Did you know: Tomatoes can help promote gut health – expert reveals

Call it a fruit or a vegetable, tomato holds a steady place in our vegetable basket. From keeping it raw to making curries and chutneys, we use tomatoes daily. Apart from being super versatile, the fruit is also loaded with health-benefiting properties. According to health experts, vitamin C, antioxidants etc (in tomatoes) help promote good skin, reduce inflammation and boost immune health. But did you know that tomatoes can also help promote gut health? A recent study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum found that “tomatoes provide benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome”.

The research was initially done on young pigs. It was found that the gut microbiome in pigs was changed towards a more favorable profile after two weeks of consuming a diet high in tomatoes. According to a report in ANI, after observing the results with a short-term intervention, the researchers decided to conduct a similar study on humans, to establish the link between the two. tomato and the gut microbiome. “It is possible that tomatoes confer benefits through their modulation of the gut microbiome,” says study senior author, Jessica Cooperstone.

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For the first study, researchers surveyed 20 pigs for 14 days. These animals were divided into two sets – the first 10 were fed a standard diet and the other ten were fed an additional diet of freeze-dried powder made from tomatoes.

It was found that the pigs, fed a tomato-heavy diet, had an increase in their gut microbes. Jessica Cooperstone said, “This was our first investigation into how tomato consumption can affect the microbiome, and we have shown which microbes are present, and how their relative abundance has been changed by this tomato intervention. ” Researchers plan an in-depth study to understand the long-term health benefits.