By Jill CorleoneUpdated November 21, 2018 Source: Healthy Eating SF Gate
Featured Photo Source: Shidonna Raven Garden & Cook
Sweet and portable, cherry tomatoes add more than color to your dinner salad. Although technically a fruit, nutritionally cherry tomatoes more closely resemble a vegetable. That means they’re low in calories and rich in a number of nutrients that are good for your health.
Good for Your Waistline
When you’re trying to lose weight, the key is to eat foods that keep you full without costing you too many calories. Cherry tomatoes fits that bill to a T. Ten cherry tomatoes, which is about a cup, has only 30 calories. If you’re on a 1,500-calorie diet, those 10 cherry tomatoes only meet 2 percent of your daily calorie needs.
In addition to being low in calories, the red veggie is also a good source of fiber with 2 grams in the 1-cup serving. Even if you’re not counting calories to lose weight, making it a point to add more fiber to your diet may help you drop a few pounds, according to 2015 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The fiber in cherry tomatoes may help keep you feeling full longer, helping you eat less throughout the day.https://8fd6ac2d268bc897964fa6b7cf896185.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
Potassium and Blood Pressure
Ten cherry tomatoes has almost as much potassium as a medium banana with 400 milligrams. Eating more potassium-rich foods may help lower your blood pressure. A high intakes of potassium increases your body’s ability to excrete sodium, helping to improve fluid balance and lessen pressure on your arteries.
Adults need 4,700 milligrams of potassium a day, and eating cherry tomatoes can help you meet almost 10 percent of your daily needs. However, if your doctor has expressed concerns about the health of your kidneys, you may want to discuss whether it’s OK for you to eat potassium-rich foods such as cherry tomatoes.
Protection Against Free Radicals
Protecting your body from toxic substances that cause damage to your cells may help lower your risk of a number of chronic illnesses, including heart disease and cancer. Tomatoes contain a few nutrients that offer such protection, including vitamin C, lycopene and beta carotene, which are known as antioxidants.
Lycopene, specifically, is linked to reducing risk of specific types of cancer, including prostate, lung and stomach cancer. And tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, are some of the best sources of lycopene. To absorb the most lycopene from your cherry tomatoes, eat them with a little fat, such as your favorite salad dressing or sauté them in olive oil.
Which recipe will you try? How will cherry tomatoes contribute to your healthy diet? Why?
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