Hi. I see so many articles on the web that are telling me that cooked tomatoes are healthier than raw, however I don't want to eat them cooked. Does anyone know of any research that points out the benefits of raw tomatoes? Thanks in advance.

It seems to me that the argument for cooking
tomatoes is that the heating "releases" the
magical/mystical/supernatural power of the nutrient
lycopene, a so-called "antioxidant," and that this
nutrient is then purportedly easier to absorb.
(Though, from what I understand, the supposed
"research" demonstrating this phenomenon was
commissioned by [you guessed it] tomato paste
producers! Which was then passed off as legitimate,
unbiased "science," and heavily promoted to the
media and our finest nutrition schools.) In
other words, the idea here, it seems, is that
we put our faith in the so-called "antioxidants"
to keep the body healthy; rather than trust that
the body has the innate intelligence to keep itself
healthy (when it's treated well, anyway).

Nevertheless, the question seems to be a rather
simple one, philosophically-speaking. If a person
has the mindset that the human body cannot recognize
foreign/alien materials (such as, e.g., drugs, transplanted
organs, cooked foods, etc.) or that the body can recognize
some materials as foreign but not others (mostly I
imagine people are confused/unaware about this issue
because people don't trust the body to have the capacity
take care of itself - and that we need the "experts" to
tell us what to do, until they change their minds for
the umpteenth time). Also, if one has the mindset that
nutrients/antioxidants are of utmost importance, in
terms of health (e.g., most of those in the Medical
Establishment seem to have this belief); and that the
condition/purity of one's blood is irrelevant (e.g., most
of those in the Medical Establishment have probably
never even gone down this mental path, what with their
the-body-is-stupid-and-drugs-and-antioxidants-are-smart
mentality), then indeed, one could fathom that cooking
tomatoes is more beneficial to get that all-important
"antioxidant" (as if it's the nutrient with the healing
power, not the human body) and cooked is better than
eating them RAW, at least in this case.

Conversely, if one did believe that the human body is
intelligent: that it can heal itself and keep itself
healthy when it's treated well (regardless of what
tomato-paste "scientists" are telling us), and that
the body can recognize whether a food is compatible
with its biochemistry (i.e., RAW) or incompatible
(i.e., cooked) then one could argue that the human
body does know the difference between RAW and cooked,
including cooked tomatoes. And because of this, the
body thrives with those foods most compatible with
its biochemical requirements. (Which is why I thought
most of us were eating RAW, including RAW tomatoes,
in the first place: it works!)

Also, if the condition/purity of one's blood is, in
fact, the measure of one's true level of health, then
then one would naturally assume that cooking tomatoes
is deleterious/harmful to one's well-being, as cooking
does, in fact, toxify the blood; ask a biochemist. Better
still, visit a nursing home and see what a long-term,
predominantly cooked-food diet does to a person's
blood/cells/health/vitality.

And, why in the world would tomatoes, of all things, be the
only thing better cooked than RAW? Does that make any sense
at all? (Though, it probably makes perfect sense if you're
in the tomato paste business.) Not to mention that cooking
tomatoes turns a alkaline-forming food [in metabolic reaction]
into a very acidic-forming food [in metabolic reaction],
which is not good either. In this regard, tomatoes are no
different than any other fresh food that is cooked. (And,
from what I understand, cooked tomatoes are the most-acidic-
forming plant foodstuff on Earth.)

What really amazes me, is that we haven't seen more "studies"
of this nature on other cooked foodstuffs. We could then
"prove" once and for all, that many cooked foods are "healthier"
because of those precious "antioxidants," which are keeping
our inherently stupid human body alive, despite the predilection
of some (obviously naive) people to eat their foods RAW.

Ultimately, health is produced only by one thing: healthy living,
including a diet of RAW foods/tomatoes! Yummmmmmmm...

Steve
[www.meetup.com]
[www.rawgosia.com]

It is true that you get more lycopene via cooked tomatoes but various other nutrients will lower from heating.

It really depends what your wanting the tomato for, if your looking to intake as much lycopene as possible then cooked is better for you.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Breaking up the cell walls releases the lycopene as well, without destroying the Vit C as cooking does; incidentally, no research has been done on whether Vit C, or some other vitamin is necessary for the efficient uptake of lycopene[in addition to fat]. Lycopene is being touted primarily for its anticarcinogenic effects, but Vitamin C is at least as potent an antioxidant and anti-carginogenic compound, so it's kind of a case of spreading your bets to eat tomatoes raw and cooked, if that's your motivation.

I've always thought about this too. I like them both raw and cooked but probably use them more raw from making stuff like salsa, tomato sauce for raw pasta, etc.

Something I've always thought about too... our bodies are quite warm. Are they warm enough to break down some of those nutrients during digestion?

Now that we are the topic of Tomatoes, does anyone know about tomatoes and arthritis and general joint pain and stiffness? I have had a lot of stiffness for years, and never even thought it could be arthritis, or even caused by tomatoes?

Just curious.

There are many different forms of arthritis and generally the adrenal glands play a role in most. The adrenal glands are involved in many inflammatory conditions.

Being that tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C id doubt it Mislu. They are an acidic fruit but ive never bought into that whole PH theory as it doesn't hold much weight.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

brilliant post steve.


mislu,

go all raw and see if the general joint pain and stiffness goes away.

They are a nightshade, correct?

I've always avoided eating too much of them because I thought they were. Nightshades can irritate people in a variety of ways.. joints, stomach problems, etc.

Yeah nightshades are a common sensitivity in some and thus should be avoided.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

I can't quite tell if I'm sensitive or not. But I know I'm sensitive to bell pepper and jalapenos. They don't cause an autoimmune reaction exactly (the way gluten or something like that would) but they do hurt my gut and my skin gets very red and itchy for a day or so after eating them.

Tomatoes don't do that but I notice if I eat them for more than a couple days in a row they start to inflame me.

Cooked tommatoes are acid forming and iritataing. Raw tomatoes only. Dr. Morse told me to avoid tomatoes for people with arthritic problems.

powerlifer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are many different forms of arthritis and
> generally the adrenal glands play a role in most.
> The adrenal glands are involved in many
> inflammatory conditions.
>

I agree completey. Adrenal and kidney weakness are primary factors in arthritis.

The adrenal glands are critically overlooked for many illnesses and conditions, its crazy how integral they are to health and how easily they are burned out with chronic stress, poor diet and so on.

You have there role in auto-immune diseases, allergies, asthma, inflammatory conditions, immune disorders, hormones etc etc. Very important and too overlooked in modern medicine.

[www.vegankingdom.co.u]

The family solanaceae has been implicated in arthritis because of alkaloids they contain. Not because of acidity.
[www.noarthritis.com]

What is weird is the association with vitamin D3 or d3 like action of potatoes, which is supposed to cause a lot of problems.

"Based on livestock research, vitamin D3 found naturally in the nightshades is now being used as a highly effective rat poison at 0.075% [33]."

I don't know what to think. Its news to me, and who would suspect? And is it true?

Just blend them to get the same benefits-soup, sauce, etc. I love tomatoes raw, cooking ruins everything wonderful about them.

Simple Raw Recipes & Health Tips

You don't need to cook them, but if you want maximum lycopene uptake you should put them in the blender to break down the fibrous matrix so that more of it is available. Cooking is one way, but not the only way to achieve this.

powerlifer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are many different forms of arthritis and
> generally the adrenal glands play a role in most.
> The adrenal glands are involved in many
> inflammatory conditions.
>
> Being that tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C
> id doubt it Mislu. They are an acidic fruit but
> ive never bought into that whole PH theory as it
> doesn't hold much weight.
>

Whoa! you don't buy in to the whole PH thing? PH is very important for people with this challenge for many reasons, fact!
> [www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

johnvattik2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi. I see so many articles on the web that are
> telling me that cooked tomatoes are healthier than
> raw, however I don't want to eat them cooked. Does
> anyone know of any research that points out the
> benefits of raw tomatoes? Thanks in advance.

Don't worry about the research, if you are healthy eat them raw it's always the better way. Build your digestine through raw foods and wheatgrass and such, then you will get what you need from everything.

Oh boo hoo, we don't get as much lycopene by not cooking our tomatoes. Newsflash SAD eaters: We're raw! Our entire diet is anti-oxidant.

So far this seems like the best and almost only argument against a raw diet the SADders have been able to come up with.

That's funny Hathi!!!!

(so true)

I hadn't thought of it this way, Hathi--thanks!

Although bear in mind different nutrients/phytonutrients also have other benefits other than just acting as anti-oxidants also some of them have affinity for reducing the risk of different cancers/diseases.

[www.vegankingdom.co.u]

Great post Steve!

I added an article about this very topic. You can view it at [www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com]

Warmly,
Mary Jane
[www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com]

Lycopene is available from other sources. Watermelon for example, and autumn olive have lycopene. One article actually stated that autumn olive has 16 times the concentration of lycopene as tomatoes. I am so surprised that there isn't a market for it already. Supplement companies should in theory be making concentrates from it, but instead I think the standard source are tomatoes.

I have reduced my consumption of tomatoes, as I am still curious if avoiding them will help with muscle tension. There could be some other possible causes, but that is one I suspect. but I had eggplant the other day, and something with peppers, so until I eliminate all solonanceae sources I guess I will never know if its alkaloids are a cause of joint and muscle stiffness.

I also had to eliminate tomatoes. I was having moderate knee and ankle pain, so I've decided to cut out the tomatoes and red peppers that I was having daily (several times in the case of the tomatoes) with my salads to see if it would help. I can't help but find myself wishing that they won't be the cause!

raynne,
Isn't it amazing, I never knew exactly how often I ate tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes until I consciously tried to reduce or eliminate them. I bought a salsa the other day which was made from corn, but it ended up having peppers in them as a minor ingredient anyway.

Did you find that it helped you with knee and ankle problems? I know I wish it wasn't suspect. Its such a common ingredient, especially in my partners families kitchen. They are italian, and its in so many dishes. I told my partner about it, and he really thinks its not a problem. He says that all of italy should be hobbling around with joint problems, if that were the case. His mother has a severe problem, and I hate to even suggest that it could be contributor, I don't know what she would eat, its about the only vegetable she eats on a regular basis.

What your partner doesn't realize is that different people have different sensitivities, so it wouldn't affect everyone. Luckily. I have only cut them out for a week or so, so far, and even then not so well because I would eat something like kimchi, and then realize, Crap, that has peppers in it! So I am going to try to cut them out for several weeks and see. My knee does seem to be feeling better, but I'll admit I'm just hoping it's a coincidence. I'm going to see how I feel after another couple of weeks, and then add one thing back in at a time and see if it starts up again.

OH darn, thats right, peppers are in kimchee! I love kimchee. Its so hard to remember every possible source.

It is so hard!! Hot sauce, marinara, pizza sauce, kimchi, some salad dressing, BBQ sauce. . . it's never ending! :-( So many good things!!