A woman surnamed Xu (China) almost lost her life because of a mistake when eating tomatoes that many families make. Specifically, last month, Ms. Xu's husband discovered that he had an enlarged prostate during a routine health check. Hearing from neighbors that tomatoes are very good for treating male diseases and have substances that fight prostate cancer, she bought a lot of them to bring home. After that, Ms. Xu cooked tomato dishes for her husband every day.

After about 2 weeks, Mrs. Tu discovered that many tomatoes were crushed, moldy, and rotten. However, because she felt sorry for the loss, she just cut off the damaged parts and continued cooking. Because she thought that she would only eat the good parts, and since she had cooked them, there would be no problem. Moreover, she was afraid that if she left them for too long, they would all spoil, so she decided to cook a table full of dishes with tomatoes. From scrambled tomatoes with eggs to tomato soup with fish, tofu with tomato sauce, stir-fried tomatoes with meat, and even tomato slices with raw vegetables.

Her husband was a picky eater, and after only trying a piece of tomato cooked with eggs, he immediately frowned and said it had a strange smell. After that, he refused to eat any more dishes with tomatoes. Mrs. Tu felt sorry for the loss and the effort of cooking, so she tried to eat them all by herself.

About an hour later, she began to feel uncomfortable all over, had a stomachache, and felt nauseous. Thinking that she had indigestion, she just took medicine and continued to cook tomatoes in the following meals.

Two days later, Ms. Tu's symptoms became more severe. She even had stomach pain to the point of not being able to eat or drink, her whole body was weak, and she vomited a lot. Her family was scared and called a taxi to take her to the hospital for examination, but on the way, she complained of fever, had difficulty breathing, and fainted.

The doctor said that Ms. Tu was poisoned by eating spoiled tomatoes. Because it contains the extremely toxic substance Aflatoxin - 68 times more toxic than arsenic and is the number 1 carcinogen warned by WHO. Not to mention, moldy, rotten tomatoes caused her to become infected. These two things combined to lead to acute intestinal infection. Fortunately, timely emergency treatment was able to save her life.

The water content of tomatoes is about 95%, the remaining 5% mainly includes carbohydrates and fiber along with many other vitamins and minerals. The most prominent are vitamin C, vitamin K1, vitamin B9 (folate), vitamin A, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc ... along with other plant compounds such as Lycopene, Beta carotene, Naringenin, Chlorogenic acid.

Thanks to these ingredients, tomatoes bring many health benefits, including:

- Improve eyesight.

- Support the cardiovascular system.

- Improve blood sugar levels.

- Prevent and support the treatment of high blood pressure.

- Good for the blood and prevent blood clotting disorders.

- Prevent urinary tract infections, gallstones.

- Help strengthen bones.

- Support weight loss.

- Promote digestion.

- Beautify skin and hair.

- Slow down aging, fight cancer.

Therefore, tomatoes have become a healthy food loved by many people. It is even a tonic and treatment in Traditional Medicine.

Taboos when eating tomatoes that everyone needs to know

From Ms. Tu's case, the treating doctor reminded each of us to be careful when eating tomatoes. Even though it is a benign food, eating it the wrong way can still lead to unpredictable consequences, even causing cancer or death.

First, absolutely do not eat crushed, rotten, moldy tomatoes. Because at this time they produce Aflatoxin and many other bacteria. This poison will penetrate the entire tomato when moldy. Therefore, it cannot be removed by cutting off the damaged part, and does not even disappear at high temperatures.

Similarly, do not eat tomatoes with black spots. After tomatoes are infected with Alternaria fungus, the fungus metabolizes in the fruit to produce toxins that cause black spots and faster spoilage in tomatoes. This toxin is called Alternaria toxin, although not as strong as aflatoxin, it still has the potential to cause cancer and other health risks.

Next, do not eat green, unripe tomatoes because they contain solanine. This is a strong toxin and can easily harm the human liver. It causes poisoning with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, salivation, weakness, fatigue ... and in severe cases can even be life-threatening. When tomatoes are ripe, the toxic substances in tomatoes will gradually decrease and disappear.

You should also not eat tomatoes when hungry because they are rich in pectin and phenolic resin. These substances can react with acids, greatly affecting the stomach. The stomach consumes these substances can cause vomiting and stomach pain. Long-term use can also cause stomach diseases, including cancer.

In particular, there are 7 groups of people who should limit eating or best stay away from tomatoes, which are:

- People with migraines.

- People with kidney dysfunction.

- People with poor digestion, stomach diseases (especially gastroesophageal reflux).

- People with irritable bowel syndrome.

- People with urinary incontinence and cystitis.

- People with autoimmune diseases.

- People with allergies, prone to skin discoloration.

In addition, we also need to pay attention when processing tomatoes. This type of food should not be cooked or eaten at the same time as cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pork liver, carrots, carp, herring, etc. Because it reduces nutrition and can cause digestive discomfort, poisoning in some cases.