Tomatoes are the fruit that likes to fraternize with the veggies. The odd one out. The star of the show, and then some. What’s weird about them? Nothing and everything.
Tomatoes adorn our plates in lush seasonal salads and ripen on the table in the sun, waiting to be honored in the latest version of Great Grandma’s lasagna. Here are 3 things about them we learned through some research, and decided to pass on to you, dear reader.
1) They Can Trigger Your Gout
Suffering from inflammatory arthritis due to high levels of uric acid in your system? Avoid that tomato salad.
Research done at New Zealand’s University of Otago showed that tomatoes can be a trigger for those who suffer from painful gout. Data showed that tomato consumption is linked to higher levels of uric acid in the blood. This is, unfortunately for Italian food lovers, the major underlying cause of gout.
2) Quality is Related to Temperature, Not Light
Keeping your tomatoes on the windowsill to ripen does provide for natural-looking decor in your kitchen. But a team at the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development has found that the temperature you keep these fruits at is more directly related to their quality than the amount of light they get. Check it out, here.
3) They Can Reduce Your Stress
Back in 2004, a study done by the USDA/Agricultural Research Service found that tomatoes can be your friend. Volunteers who ate vegetables, such as those found in vegetable soup, consistently for two weeks and found their vitamin C levels jumped. This caused a decrease in their stress molecules associated with bad health.
