Cherry tomatoes are tiny, fun, delicious and nutritious!
Image Credit: Barcin/iStock/GettyImages Tomatoes come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Cherry tomatoes are among the smallest tomatoes commercially available. These tiny tomatoes are often eaten in salads or grilled, rather than cooked into stews or sauces like their larger counterparts.
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However, despite the obvious size difference, cherry tomatoes are like most other tomatoes. From a nutritional point of view, cherry tomatoes are just as good for you as any other tomato. A 1-cup serving of cherry tomatoes contains:
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63 calories 0 grams of fat 12 grams of carbohydrates 4 grams of protein
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Cherry Tomato Nutrition
Tomatoes are easily integrated into many dishes. However, cherry tomatoes are a little bit more difficult to use because of their size. Unlike most fruits, this food tastes better salted. You may find cherry tomatoes skewered alongside grilled meat or halved into salads. Tomatoes come in a variety of shapes, sizes and types. Cherry tomatoes are the smallest of the lot, weighing between 5 and 10 grams per tomato. A portion of tomatoes is about 150 grams.
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In cherry tomato terms, 150 grams is equal to about a full cup. There are 12 grams of carbohydrates and 63 calories in cherry tomatoes per serving. A single serving of tomatoes also contains 7 percent of your daily recommended amount of fiber and a variety of beneficial nutrients. Cherry tomato nutrition includes the following vitamins and minerals:
Manganese (8 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Potassium (10 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Vitamin A (25 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Vitamin B-6 (6 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Vitamin B-9, or folic acid (6 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Vitamin C (32 percent of your recommended daily amount)
Vitamin K (15 percent of your recommended daily amount)
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Cherry tomatoes also contain protein and other nutrients in small amounts (between 1 and 4 percent ), including other B-complex vitamins, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.
Beside all these vitamins and minerals, tomatoes are known for being rich in carotenoids, like lycopene, and phenolic compounds. Both carotenoids and phenolic compounds play important roles in the health benefits of cherry tomatoes and other tomato variants. With so many vitamins, minerals and beneficial compounds, the nutritional value of tomatoes is very high.
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Health Benefits of Cherry Tomatoes
Many of the nutrients, antioxidants and other beneficial compounds in raw tomatoes have been found to prevent or help treat health issues. Carotenoids like lycopene have been shown to have important antioxidant and anticarcinogenic qualities. Even though cherry tomatoes have a variety of nutrients, it’s actually lycopene that is thought to contribute to most of tomatoes’ benefits.
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Drinking tomato juice and eating tomatoes have been tied to a variety of health benefits. Tomato consumption may help reduce the risk of cancer and reduce inflammation. They may improve your skin's health and help alleviate menopausal symptoms like anxiety. Tomatoes can also help lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Lowered levels of cholesterol and triglycerides can improve the health of your cardiovascular system.
Tomatoes are also good for your gut and your brain. Consumption of tomatoes can increase your production of serotonin, which is important because your digestive system and central nervous system are connected. Tomatoes can help promote weight loss, reducing waist circumference, body weight, body fat and overall body mass index (BMI). Read more: Health Effects of Eating Raw Tomatoes
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references
Horticultura Brasileira: Row spacing and pruning regimes on organically grown cherry tomato
Self: Nutrition Data: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Carotenoids and Lycopenes Chemistry; Metabolism, Absorption, Nutrition, and Allied Health Claims—A Comprehensive Review
Journal of Food Science and Technology: Bioactivities of phytochemicals present in tomato
International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research: Supplementation with tomato-based products increases lycopene, phytofluene, and phytoene levels in human serum and protects against UV-light-induced erythema.
Nutrition: Tomato juice supplementation in young women reduces inflammatory adipokine levels independently of body fat reduction
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato and Tomato Byproducts. Human Health Benefits of Lycopene and Its Application to Meat Products: A Review
AARP: Health Benefits of Tomatoes
Nutrition Journal: Tomato juice intake increases resting energy expenditure and improves hypertriglyceridemia in middle-aged women: an open-label, single-arm study
Biomedical Science Letters: Cherry Tomato Supplementation Reduces Cardiovascular Risk
Annals of Gastroenterology: The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems
references
Horticultura Brasileira: Row spacing and pruning regimes on organically grown cherry tomato
Self: Nutrition Data: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Carotenoids and Lycopenes Chemistry; Metabolism, Absorption, Nutrition, and Allied Health Claims—A Comprehensive Review
Journal of Food Science and Technology: Bioactivities of phytochemicals present in tomato
International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research: Supplementation with tomato-based products increases lycopene, phytofluene, and phytoene levels in human serum and protects against UV-light-induced erythema.
Nutrition: Tomato juice supplementation in young women reduces inflammatory adipokine levels independently of body fat reduction
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato and Tomato Byproducts. Human Health Benefits of Lycopene and Its Application to Meat Products: A Review
AARP: Health Benefits of Tomatoes
Nutrition Journal: Tomato juice intake increases resting energy expenditure and improves hypertriglyceridemia in middle-aged women: an open-label, single-arm study
Biomedical Science Letters: Cherry Tomato Supplementation Reduces Cardiovascular Risk
Annals of Gastroenterology: The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems
Cherry tomatoes are tiny, fun, delicious and nutritious!
Image Credit: Barcin/iStock/GettyImages
Image Credit: Barcin/iStock/GettyImages
of your recommended daily amount)
Horticultura Brasileira: Row spacing and pruning regimes on organically grown cherry tomato
Self: Nutrition Data: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Carotenoids and Lycopenes Chemistry; Metabolism, Absorption, Nutrition, and Allied Health Claims—A Comprehensive Review
Journal of Food Science and Technology: Bioactivities of phytochemicals present in tomato
International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research: Supplementation with tomato-based products increases lycopene, phytofluene, and phytoene levels in human serum and protects against UV-light-induced erythema.
Nutrition: Tomato juice supplementation in young women reduces inflammatory adipokine levels independently of body fat reduction
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Tomato and Tomato Byproducts. Human Health Benefits of Lycopene and Its Application to Meat Products: A Review
AARP: Health Benefits of Tomatoes
Nutrition Journal: Tomato juice intake increases resting energy expenditure and improves hypertriglyceridemia in middle-aged women: an open-label, single-arm study
Biomedical Science Letters: Cherry Tomato Supplementation Reduces Cardiovascular Risk
Annals of Gastroenterology: The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems
