Superfoods – Tomatoes – D16P2R5C1
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R5P2 Starting Weight 176.8
Yesterday – 163.8
Today – 163.4
0.4 lb LOSS Overnight
1.4 lb Over LIW of Round Four (162.0)
13.4 Lost Since Start of R5C1 (VLCD) 05/06/08
87.4 Total Lost Since Start of Protocol (VLCD) 06/26/07
Still not there, not at that elusive LIW!!! But I am still going in the right direction! I honestly think I will only make it to my goal this round, with NOTHING extra! One can only hope eh?
Yesterday’s menu was simple, grapefruit with coffee and skim milk for breakky, just catfish and green beans for lunch, and a P2 taco salad (just meat and lettuce, used salsa and that subbed my 2nd fruit). My numbers are pretty darn pathetic. But hey, that is why I keep tabs on them. That way I know if I am on target (better than Rounds 1 & 2) or not (worse than Rounds 3 & 4) – so what does that mean? I am shooting average, and that is all I could ever hope for.
- Round 1 (15 completed days) – 6.30% of body weight lost
- Round 2 (15 completed days) – 6.72% of body weight lost
- Round 3 (15 completed days) – 7.97% of body weight lost
- Round 4 (15 completed days) – 9.44% of body weight lost
- Round 5 (15 completed days) – 7.58% of body weight lost
I am so glad you all are enjoying my discussion on superfoods. There is SO much more to learn, as I am only skimming the surface.
I feel very bad that I haven’t kept up with the comments. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle them – up until a few days ago I was just answering them in the comments themselves. I need to catch up – and I will do that sometime over the next few days. But today I promise to reply to each comment that comes in. How does that sound? Have you folks tried the new ‘subscribe’ to comments? Does it work? HA! I hope so.
Superfoods – Tomatoes
Very interesting stuff learned about this particular superfood. First, let me remind you that the tomato is really considered a fruit rather than a vegetable. It has developed with the reputation of a vegetable due to its mostly veggie uses, but it’s scientific classification is “fruit – ovary with seeds”. Something I bet you didn’t know … in different ancient cultures, the tomato has been called all sorts of things – the French call it “pomi d’oro” which means “golden apple”, the Italians call it “pomme d’amore” which means the “love apple” – it has even been called the peruvian apple, but for the sake of this article, we will just call them plain old tomatoes.
Tomatoes pack quite a wallop nutritionally. They are rich in potassium, Vitamin C & A and are cholesterol free. Some studies have shown that this fruit may be able to help decrease the risk of certain cancers (prostate, breast and stomach). There have been articles published that show even the yellow jelly around the seeds provide health benefits – they have been shown to maybe stop blood cells from clumping together, which can sometimes lead to strokes and heart attacks.
Now this is where things get very interesting. You know that I have recently become a lover of the whole “raw food” life style – tomatoes are better eaten COOKED than RAW! OMG! Whoda thunk??? Yes! This is because when cooked, the very important antioxidant “Lycopene” is released.
- Please see this discussion on Lycopene – Description
- Please see this discussion on Lycopene – Function
- Please see this discussion on Lycopene – Health Benefits
Lycopene is found in the pigment – it is what gives tomatoes it’s red color. Lycopene is best absorbed throughout the body by the most simplest of forms – tomato paste. No wonder this particular staple is found in abundance in the Mediterranean Diet. A very good recipe for making your own tomato paste is found here:
To make your own tomato paste, simply healthy sauté a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and/or 1-2 large chopped onions a couple of minutes until translucent, then add 8-10 chopped whole tomatoes, a teaspoon of dried or several teaspoons of fresh chopped oregano, basil, and any other herbs you enjoy, such as parsley or rosemary, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Remove from the heat, drizzle with olive oil, and add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. For a fancier version, sauté chopped olives and/or mushrooms along with the garlic and onions.
The thing about making your very own tomato paste is that you will use the WHOLE tomato, which is very important – even the skins. Whereas canned tomatoes usually get rid of the skins in the processing.
Also, there seems to be evidence that suggests that absorption of lycopene is best when tomatoes are just lightly cooked with olive oil.
Try to consume at least 7 – 10 servings of tomatoes each week. One serving equals 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes, or 3 ounces.
Superfood discussion will continue on Friday – and my discussion will be on Pumpkin. Tomorrow I am going to be dealing with an issue that came up over this past weekend on Naysayers of the Protocol.
This is new – a question to all my readers – feel free to either comment here on the blog, use my Tag Board or use my Comment Form. Today’s Question: What is YOUR favorite way to use tomatoes?
