These are tomatoes; crucial farm produce and core constituent of daily meals and vegetarian diets.
Tomatoes are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content and rich concentration of lycopene. Researchers have recently found an important connection between lycopene, its antioxidant properties, and bone health. A study was designed in which tomato and other dietary sources of lycopene were removed from the diets of postmenopausal women for a period of 4 weeks, to see what effect lycopene restriction would have on bone health. At the end of 4 weeks, women in the study started to show increased signs of oxidative stress in their bones and unwanted changes in their bone tissue. The study investigators concluded that removal of lycopene-containing foods (including tomatoes) from the diet was likely to put women at increased risk of osteoporosis. They also argued for the importance of tomatoes and other lycopene-containing foods in diet. We don’t always think about antioxidant protection as being important for bone health, but it is, and tomato lycopene (and other tomato antioxidants) may have a special role to play in this area.
Intake of tomatoes has long been linked to heart health. Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower total cholesterol. In addition, tomato extracts have been shown to help prevent unwanted clotting (aggregation) of platelet cells in the blood – a factor that is especially important in lowering the risk of heart problems like atherosclerosis. In a recent South American study of 26 vegetables, tomatoes and green beans came out best in their anti-aggregation properties.
But only recently are researchers beginning to identify some of the more unusual phytonutrients in tomatoes that help provide us with these heart-protective benefits. One of these phytonutrients is a glycoside called esculeoside A; another is a flavonoid called chalconaringenin; and yet another is a fatty-acid type molecule called 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid. As our knowledge of unique tomato phytonutrients expands, we are likely to learn more about the unique role played by tomatoes in supporting heart health. Tomatoes are also likely to rise further and further towards the top of the list of heart-healthy foods.
There are loads of health values of tomato, too numerous to mention.In this festive season, the product could have been cheaper and more affordable if we had more attention paid to agriculture .Anyways, it’s not late.
While you savour the sweet taste of your stew, don’t forget ,it’s a product of agriculture. Help bring agriculture back to public consciousness. MERRY CHRISTMAS IN ADVANCE FROM AGRONIGERIA
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