Side Effects of Eating Too Many Tomatoes on Skin & Health
In India tomatoes are an unavoidable ingredient in most of the dishes prepared. It adds colour, flavour and taste to the dish and it also has lots of health benefits. You can consume tomatoes in the raw form or in cooked form. It is full of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres and antioxidants. However, tomatoes also have some side effects.
Tomatoes Side Effects:
Adversely affect the nose:
When you consume too much of tomatoes, it can cause food allergy. This can affect your respiratory tract and cause excessive sneezing.
Affects the lips and the eyes:
Consuming excess of tomatoes can cause adverse effects on the eyes and the lips. It can cause irritation in the eyes and even affect the vision. It also causes swelling of the lips.
Allergic reactions:
Tomatoes contain lycopene. Excessive lycopene can cause allergic reactions on your skin. Some of the symptoms you experience are itching, chest constriction, swollen lips, hives, rashes, burning sensation in eyes and so on.
Moreover, citric acid in tomatoes is a photosensitizing agent, which can make your skin vulnerable to UVA rays. Excess lycopene in tomato can harm the skin after UVA exposure. So, if proper precaution is not taken, both these can casue rashes on your skin.
A few precautions are:
- Do not leave tomato face pack for too long on your face.
- Wash your face well before and after applying tomato pack on your face.
- Don’t stay in the sunlight for too long after applying tomato face pack.
- Use the required amount of tomatoes in the face pack instead of using it in excess.
Change in skin colour:
Prolonged and constant consumption of tomatoes can cause change in your skin colour. Your skin may take on a slight orange tint.
Cause body pain:
By consuming tomatoes in excess, you may experience pain in the muscles, bones and head. In some people excess consumption of tomatoes can cause migraine.
Deteriorated prostate cancer:
According to studies made, lycopene present in the seeds of tomatoes can cause abnormalities in the prostate glands of men. This can affect the reproductive system and this abnormality can cause severe pain as well. Erectile dysfunction, difficulty in urination etc are other symptoms of this abnormality. It may even lead to prostate cancer in some cases.
Gastrointestinal issues:
Tomato, as you know, is full of acids. This means that excessive consumption of can lead to various gastrointestinal disorders. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), commonly known as ‘acid reflux’ is one of the common intestinal disorder caused due to over consumption of tomatoes. Here the digestive acid level in our stomach rises up, which starts seeping out. Gradually the acid reaches the wall of the oesophagus cause a burning sensation. The acids from the tomatoes can make this condition worse. It can even give you heartburn. So, if you are already diagnosed with GERD or other such digestive disorders, you should limit the intake of tomatoes.
Imbalanced immunity:
Fresh raw tomato contains carotenoid pigment lycopene as one of its major ingredients. It is a chemical compound and it is said to have the ability to prevent cancer. But when you take this phytochemical in excess, it can interfere with the regular activities of your immune system and slow it down. This way, the body is unable to protect itself from various microbial diseases caused by bacteria, virus and fungi. It also makes the body incapable of repairing the physical damages already present.
Inability to concentrate:
Tomatoes are good for your heath and you must include them in your regular det. But make sure that you do not eat them in excess. This can cause food allergy and various issues including inability to concentrate.
Irritable bowel disorder:
Presence of lycopene in tomatoes can cause some serious intestinal issues, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The symptoms of this issue include acute pain and extreme discomfort in the abdomen along with changed bowel habits. You may also experience some other problems like abdominal gas, bloating, indigestion and so on. If you consume as much as 30 gm of lycopene a day, it can cause symptoms like vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea etc.
Kidney stones:
Tomatoes, especially their seeds, are loaded with calcium and oxalate compounds. If you are already suffering from some problems of the kidneys, your body will find it tough to digest these elements. Under such conditions consuming too much of tomatoes can be harmful for your body as the calcium and oxalates in tomatoes tend to accumulate in your kidneys and form small to large stones.
Nutrient deficiency:
Although you get lots of vitamins from tomatoes, you may not get many other essential nutrients form tomatoes. This can cause damage to your body and you may not be able to carry out many of your vital physical activities.
Vitamin overdose:
Tomato is loaded with vitamins. By consuming a medium sized tomato, you get 1025 IU of Vitamin A and 1.7 mg of Vitamin C. These are half and one-tenth of your daily requirements of these vitamins respectively. So, if you eat too much of tomatoes a day, it can lead to an overdose of vitamins in the body. This can eventually lead to problems like headache, kidney pain, nausea and so on.
Worsened diverticulitis:
Diverticulitis is a medical condition in which the inner surface layer of the large intestine protrudes through the external muscular layer. These diverticula or small pouches may get inflamed due to infections. According to scientists, tomato seeds, which are small in size, may get stuck in these pouches and aggravate the condition.