You say Toe-may-toe and I say To-ma-toe

Today as I was talking with my sister she was reading me information about tomatoes.  Going on and on about how they are so good for you!  So I decided to do some research since I can take a fresh tomato and eat it like an apple.  And because now is the time for all my friends and family to go out to your green grocer or roadside stand and buy some of these yummy red balls of goodness.  I did not want to say veggie, although I think it is technically a fruit!  Oh never mind about that.  I did want to tell you that I did some research and it is the Lycopene that is the real star.  The red pigment contained in tomatoes is called Lycopene. This compound appears to act as an antioxidant, neutralizing free radicals that can damage cells in the body.

It is good for so many things.  I also just found out that tomatoes help men with Prostate Cancer.  I recently found out a friend's father was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer so please send blessings and love to Wayne.

If you have not thought about this food as a healing treatment-think again.  Here is a short list of wonderful and healthful reasons to eat tomatoes!  Just google tomatoes and Health and you will find much more on the topic.t

• Eating tomatoes, ketchup, tomato sauce and tomato paste-topped pizza more than two times a week can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 21 to 43 percent according to Harvard University School of Public Health. Men who eat two or more servings of tomato products average a 35 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk. Lycopene is the key ingredient that helps with this!
• Cooking tomatoes in oil encourages intestinal absorption and results in a two-to-threefold rise in plasma lycopene concentrations.
• Tomato products are beneficial in aggressive cancers that have also spread to other parts of the body
• The best food sources of lycopene according to the Tomato Research Council in New York City: ( Amount of lycopene in one ounce) Tomato Sauce, Spaghetti Sauce, Ketchup (5 mg); Tomato Soup, Canned Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Vegetable Juice (3 mg); Minestrone Soup, Vegetable Soup, Pink Grapefruit (1 mg)
• Lycopene helps women guard against cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia, (CIN), tumorous tissue growth in the cervix according to research from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• Lycopene is a powerful inhibitor of the growth of breast, endometrium (inner lining of the uterus) and lung cancer cells.
• Tomatoes are good for the eyes. Lycopene, the most abundant carotenoid in the blood serum, was found to be the key antioxidant that guards against ARMD ( Age-Related Macular Degeneration), a condition that may cause blindness.
• Tomatoes are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Potassium
• Lycopene is an inhibitor to heart disease.

Well if that does not convince you I do not know what will.  Unfortunately, the tomato is included in the list of the top ten foods to which most people are allergic.  So if you are not allergic.....take a big bite today!

Love and Light to you all!