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Only the ignorant do not know about the benefits of vegetables. Potatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes. We use them with pleasure, without even thinking, is there any harm from them? Many consider it completely harmless to eat green potatoes, overripe eggplant or green tomato, wondering afterwards what is the reason for feeling unwell.
In English, the name of the nightshade family sounds like "night shadows". Where does such a strange phrase come from? It turns out that even the ancient Romans prepared poisons from nightshades for their enemies, who carried them to the kingdom of shadows. We are not talking about potatoes, peppers or tomatoes, which appeared in Europe much later. There are many very poisonous plants among this family. It is enough to remember henbane or dope. And tobacco, which is considered a household drug, also belongs to this family. Therefore, let's take a closer look at green tomatoes in order to answer the question: is it possible to eat green tomatoes?
Composition of green tomatoes
The calorie content of this product is low - only 23 kcal for every 100 g. Nevertheless, green tomatoes contain fats, albeit very little - 0.2 g in every 100 g. They consist of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, they also contain Omega -3 and Omega-6, but all in microscopic quantities. Carbohydrates are represented by mono and disaccharides: their amount is 5.1 g for every 100 g, but only 4 g is absorbed. There is little protein, only 1.2 g for the same amount. It is composed of essential and nonessential amino acids. There are dietary fiber, trace elements, most of all potassium and copper in green tomatoes.
The vitamin composition is wide enough, but the quantitative content of vitamins is small. Nutritional value is only vitamin C, which is 23.4 mg per 100 g, which is 26% of the daily value for humans. Based on the composition, the benefits of green tomatoes are small, especially since there is also harm.
Solanin
In addition to all the useful ingredients, green tomatoes have something that makes you alert. This is primarily about the glycoalkaloid solanine. Apparently, it was because of him that tomatoes were considered poisonous for so long. Most likely, someone tasted unripe fresh tomatoes and was "impressed" with the result. That is why for several centuries it was believed that tomatoes should not be eaten. They did not eat not only green, but also red tomatoes.
The solanine content in unripe tomatoes ranges from 9 to 32 mg. In order for the symptoms of poisoning to appear, about 200 mg of this poisonous substance must enter the stomach. Already 400 mg of solanine will easily send a person to the next world. When tomatoes ripen, the picture changes dramatically. The content of the toxic substance gradually decreases and stops at 0.7 mg per 100 g of ripe tomatoes. This amount is absolutely not dangerous for humans, and even, on the contrary, in small doses, solanine stimulates the work of the cardiovascular system. And not only.
Its healing effect on the human body is very multifaceted:
- Pain reliever and anti-inflammatory.
- Diuretic and antispasmodic.
- Antihypertensive and strengthening capillaries.
- Fights fungi and viruses.
- Helps with diseases of the liver, upper respiratory tract.
Tomatin
In addition to the above solanine, tomatoes contain another poisonous substance - alpha tomato. It belongs to the class of glycoalkaloids and also poses a danger to humans, but only in sufficiently large quantities. To get poisoned, you need to get at least 25 mg of the substance. The lethal dose starts at 400 mg. But there is no need to worry, since the tomato content in tomatoes is low, for example, a lethal dose is contained in several kilograms of green tomatoes. But even this poison can serve a person. It is used to produce cortisone, a well-known drug used for many diseases. When tomatoes are fermented, tomatidine is obtained from tomato. It is not poisonous. Both of these substances have the following properties:
- immunomodulating;
- anticarcinogenic;
- antibiotic;
- antioxidant.
There is evidence that tomatidine helps build muscle during exercise and promotes the loss of adipose tissue.
The benefits of green tomatoes
- applying tomato slices to varicose veins helps with varicose veins;
- stabilization of acid-base balance;
- the presence of dietary fiber improves bowel cleansing.
It can be concluded that green tomatoes, on the one hand, are harmful to the body, and on the other hand, they are of great benefit. But I don't want to eat them fresh because of their high acidity and rather unattractive taste.
How to use
Such tomatoes are one of the ingredients for delicious preparations for the winter. Many people enjoy eating them salted or pickled. There are many recipes for their preparation.
It will help fight solanine and soak green tomatoes in salt water for several hours. If the water is changed several times, the harmful solanine will go away.
Contraindication to the use of green tomatoes
There are certain diseases in which the use of tomatoes is prohibited. These are problems with joints, kidney disease, gall bladder, allergic reactions. Everyone else can and should eat tomatoes, but in reasonable quantities.
Any product consumed by a person has certain benefits and can be harmful. It is only a matter of their ratio, the correct choice of the processing method and the correctly selected rate of use.
