According to recently published research, one simple strategy to lessen the chance of developing heart disease and lower blood pressure is to consume one glass of unsalted tomato juice on a daily basis. It may be as easy as drinking one glass of unsalted diced 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 group of participants 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 formation 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 death 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, researchers are constantly looking for alternative treatments that might be of assistance to patients. This search 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 recruited 184 males and 297 females to take part in it. Throughout the course of the year, the participants were permitted to consume an unlimited amount of cherry 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 study's participants—individuals who had untreated prehypertension or hypertension at the outset of the project—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 though 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 a result of these incremental steps downward. 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. 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 only owners 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.
Tomato Juice from canned tomatoes
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 pre-hypertensive may have taken efforts over the course of a year to positively improve their health in some way. 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 scientists discovered. If we do not have access to this information, it will be challenging to carry out an examination that is correct. In addition to this, the researchers did not conduct any kind of comparative inquiry between the two groups. It's possible that the second group of people, the ones who didn't drink the tomato juice, would still experience the same kinds of results even if they weren't exposed to the tomato puree or juice. Without conducting the study both before and after the juice was consumed, it is difficult to determine the true influence that the drink had. Last but not least, the researchers were unable to discover any changes in the risk of CVD in any of the individuals in the complete cohort that was examined. They did not uncover any evidence that their idea was correct until after they limited their analysis to subjects who already had hypertension or were at risk for developing hypertension. Because it is not considered to be very dependable, this form of post-hoc analysis receives a lot of negative attention in academic research. Consequently, it is frequently disregarded. As a direct consequence of this, it is looked down upon.
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