Have you taken your lycopene today? If you eat a green salad with chopped fresh tomatoes, you not only get yourself a dose of the powerful antioxidant, but you also take important steps to lower blood pressure. A recent double-blind study in Israel confirmed what healthy Italians have loved for years and years: tomatoes (and ketchup) lowers blood circulation pressure and heart problems risk.
Tomatoes are very effective in lowering blood pressure because they contain lycopene. This powerful antioxidant is a focus of companies who wants to maximize higher concentration of lycopene in each and every bite. Other antioxidants found in tomatoes makes them a “superfood” for preventing heart disease. It may even help avoid the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which causes it to stick to arteries and narrow the passageways, thereby causing blood pressure to rise.
Even during peak growing season, it can be difficult to consume four tomatoes a day, which is the amount recommended to truly have a positive impact on blood pressure. Below are a few ways to enjoy the health advantages of tomatoes and never have to eat them directly from the plant.
1. Make chili. Use tomato puree, that is the concentrated form of tomatoes, as a base for the chili so that you’ll get the antioxidants without utilizing a lot of whole tomatoes. Add super-lean, high-protein ground bison and kidney beans with minced garlic and onions, cayenne pepper too, and you’ll end up with a heart-healthy main course as well as an all-day serving of tomatoes.
2. Since using olive oil with tomatoes improves overall healing qualities, mix your pasta sauce red with tomato vegetables and essential olive oil for sautéing, alongside garlic and onions. The tomato paste utilized to make the sauce contains over 10 times the nutrients of an individual tomato.
3. Have a fresh salad as a side for just one of these appetizers and slice an entire tomato at the top. You’ll get 1 / 4 of one’s daily recommended tomato intake here.
4. Drink tomato juice. It’s best to make your tomato juices at home for sake of keeping sodium in check. Store-bought fruit juices can be high in sugar and sodium-based preservatives. If you don’t have one, buy a juicer, that way you can make amazing vegetable juices exactly to your liking – with the addition of carrots, celery, and low-sodium seasonings to maximize health-boosting effects.
5. Take tomato supplements If you don’t enjoy or are not able to consume many tomatoes on a daily basis. A 200mg supplement will give you the equivalent of a lot more than the recommended four tomatoes per day.
Adding tomatoes into your diet can reduce systolic blood pressure by 10 points and diastolic blood circulation pressure by 4 points, as in the Israeli study. No matter how you’ll prepare your dishes with them, tomatoes will positively boost your defense mechanisms and decrease your blood pressure.
