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Health Tip of the Day
Eating one-half cup of cooked tomatoes daily can lower blood pressure.
Tomatoes contain lycopene. Lycopene has been found to relax arteries which lowers blood pressure.
Cooked tomatoes contain 164 percent more lycopene than fresh tomatoes. According to a study published in the American Heart Journal lycopene can lower blood pressure 10 points in two months.
Current studies show that a daily minimum of 12 milligrams lycopene can lower blood pressure, especially in people with moderately high levels.
New studies show that lycopene also decreases “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and increases “good” (HDL) cholesterol which can help prevent strokes and heart attacks.
All tomatoes contain lycopene, but cherry and Roma tomatoes rated highest in lycopene while vine tomatoes rated the lowest.
Author Marilyn Pokorney
Copyright Marilyn Pokorney 2022
