Exercise isn’t always enjoyable, and when you are running there are often times that your body will crave certain foods. It’s the body’s way of telling you what nutrients you may be lacking. I know when I go for a jog, my body starts to crave protein, so I started eating a healthy protein snack beforehand which helps a lot. Most people don’t want to stop in the middle of their jog just to have a snack. A Japanese juice company named Kagome saw this dilemma and decided something needed to be done about it. A suggestion from Kagome doesn’t come lightly either, considering they are one of the biggest ketchup distributors in Japan. What they decided to create is a robot they call Tomatan. Just wait until you see its insane purpose.
Tomatan was designed to be worn as a backpack. It fits on your shoulders and with the touch of a button, will feed you a tomato while you’re out on your daily jog. It weighs about 18 pounds and holds up to six medium-sized tomatoes.
Whenever you feel like you need a snack while on your jog, you just push a lever and the tomato will come down towards your mouth via robotic arms. “Tomatoes have lots of nutrition that combats fatigue,” says Shigernori Suzuki, who works for Kagome.
If running around with an 18 pound tomato feeding robot on your back is too much for you to handle, don’t worry.
They are also releasing the Petit-Tomatan, which will be about half of the weight, coming in at just 9lbs. It is even being tested out at the Tokyo Marathon.
Check out the video below:
I wonder if their idea of tomatoes being the fad food of the year that will catch on. I can’t believe they gave runners 50,000 tomatoes during the Tokyo Marathon as well! That’s a lot of tomatoes.
While I know how important healthy foods are while exercising, I don’t know if tomatoes are going to be that food that takes off as the super food like coconut water, acai berries, and flax-seed have in the past. But who knows, I could be very wrong!