Did you get your dose of lycopene today? If you ate a green salad with fresh chopped tomatoes, then you have not only had a healthy dose of powerful antioxidants, but have taken significant steps to reduce your blood pressure. A study in 2006, conducted in Israel, confirms what Italians with healthys heart have known for centuries: tomatoes and tomato sauce, reduce blood pressure and risk of heart disease.
The Israeli study was led by Dr. Esther Paran, head of the Board of the medical hypertension center of Soroka. This includes patients who have been treated for hypertension, but did not respond well to medication. Dr. Paran gave them a supplement of tomato extract. The results were a serious drop in blood pressure after just four weeks.
Tomatoes are so effective in reducing blood pressure because they contain lycopene. This powerful antioxidant is the purpose for the development of some hybrid tomatoes from an Israeli company, Lycomato, aiming to achieve higher concentrations of lycopene in each fruit. This and other antioxidants found in tomatoes make thema super-fruit in the prevention of heart disease. Tomatoes can even stop the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, which causes it to stick to the walls of the arteries and narrows them, causing high blood pressure.
Even when their season is on, it's hard to eat four whole tomatoes a day, which is the recommended quantity to have a positive impact on your blood pressure. There are some ways to take advantage of the tomatoes without having to eat them straight from the garden.
1. Make yourself some chili. Use tomato paste to the base of chilies, who will provide antioxidants without the burden of eating a whole tomato and you have a healthy main course and every right not to eat more tomatoes on that day.
2. Since olive oil with tomatoes is an extremely therapeutic combination, make a sauce for pasta with tomato paste and olive oil to stew garlic or onions. The tomato paste used in the sauce contains ten times the nutrients of a single tomato.
3. Take a fresh salad along with these main courses, and above all tomatoes. It'll take your need for tomato down to a minimum.
4. Drink tomato juice. It is better to make your own juice, so you can control the sodium content. Juices from a store can have a lot of sugar and sodium hydroxide preservatives. If you have a squeezer, you can make amazing vegan juice to apply to your own tastes by adding carrots, celery and some fruits and vegetables that are low in sodium..
5. Take a tomato supplement. If you just can not eat tomatoes, then 200 mg supplement provides the equivalent of more than the recommended four tomatoes.
Adding tomatoes to your diet can reduce your systolic blood pressure with 10 points and Diastolic Blood Pressure with four points, as shown by a study in Israel. To make this even better, the tomatoes can strengthen your immune system and lower your blood pressure.
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