If you like (or LOVE, as in my case) tomatoes and eat them all year round (thanks to our Mexican Neighbor Farmers) then you will be thrilled to know, how fabulous they are for you!

Tomatoes rank number 16 on the ANDI Scale and can be whipped up into a delicious raw soup in 5 minutes!

Tomato Facts

A laboratory study found that lycopene has a similar effect to the cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins.

Tomatoes contain high levels of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that supports the immune system and helps maintain healthy skin and tissue lining.

They are packed with antioxidant flavonoids and vitamin E, both of which are essential for heart health, and are a good source of potassium.

One medium-size tomato provides 50 per cent of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C.

Analysis of the Mediterranean diet suggested that cooking tomatoes with olive oil further improves their potency.

Lycopene and beta-carotene are broken down by heating, and are soluble in oil but not water, so cooking tomatoes in olive oil prepares these beneficial chemicals perfectly for absorption by the body.

Other research suggests that lycopene may enhance chemical communication between the cells, which helps to regulate unusual cell growth and may even reverse the process by which a tumour becomes malignant.

Tomatoes are also rich in the antioxidant lutein, which is believed to protect the retina from free radical damage.