Tomatoes

Food · Vegetable · Food, Typed Supps

One of the few foods where cooking increases what you get from it.

Stage by stage

Intake (Cell structure breaks down): Chewing or cooking begins breaking down its cell structure.
Stomach (Lycopene released): Cooked tomatoes release lycopene more readily than raw.
Small intestine (Fat-dependent absorption): Lycopene absorbs alongside dietary fat, similar to other fat-soluble plant pigments.
Bloodstream & tissues (Antioxidant activity): Circulates with antioxidant activity, studied for heart and prostate-related outcomes.

Timing

Cooked, with a little olive oil or other fat, meaningfully increases lycopene absorption.

Time to effect

Weeks: Regular intake of cooked tomato products contributes to lycopene status.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

In season

June to October in the northern hemisphere, December to April in the southern.

Satiety

The satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings. At 17 kcal per 100 g that is 1.4 kg of this, which is not a serving anyone eats — so the index has nothing to say about it.

Environmental footprint

0.5 kg CO2e and 108 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other vegetables" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2.5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 17.4
Protein: 0.6g
Carbohydrate: 3g
of which sugars: 2.5g
Fat: 0g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 1.1g
Sodium: 4mg

Food vs. supplement

Cooking tomatoes (as in sauce or paste) roughly triples how much lycopene is bioavailable compared to raw — there’s no widely available standalone lycopene supplement with comparable everyday evidence to cooked tomato products.

Kitchen tip

Cooking tomatoes in a little oil increases how much lycopene the body can absorb compared to eating them raw.

Common myth

“Fresh, raw tomatoes are always more nutritious than tomato sauce.” In reality: For lycopene specifically, cooked and processed tomato products are more bioavailable than fresh raw tomatoes.