
The study also found that people who consumed tomatoes after addition increased the concentration of the antioxidant lycopene in the hovering compared to consuming raw tomatoes. This is because high temperatures damage the cell walls of tomato cells, which increases the release of antioxidants such as lycopene. In addition, tomatoes in the cooking process, often use peanut oil, salad oil and other vegetable oils, and these fats and oils will help tomatoes will be lycopene and other fat-soluble antioxidants naturally released, to give full play to the role of antioxidants. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages, after heating, tomatoes in the vitamin C will be lost, but tomatoes in the lycopene and other antioxidants in the content of a significant increase. Therefore, cooked tomatoes have a higher overall nutritional value than raw tomatoes. In addition, tomato skins contain large amounts of lycopene, so it is best not to discard the skins when eating them.
For patients with vitamin C deficiency, eating raw tomatoes is also a good way to supplement vitamin C. However, green tomatoes that are not yet ripe can be used for a variety of purposes. However, unripe green tomatoes contain toxins and should not be eaten. In addition, some of the tomatoes because of the use of plant hormones in the growth process, the top of the performance of the protruding, this kind of tomatoes should not be eaten.