Fresh tomatoes are a delicious source of vitamin C, but recent findings attribute an even more important nutritional asset to this favorite vegetable: it is one of the best sources of lycopene, a carotenoid with cancer-fighting properties. Preliminary research suggests that lycopene may fight heart disease as well.

People eat a lot of tomatoes in processed form -as sauce on pasta or pizza, in soups, stews, and chilies, and as tomato juice -and as it turns out, this is one case where a vegetable is more healthful cooked than it is raw. Tomatoes contain a lot of water, so they become more concentrated as the water evaporates during cooking. The result is that a half cup of cooked tomatoes, in the form of sauce or paste, for instance, is a far more concentrated source of lycopene than a half cup of fresh tomatoes.

Your body absorbs more lycopene from cooked or processed tomatoes, especially when the tomatoes are cooked with a little oil, as they often are.Tomatoes are high in water content and low in calories (23 Cal per 100g). They are an excellent source of vitamin C which is mostly contained in the jelly-like material around the seeds. It is also a good source of vitamin A and B, and is full of lycopene, a potent antioxidant. Lycopene, an antioxidant that is found primarily in tomatoes and tomato products, has shown in studies that it helps protect against diseases such as cancer and heart disease in addition to giving tomatoes their vibrant color.