It’s no secret that high blood pressure is bad for your health and the list of things you can do to combat high blood pressure have been touted by experts for years. Losing weight, reducing stress, practicing meditation, and eating more healthfully top the list. However, what if a simple beverage you can sip once a day could also help to lower blood pressure? A cup of unsalted tomato juice every day may keep the doctor and the high blood pressure away.
A large Japanese study showed that unsalted tomato juice lowered not only blood pressure but also bad cholesterol. In fact, their research showed that ninety-four of the patients in this study who started out with untreated prehypertension or hypertension had their blood pressure numbers drop. However, this study was funded by a maker of tomato juice, and no comparison studies were conducted to back up their claims. In addition, the researchers failed to get follow up questionnaires from more than half of the patients. But don’t despair! Tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables play an important role in keeping us healthy. Let’s explore how.
Fruits and vegetables are notorious for being chock full of vitamins and minerals, and the tomato is no different. They are high in vitamin B, and C. Potassium is also plentiful in tomatoes and is directly linked with lowering blood pressure. Not only that, tomatoes have a carotenoid called lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant which experts say may help in fighting cancer. Moreover, in a juice form, these vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are in a concentrated form, making them much more powerful.
So what’s conclusion can we draw from all this information? If you love tomatoes and tomato juice, include it in your diet. Just make sure that it is the unsalted kind. And in addition to tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables, incorporate some tried and true methods of lowering your blood pressure. These include quitting smoking, losing weight if you need to, and reducing stress as well as getting active. These things, in combination with a healthy diet, can help you on your journey to lowering your blood pressure and increasing your health.
