“To-MAY-to,” “to-MAH-to”? Who knows. Luckily, I’m a writer and don’t have to say anything out loud in my work. I’m not a gardener, though. We have a joke in our house that plants come here to die. I killed a cactus and in the five years I tried to grow tomatoes in my garden, I’ve had little luck getting more than a handful of tomatoes (and the squirrels ate most of them).
I had to laugh when, during a trip to New Jersey—where tomatoes are the state vegetable (though technically they’re a fruit)—my husband texted me that my tomatoes “look amazing.” A few minutes later, my editor emailed me and asked if I wanted to try eating tomatoes every day for a week.
Coincidence? Probably, but it seemed like I had met the challenge with a good start. After years as a health writer, I knew tomatoes were a nutrient-dense choice and had eaten enough store-bought tomatoes, but I had no idea how my body would react to eating them every day. After trying to eat at least one tomato every day for a week, I would absolutely recommend it to most people (keyword: most).
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Tomato nutrition at a glance
There are countless different types of tomatoes. In general, FoodData Central states that one cup of red, raw tomatoes contains approximately:
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How it went for me to eat tomatoes every day for a week
For this exercise, I ate beefsteak (super juicy and slightly sweet) and cherry tomatoes (small but sweet) that I grew in my garden. I also used store-bought cherry tomatoes, which are a little more tart, to add flavor and interest to the dishes and to prevent my family and I from getting too bored.
The first day, I picked all my bounty off the vines. Tired from the drive back to New York, I had my husband make dinner – homemade tomato sauce. I enjoy eating pasta almost every day, but I usually use store-bought tomato sauce. The one I use contains 450 mg of sodium, or about 20% of the recommended daily value. Aside from risks like high blood pressure, a high-sodium diet can also make you feel quite unwell. Although the sauce I use tastes great, I have to watch the amount I eat to avoid heartburn. (I’ve tried low-sodium sauce – no thanks.)
The sauce my husband made was bright and delicious. An added bonus? I didn’t regret eating it later. My heart didn’t burn. I will double use this recipe in the future. It also made enough for my daily pasta needs the next day, Monday, my first day back at work. I was grateful for the easy dinner and a repeat of the night before (no heartburn, which made it easier to go to bed and sleep through).
The next day, I added some cherry tomatoes to my salad. I know this isn’t reinventing the wheel, but quick weeknight meals are a must in my house. I liked the sweetness of the tomatoes and how it paired with more bitter ingredients like raw broccoli. Some people prefer to eat a salad if they make it more interesting, so consider tomatoes if you find your greens rather bland. Aside from the taste, I also felt more full (thanks to the fiber) and even better hydrated. Like other produce, tomatoes are high in water, and even the CDC says that food can count toward your daily fluid intake (not just water and other beverages).
Although my stomach was full and my thirst seemed quenched, I didn’t feel comfortable adding tomatoes to my salad. Unlike when I swapped store-bought sauce for homemade sauce, I had a little indigestion.
Tomatoes are an acidic food and people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) consider them a trigger, according to a 2023 study Nutritional values Review. I don’t suffer from GERD, but I can understand why someone who does would skip a week-long challenge of eating a tomato every day.
Interestingly, I didn’t experience the same heartburn when I added the tomatoes to a stir-fry the next day. However, it happened again when I added them to salads. A friend who is a far more experienced home cook than I am told me that this isn’t actually surprising – cooking can balance out the acidity.
I had more time to be creative over the weekend. I generally eat a plant-based diet, using legumes and grains to form a complete protein source. However, I am not a vegetarian. I decided to make some tomato-focused seafood dishes. The first was shrimp and cherry tomatoes (delicious and heartburn-free). The second was salmon and beefsteak tomatoes (same thing – gosh, those beefsteak tomatoes are sweet).
Research shows that a plant-based diet significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (which runs in my family). A 2024 study in The Journal of Nutrition I followed a Mediterranean diet plan that included eating two servings of salmon per week and improved my cardiometabolic health. So, big thanks to tomatoes for inspiring me to cook salmon.
I also put some tomato on toast as a foolproof weekend snack and for extra filling fiber. I could wait to eat until dinner instead of wandering into my pantry. I don’t like counting calories or weighing myself as I don’t need to lose weight, but I prefer to limit the times I consume extra calories through snacking. Fiber is an important part of my strategy and tomato on toast contains it.
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What I learned from eating tomatoes every day for a week
Eating tomatoes every day for a week was a worthwhile challenge and I learned some important lessons that I will keep in mind for my future meal planning, such as:
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Tomatoes provide moisture. I knew berries and apples were included, but I didn’t expect I could say the same about tomatoes. However, even on some brutally hot days during the week, when I ate one every day, I didn’t feel as dehydrated.
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Tomatoes fill you up. Fiber makes you feel full. Eating tomatoes between meals and as a snack kept me full (and prevented the hunger pangs I get when my blood sugar is low).
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Tomatoes can be simple or complicated. This versatile fruit allows me to create my own adventures in the kitchen, from simple weeknight lunches to more complex recipes that allow me to flex my creative muscles in the kitchen to the delight of my family.
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Tomatoes can aggravate indigestion, but they don’t necessarily. Depending on how your body tolerates acidic foods, tomatoes may be a trigger. On the other hand, homemade sauces usually contain less sodium than store-bought ones, which can help relieve heartburn.
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Eating tomatoes can help you eat more nutritious meals. This is more the result of being told to eat the same thing every day and feeling inspired to use tomatoes as a launching pad to spice up a few other meals and snacks. However, during the week I ate a tomato every day, I did eat more fish – and reaped some heart-healthy benefits from it.
Regular consumption of tomatoes also has many long-term health benefits that my week-long challenge couldn’t quite cover. A comprehensive 2022 review reported that the benefits of tomatoes included:
Remember that eating healthy is a long-term lifestyle choice and there are no “magic” foods that will cure all your ailments. With that in mind, the health benefits of tomatoes seem pretty great to me.
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