How does everyone do on tomtoes?

This past week I have been picking the ripe tomatoes out of my garden, and I believe I can not tolerate them.

I am not certain yet, and I will still be experimenting some, because I LOVE my homegrown tomatoes. It seems like a tough one to figure out.

I have been eating homemade sauce using tomatoes from a can all winter, with no flares. So maybe I will be able to cook them and be able to tolerate. Which I know is exactly the opposite (cooking usually releases the starch, right?) of what I would expect, but I am hoping that I can eat them someway.

Or maybe its the variety of tomatoes, some may be more starchy then others?

Or, I was thinking that perhaps, if eaten with other foods, they are more better tolerated? It seems, I have been enjoying them by themselves, just as a snack with some salt sprinkled on top, becaue they are so tasty.

Has anyone noticed anything with tomatoes that might help me figure this out?

Thanks.

Hi, Jeanne:

Tomatoes are full of lectins that can affect the intestinal lumen and when cooked many of these are denatured (usually a bad thing but not in this case). There is very little starch in tomatoes, and I do not know whether this is decreased by cooking. You might allow the tomatoes to sit out or put in a paper bag for a day or two to see what enzymes and the butyric gasses do to them.

I eat plenty of tomatoes, both cooked and fresh and have never noticed a problem.

bon appetit,
John

Hi Jeanne - it's a coincidence that you posted that just now. I spent the day yesterday testing just about every kind, form, stage of ripeness of tomato I could get my mits on. And every darn one of them turned black very quickly with iodine. I'll have to do what John says and try leaving them out for a day or two...but a couple I tested were already quite ripe.
Home grown tomatoes right off the plant are fantastic aren't they? Not sure if I can give them up either.
Keep me posted on any experimentation success. Thanks!

Tomatoes are naturally inflammatory. I've read of some sufferers kicking their AS by obstaining from Nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers), and it goes away no problem.

I actually had a bad reaction to tomato sauce last night.

Hi Jeanne, I have not found any brand of canned tomatoes that doesn't test starchy. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I have ever actually tested a piece of fresh tomato for starch. I think I may have just assumed that they were non-starchy. I will test tonight.

I hope they test negative for starch, 'cause I eat a lot of tomatos and so far have never reacted to them.

Cheers,
Rita

James, 12, Adrian, 10, Elisabeth, 3, my babies!

John, do you eat canned tomatos? I know there is supposed to be starch-less spaghetti type sauce but I have never been able to find any. I've tested probably a dozen different brands.

I've even tested my Aunt's homemade stewed tomatos which were right from her garden, and they still turned black.

Cheers,
Rita

James, 12, Adrian, 10, Elisabeth, 3, my babies!

Supposedly, tomatoes is one of the few veggeis that become more nutritious when lightly cooked. The caratenoid lycopen is released then. Raw tomatoes provides no lycopen.

Unfortunately, I myself cannot eat tomatoes

My cousin, who has AS, is the same. Raw tomatoes upset her stomach but when cooked or processed she is fine, so it is not the starch. Use you toms to make gazpacho - I love it this time of year.

Hi, Rita:

Yes, I do eat canned tomatoes, dried, raw, cooked, etc. I found several spaghetti sauces that do not have added starch, also. Sometimes these are a good soup base; the spaghetti squash gets myzithra cheese with burnt butter every time...

The list from McCance and Widdowson clocks tomatoes: "Tomatoes (raw) Tr
(fried in corn oil) 0.1
(grilled) Tr
(canned, whole contents) 0.2"

which is why I believe that there is something else going on. I had a friend who could not eat raw tomatoes, but they were Ok when cooked. Our explanation then had to do with trace solanine, which is volitle and driven off or changed into other stuff. Raw, they cause him some arthritic symptoms, but they did not have to be heated very long (pizza with cooked tomatoes in place) before they were safe for his consumption.

I tested raw (and not vine-ripened) tomatoes here in California and only got a black reaction to the seed coverings, although some of the pulp changed color very slightly. I use 1% iodine "Atomic Iodine" (was Atomidine) that is edible. Wondering why everyone is getting an indication...I'll look up what Carol has to say about them.

Best Regards,
John

I eat tomatoes raw, grilled and cooked. In addition, when living in the states... was one of the few processed foods I bought (canneed tomato sause). Had to read the label carefully and do not recall brand at this time.... was something like Bertolina's.

Tim

So...I have tested tomato sauces and spaghetti sauces where the label did not indicate any starch as an ingredient but they all still tested positive for starch. So I won't eat them.

Last night I tested a piece of raw tomato and it eventually went quite dark, not black, but very dark. But I ate them anyway, cooked with scrambled eggs. I have been eating raw and cooked tomatos the whole past year I've been NSD, and I'm sure that I haven't had a reaction, so I will continue to do so.

Cheers,
Rita

James, 12, Adrian, 10, Elisabeth, 3, my babies!

That reminds me, I had some gazpacho recently, made by a friend, and it did not cause me any problems. I recall she used fresh tomatoes, perhaps she cooked them long enough to remove the skins.

From all the different responses, this should be interesting!

I am trying to deal with the thought of having to give up tomatoes, by the discovery of being able to tolerate potatoes.

This is getting so bizaar!

Hi Megan, fellow tomato lover - good for you for testing with the iodine! I haven't used it in so long, I almost forgot about it. This seems to be a very confusing topic! We have so many different responses to the tricky tomato. I have been eating tomato salsa, sauce, gazpacho, with no problems. I am really starting to wonder if I should just not eat the tomatoes alone? Maybe I can tolerate them as just a small part of a meal. And then theirs the cooking issue. When I have a large amount of ripe tomatoes I will make some sauce and see what happens. It's easier for me to do some testing like this, since I have been NSD for about 10 months now. You be careful if your just getting started seriously with NSD. Enjoy some time pain free before you start too much experimenting. I let you know what happens with my testing.

How are you otherwise? Did you have a good trip? How long since you started NSD? Have you noticed any improvement yet? I'm rooting for you!

Jeanne

Hi John - LUCKY YOU! I would live of my homegrown tomatoes, if I could.

Do you eat them raw and alone, just like a whole tomato with some salt sprinkled for a snack, without any other foods? I am starting to think that is where my problem lies, because I seem to be able to eat them as a small part of a larger meal, or cooked.

HI Tim - do you ever eat them alone, just tomatoes with nothing else? Or are they usually part of a larger meal? Just wondering if maybe this is where I problme lies, and maybe I can continue having them as a side dish, salsa, sauce, etc.

I almost always have them with salads.... but not always. Sometimes alone as well with a little pepper on top.

In states bought the tomato paste as well to cook with chicken dishes, here not so much. As well done here, I will eat brochettes quite a bit eating out at restaurants.... grilled chicken or beef screwered with grilled veggies often including tomatoes.

Best to you Jeanne, keep up the good fight.

Tim