Tomato

Why tomato is rated low

Tomato is low at about ½ medium (65g), and the load climbs from there: larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. The group behind it is Excess Fructose: tomato carries more fructose than glucose, and the surplus is what builds as the portion grows. That is a smaller portion than most people picture, since a whole large tomato is well past the low serve. The verdict is that tomato is easy to use, but as half a tomato on the plate rather than a whole one, and the count matters more than it looks.

What changes your risk

• The size of the helping About ½ medium (65g) is low, larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high. Half a tomato is the portion to plan around and a whole large tomato is over the line.
• Stacking fructose across the meal Excess Fructose adds up across a meal. Tomato in the salad, tomato in the sauce and a glass of juice or a sweet fruit on the side all count toward the same load, so spread servings across the day rather than concentrating them.
• Drying concentrates it Drying removes water and concentrates everything left behind, so sun dried tomatoes are not equivalent to the fresh serve. A spoonful of dried tomato represents a good deal more tomato than its weight suggests.
• Juicing and paste do the same thing Tomato juice and passata concentrate several tomatoes into one glass or one jar, and juice leaves the fibre behind. Treat drinks and concentrated products as multiple servings, not one.
• Canned tomato is its own food, the sauce is the risk Plain canned tomato has its own serve, which is why it is worth looking up as a sauce base. The bigger issue with jarred pasta sauces, ketchup, salsa and most tinned soups is the onion and garlic cooked into them. Build sauces on plain canned tomatoes with garlic-infused oil, basil and oregano.

What else works

Tomato is low at about ½ medium (65g), so this is about what shares the plate rather than what replaces it. For salad bulk and colour, cucumber, carrot, baby spinach, bok choy and green beans all work alongside it. If you want more sauce than half a fresh tomato allows, plain canned tomatoes have their own serve, and you can stretch a sauce further with roasted zucchini or carrot and finish it with garlic-infused oil and herbs. The forms to keep separate are the concentrated ones: sun dried tomato, tomato juice and passata are not the same as ½ medium (65g) of fresh tomato, and jarred sauces usually carry onion and garlic on top of whatever tomato they contain.

How to keep it low

Store tomatoes on the counter rather than in the fridge, since cold flattens the flavour and flat tomatoes get used more heavily to compensate. Buy medium tomatoes rather than the largest in the box, so half a tomato stays easy to picture, and slice half into a salad or sandwich and wrap the rest for tomorrow. When cooking, reach for canned tomatoes instead of piling fresh ones into the pan, and work out how many servings the pan makes, because a reduced sauce hides its volume. Check labels on canned tomatoes, passata, ketchup and salsa for onion and garlic, which appear in most ready made versions. Eating out, ask for sun dried tomatoes on the side and keep a bruschetta or caprese to a small portion.

Common questions

how much tomato is low fodmap

About ½ medium (65g) is the low serving. Larger portions are moderate and much larger portions are high, so a whole tomato is more than one serving.

can i eat tomato on the elimination phase

Yes, at about ½ medium (65g), which is low. Count the tomato that turns up in the sauce and the salsa as well as the slices on the plate.

are sun dried tomatoes low fodmap

They are a concentrated form, since drying removes water and concentrates what is left, so a spoonful of sun dried tomato represents far more tomato than its weight suggests. It is not equivalent to ½ medium (65g) fresh.

is tomato sauce low fodmap

Plain canned tomato has its own serve and makes a good sauce base. Most jarred pasta sauces, ketchups and salsas are made with onion and garlic, so a homemade sauce with garlic-infused oil and herbs is the reliable route.