'I Ate Tomatoes Every Day for a Week—Here's What Happened'

Beth Ann Mayer
·7-min read

"To-MAY-to," "to-MAH-to?" Who knows. Thankfully, I'm a writer and don't have to pronounce things out loud to do my job. What I'm not is a gardener. We have a joke in my house that plants come here to die. I've killed a cactus and have had little luck getting more than a handful of tomatoes in five years of attempting to grow them in my backyard (and the squirrels got most of them).

So, I laughed when during a trip to New Jersey—where tomatoes are considered the state vegetable (even though they're technically fruit)—my husband texted me that my tomatoes were "looking amazing." A few minutes later, my editor emailed me asking if I wanted to try eating tomatoes every day for a week.

Coincidence? Probably, but it appeared that I was off to a running start on meeting the challenge. After years of being a health writer, I knew tomatoes were a nutrient-dense choice and had eating my share of store-bought ones, but I had no idea how my body would react to consuming them daily. After a weeklong effort to eat at least one tomato every day, I'd absolutely recommend it for most people (keyword: Most).

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Tomato Nutrition At A Glance

There are tons of different tomatoes. Generally, FoodData Central notes that one cup of red, raw tomatoes contains about:

  • 34.5 calories

  • 1.6 grams of protein

  • 2.16 grams of fiber

  • 4.7 grams of total sugars (none added)

  • 19.8 mg of magnesium

  • 43.2 mg of phosphorus

  • 427 mg of potassium

  • 9 mg of sodium

Related: Here's What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Bananas Every Day

How Eating Tomatoes Every Day For a Week Went for Me

For this exercise, I consumed beefsteak (super-juicy and mildly sweet) and cherry (small but sweet), which I grew in my garden. I also used store-bought grape tomatoes, which are a bit tangier, to boost flavor and interest in dishes and keep my family and me from getting too bored.

On day one, I pulled all my loot off of the vines. Tired from my ride back to New York, I had my husband handle the dinner—homemade tomato sauce. I'm a massive fan of eating pasta almost every day, but I generally use store-bought tomato sauce. The one I use contains 450 mg of sodium or about 20% of the daily recommended value. Beyond risks like high blood pressure, high-sodium diets can also leave you feeling rather uncomfortable. Even though the sauce I use tastes excellent, I have to watch how much I eat to avoid heartburn. (I've tried low-sodium sauce—no thanks.)

The sauce my husband made was bright and delicious. Added perk? I had no regrets about eating it later. My heart wasn't burning. I'll be double-tapping that recipe for the future. There was also plenty for my daily pasta-eating the following day, Monday, my first day back at work. I was thankful for the easy dinner and a repeat of the previous evening (no heartburn, which made going to bed and staying asleep easier).

The following day, I added some cherry tomatoes on top of my salad. I know that's not reinventing the wheel, but quick weekday meals are clutch in my house. I loved the sweetness of the tomato and how it played off some more bitter elements, like raw broccoli. For some, adding interest to a salad can make them more likely to consume one, so consider tomatoes if you find your greens rather boring. Taste aside, I also felt fuller (thanks to fiber) and even more hydrated. Like other produce, tomatoes are water-rich, and even the CDC says that foods can count toward your daily fluid intake (not just water and other beverages).

While my belly was full and thirst felt quenched, my heart was iffy about adding tomatoes to my salad. Unlike swapping store-bought for homemade sauce, I experienced some mild indigestion.

Tomatoes are an acidic food, and people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) consider it a trigger, according to a 2023 Nutrients review. I don't have GERD, but I can understand why someone who does might skip a weeklong challenge to eat a tomato daily.

Interestingly, when I added the tomatoes to a stir fry the next day, I did not experience the same heartburn. However, it happened again when I put them in salads. A friend who is a far more seasoned home chef than I am told me that it's actually not surprising—cooking can balance acidity.

On the weekend, I had more time to be creative. I generally consume a plant-based diet and use legumes and grains to form a complete protein. However, I am not a vegetarian. I decided to craft some tomato-centric seafood dishes. The first involved shrimp and cherry tomatoes (delicious and no heartburn). The second was salmon and beefsteak tomatoes (same—gosh, those beefsteaks are sweet).

Research shows that plant-based diets are great for lowering cardiovascular disease risk (which runs in my family). However, a 2024 study in The Journal of Nutrition linked following a Mediterranean diet plan that included eating two servings of salmon weekly with better cardiometabolic health. So, shout out to tomatoes for inspiring me to cook up some salmon.

I also put some tomato on toast for an easy-peasy weekend snack and a little extra filling fiber. I could wait until dinner to eat instead of moseying over to my pantry. I'm not big on counting calories or weighing myself, as I don't need to lose weight, but I prefer to limit the times I consume excess calories from snacking. Fiber is a key component of my strategy, and tomato on toast has it.

Related: These Are the 6 Healthiest Beans and Legumes You Can Eat, According to Dietitians

What I Learned From Eating Tomatoes Every Day For A Week

Eating tomatoes every day for a week was a worthy challenge, and I noticed some important takeaways that I'll keep in mind as I meal plan moving forward, such as:

  • Tomatoes are hydrating. I knew berries and apples were, but I didn't expect to say the same about tomatoes. However, I didn't feel so parched even on a few brutally hot days the week I ate one daily.

  • Tomatoes are filling. Fiber is satiating. Consuming tomatoes between meals and snacks kept me full (and therefore not hangry, which I get when my blood sugar is low).

  • Tomatoes can be easy or complicated. This versatile fruit let me choose my own adventure in the kitchen, from easy weekday lunches to more complex recipes that let me flex my creative muscles in the kitchen, to my family's delight.

  • Tomatoes may or may not exacerbate indigestion. Depending on how your body handles acidic foods, tomatoes could be a trigger. On the flip side, homemade sauces usually have less sodium than store-bought, which can help alleviate heartburn.

  • Eating tomatoes might help you consume more nutrient-dense meals. This one is more of a product of being asked to eat the same thing daily and feeling inspired to use tomatoes as a launchpad for shaking up a few other meals and snacks. However, I ate more fish—and got some heart-healthy perks—out of it, the week I ate a daily tomato.

There are also tons of long-term health benefits to consuming tomatoes regularly that my week-long challenge couldn't quite cover.  An extensive 2022 review reported that the benefits of tomatoes included:

  • Anticancer properties

  • Protection against diseases, including cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and diabetes

  • Gut health

  • Skin improvement

  • Fertility

  • Immune system response

  • Exercise recovery

Remember that a healthy diet 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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