This vegetable has gained a truly worldwide popularity – the number of culinary recipes using tomatoes is simply incalculable. Tomatoes are part of the traditional dishes of many peoples of the world. Why do we love them so much? Of course, for excellent taste, but not only – tomatoes are very useful in maintaining our health and even beauty!
Our ancestors considered tomatoes poisonous. In the Danish book The Complete Guide to Gardening, published in 1744, the tomato is called a noxious plant, the fruits of which drive those who eat them crazy. Historians believe that this myth was born thanks to the Indians of South America (from where the plant was taken to other continents in the 16th century). They considered tomatoes (from the ancient Aztec “tomatl”) unfit for food. For a hundred years, Europeans adhered to the version of their toxicity and grew an exotic plant in pots and front gardens. Then, because of the color and shape of the fruit, the plant received a new, romantic name “pomodoro” – from the French “love apple”. In Russia, where tomatoes came in the 17th century, they were dubbed “dogs” and considered mad and sinful berries.
Nevertheless, in the middle of the 19th century, tomatoes gradually entered the diet of the Russian people. At the same time, our wise grandmothers found another use for tomatoes – with the help of their juice and pulp, they treated burns, got rid of corns and freckles, and even stimulated hair growth.
Now we know that the fruits of tomatoes are rich in sugars, organic acids (citric, malic, oxalic, succinic, tartaric, etc.), vitamins (groups A, B and C), carotene and many other very useful substances.
Tomatoes are an extremely valuable dietary product with almost no restrictions. According to the content of ascorbic acid, the tomato approaches citrus fruits – lemon, orange, tangerine. One glass of fresh tomato juice contains half the daily dose of vitamin C and carotene (moreover, in terms of carotene content, a tomato is second only to carrots).
American oncologists have found another substance in the tomato – lycopene, which supposedly has healing properties. Dr. Omaro Kutsuka from the Cancer Institute in Detroit believes that daily consumption of 450 grams of ripe tomatoes allows you to insure against cancer.
The tender pulp of tomatoes does not irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and is well absorbed. The potassium contained in large quantities helps to remove excess fluid from the body. Fresh tomatoes and tomato juice are recommended for diseases accompanied by metabolic disorders, especially water-salt metabolism, cardiovascular diseases and disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. With peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, nephrolithiasis, depletion of the body, fresh tomato juice and fruits should be taken regularly.
The use of tomato juice is also effective for replenishing vitamin A in the body. The very fact of its shortage can be established without consulting a doctor. To do this, you should conduct a simple study: if it takes more than 6 seconds to “get used to” the eyes when moving from a bright room to an unlit room, then your body lacks vitamin A. Drinking at least 1 glass of tomato juice daily will help correct the situation. It is useful to add a little parsley to it.
Mashed tomatoes are also used as a hair growth stimulant in such a very unusual recipe: rinse, dry, chop 1 kg of ripe tomatoes in a meat grinder, mix with mashed garlic, horseradish, Antonov apples, bell peppers (300 g each). You can add 300 g of honey and 1-2 mashed with lemon zest. Everything is mixed and placed in a 3-liter sterile jar. Keep in a cool place and use as a hair mask.
For the treatment of varicose veins, it is recommended to use a ripe tomato. Cut it into slices and attach them to the dilated veins. After 3-4 hours, replace these slices with fresh ones. Another option is to make a paste of fresh tomatoes and apply it to the swollen veins. Remove the gruel after it starts to pinch strongly. Then grease (from the foot – up) with liquid sour cream.
It is useful to apply a cut ripe raw tomato on a dry corn to soften it.
100 grams of tomatoes contain only 17 kcal. Therefore, if you want to lose weight, you can safely lean on these vegetables.
For example, make it a rule to eat a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers for dinner every day, seasoned with a teaspoon of vegetable oil or natural yogurt. If you are going to have lunch, cut and arrange a couple of tomatoes beautifully on your plate, while significantly cutting back on your usual portion. Instead of a sandwich with sausage and cheese, try spreading a thin slice of black bread with low-fat cottage cheese, garnish with tomato and herbs on top, and an appetizing (and dietary) snack is ready!
If you decide to thoroughly approach the problem of excess weight – keep in mind that a mixture of juices of tomatoes, apples, pumpkin and lemon (2:4:2:1) is very conducive to weight loss.
As mentioned above, tomatoes help normalize metabolism. It is also worth adding here that regular consumption of tomatoes ensures excellent bowel function, which, you see, is important for gaining harmony.
Tomatoes fortify our skin, give it a swarthy shade (thanks to carotene), and help smooth wrinkles. If you want to be beautiful – do not be lazy to make a mask of tomato pulp every day for 10-15 minutes.
For oily porous skin of an earthy color apply tomato slices or a napkin soaked in tomato juice on your face for 15-20 minutes.
To mattify oily skinyou can use tomato ice: mix 3 tablespoons of tomato juice with 1 teaspoon of parsley juice, pour into molds and put in the freezer. Apply for contrast wiping of the skin of the face.
For dry skin you can make such a mask: mix a grated tomato with a small amount of starch until a slurry is obtained, add a few drops of vegetable oil. This mask should be kept on the face for 20 minutes.
For any skin
a curd-tomato mask is suitable: 2 tablespoons of fresh cottage cheese, a tablespoon of milk, a teaspoon of sunflower oil, mix and salt the sliced tomato. Apply the prepared slurry on the face for 15-20 minutes. Wash off the mask with warm water, then rinse with cold.
Andalusian salad
Finely chop tomatoes, cucumbers, radish, onion, add herbs, vegetable oil, lemon juice and mix everything.
Tomatoes – 250 g, fresh cucumbers – 1-2 pieces, onion – 1 piece, radish – 1 piece, finely chopped parsley – 1 tablespoon, finely chopped dill – 2 tablespoons, vegetable oil – 3 tablespoons, lemon juice – 2 teaspoons.
Tomato soup
Spasser the flour in oil, dilute with water and let it boil. Put peeled and chopped tomatoes, vermicelli or dumplings. You can use milk. It is added 10 minutes before the soup is ready. Before serving, put a sprig of parsley on a plate.
Tomato juice with greens and kefir
Mix cold yogurt or kefir with finely chopped parsley and dill, and then slowly pour in the tomato juice while stirring quickly. Add salt and sugar to taste. This drink in the summer can be served instead of the first course.
Fresh tomato juice – 2 cups, cold curdled milk or kefir – 2 cups, finely chopped parsley and dill – 1 tablespoon, salt and granulated sugar to taste.
tomato cocktail
Mix egg whites, tomato juice, lemon juice, food ice and a pinch of salt with a mixer for 2 minutes, so that the mixture foams. Then strain it into a glass or glass, top up with sparkling water and serve immediately.
Tomato juice – 200 ml, lemons – 2 pieces, egg whites – 2 pieces, salt to taste, food ice – 4 cubes, sparkling water (mineral) – 100 ml.
Tomato skins can be easily removed by immersing them in boiling water for a minute.
Fresh tomatoes are put in the soup 10 minutes before the end of cooking.
Tomatoes should be fried, which have few seeds and a lot of pulp. They are cut in half and placed cut side up.
Tomato juice has medicinal properties only when taken 30 minutes after a meal.
Tomatoes are incompatible with meat and eggs. But they are well compatible with nuts, green peas, dill, parsley, cabbage, radish, onion, zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper.
Fleshy varieties of tomatoes can be dried for the winter.
Unripe tomatoes ripen faster if they are placed in a saucepan with an apple and covered with a lid.
