Tomato. Tomahto. Either way, they offer more than sweet succulence

Guest post by Jenny Babino, RDN, LD, courtesy of the Maine Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

As our home-grown tomatoes enjoy their last few weeks on the vine, we thought it would be a good time to remind you that tomatoes are highly nutritious and should be part of your diet year ‘round — no matter whether you prefer them fresh or in one of their many canned forms.

Two hundred years ago tomatoes were thought to be poisonous! Today, though, tomatoes are tops with consumers. According to the US Dept. of Agriculture, Americans consume 75% of their tomatoes in processed form, with tomato sauce making up the biggest share of that amount (you thought it was ketchup, right?).

What are some of the health benefits of tomatoes?

Tomatoes are a tasty source of many different vitamins, minerals, and healthy plant chemicals (phytonutrients). For example, tomatoes provide vitamins C and A, and ½ cup of tomato sauce provides almost as much potassium as a medium-sized banana.

While it’s true that a diet rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables generally decreases your chances of many chronic diseases, tomato health research is ongoing, and tends to focus on the areas of cancer, heart disease and age-related eye disease. Much of the focus on tomatoes is related to two carotenoids: lycopene and lutein.

• Lycopene is the pigment responsible for giving tomatoes their orange/reddish color and is thought to have the most antioxidant power of all the carotenoid compounds. Because lycopene is naturally only found in a few fruits and vegetables, tomatoes and tomato products provide 85% of the lycopene we get in our diets. Heat processing changes the lycopene to a form that’s more usable to the body.

• Lutein is also a major carotenoid found in tomatoes and is also found in high concentration in the eye. Lutein is thought to help vision and protect against cataracts and age-related eye diseases, such as macular degeneration.

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How to incorporate tomatoes into your diet

Most of us know that tomatoes are a staple of Italian cuisine, and that tomatoes are easy to eat as they are — out of your hand as a snack or sliced and added to a salad or sandwich. One important point to keep in mind regarding carotenoids like those in tomatoes: fat increases carotenoid absorption, so cooking or eating tomatoes with a little fat or fat-containing foods is a good idea.

Get even more tomatoes into your diet:

• Dip cherry or grape tomatoes in hummus as a snack or appetizer
• Roast fresh tomatoes; store in the refrigerator and use within a week
• Keep canned, diced and stewed tomatoes on hand for a quick addition to soups, casseroles or of course, chili
• Add diced, fresh tomatoes to scrambled eggs or an omelet
• Cut fresh tomatoes into wedges, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil, salt and pepper and serve as a simple side dish

From Diane: Got a recipe for you!

This recipe for a tomato and zucchini casserole comes from Backyard Farms, which grows tomatoes in a 42-acre hydroponic greenhouse in Madison, Maine. I’ll give you the recipe and then tell you about Backyard Farms and also about the Maine Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which provided all the healthy tomato information.