The benefits of tomatoes as a vegetable are obvious, but can excessive consumption of them cause harm? Let’s figure out how many tomatoes you can eat daily.
Let us remind you: Any health problems should be solved together with a doctor. Only specialists can prescribe appropriate medication and diet.
Benefits of Eating Tomatoes
A 2019 study shows that all tomatoes are good for your health — large, cherry, and even green. Each tomato contains compounds with anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activity, making these vegetables an important and healthy part of the diet.
One of the most powerful components in tomatoes is the carotenoid lycopene. It is associated with most of the beneficial properties of the vegetable, including the ability to reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
In addition to lycopene, tomatoes contain fiber, which many rarely include in their daily diet. On average, the fruit contains 1.5–2 g of fiber, which is 10% of the daily requirement. In addition, tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and zinc, and contain a few calories — 25 kcal per 100 g.
All this makes tomatoes a tasty and healthy component of the diet. However, eating these vegetables every day is not necessary, and for some, it is even harmful to health.
When is it better to avoid tomatoes?
Many people love tomatoes and are ready to eat them daily as much as they want – whole, in salads, omelettes, and other dishes. If you are one of those who do not experience any unpleasant symptoms when eating this vegetable, then you know the answer to the question “What will happen if you eat tomatoes every day?” Most likely, the vegetable will not cause any harm, and the body will receive a lot of benefits.
Most people can determine how many tomatoes they can eat per day. However, most nutritionists still do not recommend eating more than two or three fruits per day to avoid side effects. Among the most common of them are: heartburn, bloating, increased gas formation, and abdominal pain. Their appearance is due to the fact that tomatoes contain acids, the excess of which can cause digestive problems.
The appearance of these symptoms indicates intolerance to tomatoes and an allergy to these vegetables. The latter condition may also be accompanied by tingling of the tongue, the appearance of a rash, and other typical allergic symptoms. Both intolerance to tomatoes and allergies to them are quite rare. The appearance of discomfort is a reason to refuse fresh tomatoes, even if this is your favorite product. It is also worth assessing your condition and understanding how many vegetables you can eat without threatening your health and well-being.
Those who have been diagnosed with bladder problems should not eat tomatoes every day. It’s all about the high acidity of this vegetable again. Tomato components can irritate the walls of the bladder , causing spontaneous, sharp urges to urinate, pain, urine leakage, and other unpleasant symptoms.
Those who suffer from migraines should also remove tomatoes from their diet. This vegetable is included in the list of trigger foods that provoke attacks. However, this is not always the case. Experts recommend keeping a special diary and noting which foods specifically affect the occurrence of headaches.
However, exacerbations of chronic diseases, including inflammatory ones, do not usually occur from an excess of tomatoes. Observations show that this vegetable is safe for rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and Crohn’s disease.
Scientists still do not have a clear answer to the question of how many tomatoes you need and can eat daily. They recommend relying on common sense and your own well-being, thus determining the individual dosage of this vegetable. As a rule, this is no more than two or three tomatoes daily.
Important If you feel unwell after eating any food, consult a doctor.
What can be done?
Make shakshuka – a dish of eggs with tomatoes or tomato soup-puree. And as an unusual option for winter preparation, make sun-dried tomatoes.