The Nutritional and Medicinal Uses of Tomatoes from Ancient to Modern Times

Tomatoes are one of the most commonly used foods in the entire world. It's no surprise. They're not only naturally delicious and known to be full of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, but they've also been held up for centuries as one of the healthier natural medicinal agents used in maintaining a healthy diet.

Everyone's heard the buzz about the amazing lycopene, that useful pigment in the tomato that is such a powerful natural antioxidant, it's being extracted and injected into all sorts of foods today, as well as ground up and shaped into multivitamin pills. Tomatoes naturally have rich amounts of lycopene, which has also been used in tests and experiments against the production and detestation of many types of cancer cells. Tomatoes have been used in tests against cancers of the cervix, stomach, mouth, colon, and even rectal cancer. The results of the tests done using tomatoes have been positive to the point where it's astounding, making tomatoes one of the top 100 healthiest foods in the world today.

Tomatoes have also been widely used as a natural antiseptic agent, because of it's nicotinic acids. This not only has been useful in fighting off viruses and infections, but also fights against clogged arteries and even heart disease, stimulating blood flow and regulating cholesterol levels. Even now, doctors will recommend you add plenty tomato in your diet if you're in need of a blood purifier or thinner, or need help getting rid of kidney stones or gall stones.

Ever since the ancient Romans and Greeks, tomatoes have been used to promote a healthy and shiny complexion that brings out your skin's natural beauty. Tomatoes contain anti-aging agents that far surpass those of other fruits and veggies; the combination of lycopene and beta carotene make it a wonderful and tasty way to fight off wrinkles and sun damage! The skin of the tomato has also been known to help clean your teeth and gums, and ingesting tomatoes has long since been said to have excellent benefits for your hair, giving it a natural shine and bounce that you normally need to pay far out the butt at a salon to achieve. Not only is the tomato a great beautifying agent, but when ingested it also promotes good bone health!

Vitamin K is also one of the more notable vitamins inside the tomato, and is used in many instances to prevent or cease severe hemorrhaging. Tomatoes are also rich in potassium, vitamin B, C, and A, and naturally occurring calories, making them an indispensable part of the every day diet and a necessary part of at least one meal a day. About 45-50% of your daily healthy amount of vitamin C can be found in one single tomato. Keeping at least one or two tomatoes in your diet daily will also help to rid the body of many cancer causing free radicals, which is notably one of the more amazing benefits of the tomatoes astounding combination of lycopene, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Keeping tomatoes in your diet every day will help you maintain a lifestyle that's healthy, active, and free of many preventable illnesses.

Sources:
homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/tomatohistory.htm

www.epersimmons.com/tomato.htm