Have you ever thought that there could be a correlation between tomato juice and some health problems like blood pressure? This text can help you find the right answer to this question. It may be as easy as drinking one glass of unsalted tomato juice every day to improve one's cardiovascular health. In a recent article published in Food Science & Nutrition, researchers from Japan reveal the results of a study that was conducted over the course of a year and showed that some participants who drank an average of approximately one cup of unsalted tomato juice each day experienced a reduction in their blood pressure over the course of the study's duration. This particular set of individuals also had a decrease in their levels of LDL, or "bad," cholesterol, which is the type of cholesterol that is frequently linked to heart disease and the building of plaque in the arteries. Both of these potentially beneficial outcomes could lower a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the most common cause of mortality in the United States. According to one reliable source, heart disease is the cause of death for more than 610,000 people each year. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one death in every four.
Because of this, experts are constantly exploring for alternative treatments that can be of assistance to patients. This quest includes simple nutritional options like tomato juice. Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Tucson Plant Breeding Institute, who were conducting the study, sought out participants and selected 184 males and 297 girls to take part in it. Throughout the course of the year, the participants were permitted to consume an unlimited amount of tomato juice that did not contain any added salt. They were just required to keep a journal of how much they drank and send it back to the researchers once every three months. At the conclusion of the research project, the scientists reported that their findings showed that the blood pressure levels of 94 out of 100 of the participants—individuals who had untreated prehypertension or hypertension at the beginning of the study—had decreased. The average systolic blood pressure, which is the number at the top of the reading, went down from 141.2 to 137.0 mmHg, and the average diastolic blood pressure, which is the number at the bottom of the reading, went down from 83.3 to 80.9 mmHg. According to a trusted source from the American Heart Association, even while this may not seem like a lot, it is enough to move hypertension stages. If a person's first numbers were average, it would mean that they were on the verge of developing stage 2 hypertension. A person advances to stage 1 as soon as they begin to exhibit these more subtle downward shifts.
This same more select group of people who took part in the research also demonstrated a reduction in their total cholesterol levels, which decreased from 155.0 mg/dL at the beginning of the research to 149.9 mg/dL by its conclusion. An essential note But before you go and start chugging down a bottle of that fruit juice, you should know that this research comes with a few key disclaimers. To begin, the Kikkoman Corporation, which is well-known in the United States for producing a wide variety of soy sauces, provided financial support to the researchers. They are also the exclusive proprietors of all of the exclusive marketing rights for Del Monte in Asia. Del Monte is a brand of vegetables that, among other things, produces tomato juice that is unsalted. Also funded by Kikkoman was a study carried out in 2015 by the same group of researchers (reliable source). According to the findings of that study, consumption of unsalted tomato juice assisted in the reduction of triglyceride levels, which are a form of blood fat, in women of middle age throughout the course of an eight-week trial. Even among study participants who had elevated triglyceride counts at the beginning of the trial, this one-year study showed no change in triglycerides or in HDL (good) cholesterol. This was a coincidental finding from the research that was conducted.
In addition, the researchers did not do any kind of food analysis on the people who took part in the study. It is a reasonable assumption that persons who knew they were hypertensive or prehypertensive may have taken efforts over the course of a year to positively improve their health in some way. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed] [Citation needed It is difficult to determine, in the absence of an examination of the diet, whether the changes were brought about by the juice or by other positive dietary alterations. The researchers were able to finish their investigation despite not receiving a questionnaire about lifestyle and medical treatment from more than half of the people who participated in the trial. Again, shifts that occurred throughout the course of the study's duration of one year may shed light on additional possible factors that may have influenced the outcomes that the researchers discovered. It will be difficult to perform an accurate inspection if we do not have this information. In addition to this, the researchers did not do any kind of comparative investigation. It's feasible that a different set of people, the ones who didn't consume the tomato juice, would nevertheless experience the same kinds of outcomes. It is hard to tell the true impact the juice had without conducting the study both before and after it.
Last but not least, the researchers could not identify any changes to the risk of CVD in the entire cohort that was studied. It wasn't until they limited their study to those who already had hypertension or prehypertension that they saw any indication that their hypothesis was correct. In academic research, this kind of post-hoc analysis is typically frowned upon because it is not regarded as being especially dependable. If you wish to drink tomato juice in the hopes that it would improve the health of your heart, there is no reason that you can't do so. Just make sure to obtain the sort that is unsalted, and look into other ways to boost your heart health, such as eating a diet that is balanced and exercising regularly. Also, think about including olive oil, which is another healthy ingredient that packs a powerful punch. Stella Metsovas, a clinical nutritionist and author of Wild Mediterranean, recommends adding a teaspoon of cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil to your glass of unsalted tomato juice for optimal absorption of the juice's phytonutrient content. "Research has also shown that phytonutrient-rich foods are best absorbed with healthy fats, such as olive oil," said Metsovas. "I would strongly recommend if you sip on unsalted tomato juice for the cardioprotective health.