Tomato is a food that can be both a fruit and a vegetable, with a sweet and sour taste, rich in nutrition, and abundant in vitamin C and minerals such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus, making it deeply loved by people. However, tomatoes contain large amounts of substances such as pectin, fruit substance, and gossypol. These substances can easily undergo chemical reactions with stomach acid, coagulating into insoluble lumps. These lumps may block the outlet of the stomach, causing an increase in intra-gastric pressure, leading to gastric dilatation, and even causing severe pain. Therefore, it is not advisable to eat tomatoes on an empty stomach. When eaten after a meal, the stomach acid is fully mixed with the food, which greatly reduces the concentration of stomach acid and prevents it from forming hard lumps.
In addition, green, unripe tomatoes should not be eaten. Because unripe tomatoes contain a large amount of toxic tomatine, people who eat it will experience poisoning symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, vomiting, salivation, and weakness. When the tomato ripens and turns red, the content of tomatine is greatly reduced or even disappears.