Sun-Dried Tomatoes vs Carrots – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing sun-dried tomatoes to carrots, we picked the sun-dried tomatoes.

Why?

After tomatoes lost to carrots yesterday, it turns out that sun-drying them is enough to turn the nutritional tables!

This time, it’s the sun-dried tomatoes that have more carbs and fiber, as well as the nominally lower glycemic index (although obviously, carrots are also just fine in this regard; nobody is getting metabolic disease from eating carrots). Still, by the numbers, a win for sun-dried tomatoes.

In terms of vitamins, the fact that they have less water-weight means that proportionally, gram for gram, sun-dried tomatoes have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while carrots still have more vitamin A. An easy win for sun-dried tomatoes on the whole, though.

When it comes to minerals, sun-dried tomatoes have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while carrots are not higher in any mineral.

Looking at polyphenols, sun-dried tomatoes have more, including a good healthy dose of quercetin; they also have more lycopene, not technically a polyphenol by virtue of its chemical structure (it’s a carotenoid), but a powerful phytochemical nonetheless. And, the lycopene content is higher in sun-dried tomatoes (compared to raw tomatoes) not just because of the loss of water-weight making a proportional difference, but also because the process itself improves the lycopene content, much like cooking does.

All in all, a clear and overwhelming win for sun-dried tomatoes.

Just watch out, as this is about the sun-dried tomatoes themselves; if you get them packed in vegetable oil, as is common, it’ll be a very different nutritional profile!

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

Tomatoes vs Carrots – Which is Healthier? ← see the difference!

Enjoy!