As I have realized, life on earth is about dreaming, achieving, learning and unlearning so many things one of which is the many arguments about our food like tomato, its components, and nutritional value. This article explains the confusion around Tomato, Beans, and Other foods.

We’ve been told so many things when we were young only to realize years later that there’s a little bit of truth in it like where Tomato stands between being a fruit or vegetable, is beans protein or carbohydrate, is banana a fruit, is plantain a fruit and more

For further understanding as we dig deeper, what is a fruit and what is a vegetable?

• Fruit is any plant produce that contains seeds. If what you’re about to eat contains seed, then it is a fruit. Pepper, cucumber, corn, avocado, etc.
• Vegetable any part of a plant that is edible e., leaves, stems and roots. If you can eat that plant, leave, stems, roots e.g., lettuce, Potatoes and carrots but

Remember, if it has seeds then it is not a vegetable, we draw the line at the seed. We can now easily answer the question of whether a fruit is actually a fruit or a vegetable.

Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Does it have seeds in them? Yes! Same as all kinds of pepper with seeds in them, all fruits.

According to botany, a tomato is the fruit of a flowering plant, which is made up of the ovary and its seeds. In any case, tomatoes are considered “culinary vegetables” because they contain significantly less sugar than vegetable fruits and are also not sweet but savor than most fruits.

Unfortunately, Tomato is served as part of vegetable salad or main course not as a fruit salad or a dessert. Tomato as a fruit like every other fruit can be eaten raw, cooked vegetable and used in a variety of dishes.

In Nigeria, Tomato is mostly used as a vegetable but notwithstanding by definition, classification and nature, it is a fruit.

Tomatoes nutrition

32 calories (kcal), 170.14 g of water, 1.58 g of protein, 2.2 g of fiber, 5.8 g of carbohydrate, 0 g cholesterol, 18 mg of calcium, 427 mg of potassium, 43 mg of phosphorus, 24.7 mg of vitamin C, 1499 international units (IU) of vitamin A, they also contain a wide array of beneficial nutrients and antioxidants.

is beans carbohydrates?

One thing is clear, Beans are a delicious and satisfying source of carbohydrates to include as part of your regular diet. Confusing right?

Beans are legumes with mostly carbs, some protein, and high in fiber. Some people basically relied on beans for their source of protein like I did but in fact, it is a mixture of both protein and carbohydrates while Fiber and starch make up the carbohydrate portion. because of their carbohydrate content and health experts recommend treating them as a carbohydrate exchange.

As part of a plant-based diet, beans can significantly contribute to your daily protein intake but It is still wise to make sure that they are part of a meal that contains some healthy fats and does not contain too many carbs from additional grains or starchy vegetables.

Your best option of all legumes is soybeans, it contains the highest amount of protein and have the lowest carbohydrates, but are a bit higher in fat. 

In reality, none of those “protein foods” are pure proteins, and none of those “starches” are pure carbohydrates.

Is plantain a fruit?

Unlike banana its cousin, plantains are always cooked before eating.  Plantains and bananas are technically berries, but botanically, they are fruits that provide a healthy dose of carbohydrates and are naturally low in fat.

Despite being used mostly as a vegetable; plantains are still often served as a side dish with savory dishes. Plantains are a major source of carbohydrates and are high in fiber, when cooked without frying in oil, they are low fat but easily absorb the oil they’re cooked in therefore making Fried plantains a high-fat food.

Certain foods can be confusing when it comes to figuring out where to fit them in the diet.